Archive for category: Parist Past

Strictly speaking, Weston has had three manor houses over the centuries.

As long ago as the 12th century – about the same time as the earliest part of the parish church was built – there was a moated manorial settlement some 200m south east of the church. This was probably a timber structure, and little remains to be seen, although in the south east corner of the site there is still a small L-shaped pond which may be the remains of the moat. It dries out in summer. The rest of the site has been covered in several feet of fly ash, the waste from the coal-fired powers stations which used to stand in Portishead. It is inhabited by swarms of rabbits which are distinctive because of their dark, almost black, coats: possibly the fly ash, perhaps a genetic variation.

The second manor house site lies about 150m down the lane beside the church, directly behind our house, The Dairy. When the lane was tarmacked in 2004 we found a cobbled surface under the mud, so this was obviously the route from the manor to the church.

This manor house was built in about 1430 by the Perceval family, lords of the manor of Weston from the 1100s to the 1700s. This is the building shown in the engraving, the original of which is in the Somerset County Archive. It’s unusual in being built so low down in the valley, where you might think there was a risk of flooding, but the valley is very wide and even in the extremes of weather in recent years, this has never been a threat. It has been suggested that what is now the main drainage rhyne was navigable by flat bottomed boats, which might explain its position, but this is speculation.

Today all that is left of the building is a small section of field wall in the south west corner. The lord of the manor at the time backed the wrong side in the English Civil War, so it became a “bit of a ruin that Cromwell knocked about.” His troops burnt and demolished part, but it remained habitable: the engraving is dated 1742, so it was a huge house even then.

After the Restoration, the lord of the manor, Thomas Perceval, who was financially stretched, applied to the King for some reward for his loyalty. All he received was two royal visits to Weston, the cost of which ruined him. The Percevals sold up in 1705 to the son of the lord of Easton in Gordano. In 1714 he died, and the estate was sold to Cann Wilkins, thought to be a Bristol merchant. Wilkins built the third manor house, now known as Weston Lodge, on top of the hill looking down through the woodland to the church and the village.

The manor house of 1430, in its reduced state, remained in use as a farmhouse, but was finally demolished at some point after 1742. But stone is very heavy and transporting it is expensive: look around at the older buildings in our village. It is likely that at least some of them were built of the demolition spoil purloined from the Percevals’ manor house. Many local field walls are built of finely dressed stone which must originally have been prepared, at great expense, for a stately building.

When landscaping our garden, we came across huge quantities of this dressed stone, and much of it has been incorporated into our work. The Percevals’ manor house lives on!

Content kindly provided by David Lewis

Western Daily Press

NOV. 30, 1897

Jubilee memorial is dedicated in Weston-in-Gordano

The jubilee memorial in this parish, which look form of a new lychgate at the entrance to the churchyard, was solemnly dedicated on Friday evening by the Venerable the Archdeacon of Bath. The gate is a massive structure of oak, resting on a stone wall on either side, the roof being covered with brown Brose tiles, and is a copy, with a slight alteration, of the fifteenth century one in Middlesex.

All transcriptions appearing here have been created exclusively for the website, from the original documents.

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Original newspaper scans are provided by the British Newspaper Archive

Western Daily Press

FEB. 16, 1920

Sword dance by the Morris dancers of Weston-in-Gordano

The Bristol branch of the English Folk Dance Society, which has been inactive during the war, has resumed its very delightful work, and on Saturday night at the Royal West of England Academy a large company of enthusiasts took part in charming repertoire of the fine old dances which were the vogue hundreds of years ago.

It is interesting to learn that the movement to preserve this phase of old English social life is popular all over the country, and judging from the number and wholehearted enthusiasm of those who took part in the gathering on Saturday night Bristol, is doing its part well.

The local society will hold classes at which the Morris dance as well as country and sword dances will be taught, and the demand for teachers, we understand, is at present beyond the supply. There is scarcely an elementary school in the city where the children do not enjoy their English dance, and many of the secondary schools are following this excellent lead. So far, however, men and boys have not entered into the scheme to any great extent, and most of the dancers on Saturday night were ladies. The programme included some of the most typical of folk dances;

“Helston Ferry, We won’t go home till morning, Black Nag, The Butterfly, The Boatman, Gathering Peascods, Rufty Tufty, Bonnets Blue, Newcastle, If all the world were paper, Galopede, Picking up sticks, Old Mole and Sellengen Round.”

To the lively music of piano and violin the dancers tripped it merrily, deriving stimulating exercise as well enjoyment in full measure. The feature the evening, however, was an exhibition sword dance by the Morris dancers of Weston-in-Gordano. This particular dance belongs traditionally to Kerby Malyard. near Ripon, and unlike the Scottish sword dance it is very intricate and exciting. It is interesting to know that some of the country dances which figured on the programme were taken from old dance book of 1650. Miss Robinson, of The Towers, Sneyd Park, who chairman of the Bristol branch, was the hostess of the evening.

All transcriptions appearing here have been created exclusively for the website, from the original documents.

There are hundreds of articles to process and transcribe, which will take time, so please return to see new content as its added.

Original newspaper scans are provided by the British Newspaper Archive

Western Daily Press and Bristol Mirror

FEB. 26, 1934

Local people suspect there is some connection

Is there any connection between the mysterious fire at the ancient Weston-in-Gordano Parish Church near Portishead and the recent outbreak which destroyed the church at Weston-Super-Mare?

This is a question which the people of Somerset are asking themselves because of the suspicion in the district that an incendiary was responsible for the fire at Weston-in-Gordano which did damage to the belfry and the vestry.

The rector Rev. P. I. Lach-Szyrma, believes that the fire may have been started in his church deliberately and he is not the only inhabitant of the district who holds that view.

“The police believe the fire was due to an electric light fuse but the fact remains only a few weeks ago the church at Weston-Super-Mare was burned down,” he told a “Press and Mirror” reporter yesterday.

In the evening before his sermon the rector briefly referred to happenings of the past few days and he paid tribute to the work of all who had in anyway helped to fight the fire.

The fire destroyed a 300-year-old screen which separated the belfry from the nave and it was replaced yesterday by match boarding which also screened from view the other damage to the beams of the belfry. This and a pungent odour of burnt wood were the only evidence of the drama that had been enacted in the village during the past few days.

The bell ropes which were also damaged by the fire had been replaced for yesterday’s services and the bells pealed as usual to greet the glorious sunshine of a beautiful morning as though nothing had happened. Even the congregation was no bigger than usual.

Across the road the curtains of the rectory were drawn reminding the visitor that through hurrying to the church from Portishead to give what assistance she could, Mrs R. Quartly-Carter, the rector’s 80-year-old mother-in-law had collapsed and died.

Besides the dramatic chain of events there still exists the unsolved mystery of the man who was seen to behave in such a peculiar manner in the church before the outbreak was discovered.

The man had been described to police as about 50, wearing a light-coloured trilby hat and a light grey overcoat.

Friday’s fire was quickly extinguished by the prompt work of the Portishead fire brigade and the villagers, but further alarm was caused early on Saturday morning by discovery fire had broken out again. It was again discovered by Mrs Symes the caretaker.

As on the previous occasion, the Portishead fire brigade soon had the outbreak under control. It is thought that the beams smouldering through the night with the cause of the second blaze.

All transcriptions appearing here have been created exclusively for the website, from the original documents.

There are hundreds of articles to process and transcribe, which will take time, so please return to see new content as its added.

Original newspaper scans are provided by the British Newspaper Archive

Western Daily Press
NOV.18, 1938

Never “Believed” in Doctors