OTHERY

TOPOGRAPHY

Othery parish, formed in 1515, (fn. 18) was so named because the village occupies an apparently detached part of Sowy island. (fn. 19) It comprised the area on and immediately around its island and the allotments made under the inclosure of King's Sedgemoor and Earlake and Southlake moors after 1795. (fn. 20) It included the central village of Othery, the hamlet of Pathe 1 km. to the south, cottages and farms along Burrow wall and at Burrowbridge, and isolated farms on the eastern side of the island called Owery, Shride, and Grove. The parish measured roughly 3 km. from north to south and 3 km. from east to west but was highly irregular in shape. The only natural boundaries were the Parrett in the south-west and Challis Wall rhyne, probably an old distributary of the river Cary, on the south-east. Stones formerly marked the interlocking boundaries with Middlezoy and Westonzoyland. (fn. 1) A stone cross called Dorwaies or Droves Cross marked the boundary, possibly with Lyng, in the early 16th century. (fn. 2) Southlake wall, later Staffords, Callis, or Challis wall, was built c. 1234 after settlement of bounds between Othery and Aller. (fn. 3) Beer wall since 1799 has formed the boundary between Aller and Othery in the northeast. (fn. 4) In 1841 the parish measured 1,768 a. (fn. 5) Alterations were made to the boundary with Middlezoy in 1883 and with Westonzoyland and Lyng in 1886, in the latter year transferring Burrow Mump and the rest of Burrowbridge east of the Parrett from Lyng to Othery. (fn. 6) As a result by 1901 the area had increased to 1,944 a. (fn. 7) After 1985 the creation of the civil parish of Burrowbridge reduced Othery to 553 ha. (1,366 a.). (fn. 8)

Figure 46: Othery parish 1841

The heart of the parish is an island of Mercia Mudstone; sand and gravel of the Burtle Beds lie to the north-west, between Othery and Middlezoy villages, and also form a small island to the north-east in the peat of King's Sedgemoor. To the east, south, and south-west of the marl island is the alluvium of the Parrett basin. Burrow Mount or Mump is an isolated island of marl. (fn. 1) Othery 'island' is defined by the 7.5-m. (25-ft.) contour; the south-western part rises to a height of 25 m. (82 ft.) at the top of Grove Hill. Parts of the moors are as low as 4m. (13 ft.) above sea level. (fn. 2) In 1985 Southlake moor was designated a site of Special Scientific Interest, as was the area of Sedgemoor north of Beer wall. (fn. 3)

COMMUNICATIONS

The main road link in the Middle Ages was that with Middlezoy along Fordway. (fn. 4) A second ancient route came from Aller across Northmoor to Pathe and was continued along the 13th-century Burrow wall, (fn. 5) described as a market path in the 17th century. (fn. 6) The inclosure of Othery's arable fields included the construction of a public road along Burrow wall, which was completed by 1806. (fn. 7) The new road, built by the Taunton turnpike trust, (fn. 8) ran into a new straight cutting up Grove Hill and after passing through the village ran directly to Greylake. Modifications were made in 1971. (fn. 9) In 1826 the Langport trust built a new road from Middlezoy through the north-eastern end of Othery village to Aller along Beer wall, replacing the old route through Pathe. (fn. 10)

There was a ferry across the Parrett, evidently from Burrow to Saltmoor, mentioned in 1308, (fn. 11) 1370, (fn. 12) and 1515. (fn. 13) Another ferry over the Challis Wall rhyne near Pathe was replaced by a temporary bridge in the mid 17th century and later by Pathe bridge. (fn. 14) In the early 16th century a tenant maintained the way over Burrow clyce, west of the Mump, but later the parishes of Othery and Middlezoy together repaired the bridge there. (fn. 15) The rhynes were still used in the 18th century to transport goods. (fn. 16)

The construction of Southlake wall to form the boundary with Aller (fn. 17) and of Burrow wall, both in the south of the parish, were attempts in the later 13th century to control the river Cary. (fn. 18) Burrow wall, linking the higher ground near Othery village with the Parrett near Burrow, is a large bank 30 ft. wide and 12 ft. high topped by a stone wall by the early 19th century. (fn. 19) Tapping wall, alternatively known as Topwall and Saltmeads wall, was probably built c. 1280 along the north bank of the Parrett to protect Southlake moor. (fn. 20) Beer wall, built across the moor between Othery and Beer in Aller in the 13th century, (fn. 21) diverted the river Cary west into the stream known in the 14th century as Cayserslode. (fn. 22) That stream runs into Pathelake or Challis Wall rhyne, and east into Aller, the two watercourses linked by a rhyne south of the wall known as Sheonyngedich or Sowyditch which formed the boundary between the two parishes. (fn. 23)

POPULATION

Thirty-two men and a woman were fined for rebellion in 1497. (fn. 24) The population rose from 384 in 1801 to 704 in 1841. (fn. 25) Although many families were said to have emigrated in the 1850s (fn. 26) numbers remained stable until the 1860s when they fell to 638 in 1871 and to 439 by 1901, despite the transfer of a large part of Burrowbridge with 44 people from Lyng in 1886. In 1931 there were 423 people in the parish, but with new housing development numbers rose to 530 in 1971 and 604 residents in 1981. The loss of Burrowbridge in 1985 caused a fall to 536 in 1991. (fn. 27)

SETTLEMENT AND BUILDINGS

A Roman coin hoard found in Burrow Wall rhyne is the only evidence known of possible pre-Saxon settlement in the parish. (fn. 28) The names Othery, Owery, Burrow, Grove, and Pathe are probably pre-Conquest in origin. (fn. 29) Othery village may originally have been formed along a straight road, later North Lane, running to the north of the church and subsequently diverted in a gentle curve to the south towards several farms bordering North moor in Aller. The diversion became the main thoroughfare and was known by the later 19th century as Fore Street and High Street. (fn. 30) Among the medieval buildings on the moor edge are three in Little England and probably Keen's Farm. (fn. 31) Expansion of settlement in Othery village was probably constricted by the close proximity of the two open arable fields which surrounded it on all sides except on the south-east where a stream divided the village from Aller's North moor. (fn. 1)

Figure 47: Othery village street c. 1850; turnpiked by 1806

Pathe and Grove, the former on a low-lying site by the water, the latter near to woodland, were hamlets in the mid 13th century. (fn. 2) In 1515 there were three houses and a toft at Grove and five houses and two tofts at Pathe. (fn. 3) Pathe House was built in 1799, probably on the site of a house in the lord's hand in 1790, for the Chard family who bought property from Sir Charles Tynte. (fn. 4) It has two storeys on a brick vaulted basement with a three-bayed front. It was roughcast in the 20th century. Some associated buildings survive including a cider house and servants' accommodation.

Tutyate or Tuttiet, by the entrance to the drove to Burrow Mump, and Tappingweir, beside the Parrett, both on the southern boundary, were recorded in the mid 13th century. (fn. 5) In 1515 there were three houses at Tutyate and two at Tappingweir; (fn. 6) at the same date there may have been three houses at Owery, on the north-eastern boundary. (fn. 7) Many landless cottages were built in the late 16th century, (fn. 8) some probably along Summerhedge, the lane leading from Othery to Pathe. (fn. 9) In the early 18th century at least eight houses and cottages had fallen or been pulled down (fn. 10) and in the 1780s there were 73 houses in the whole parish, mainly two-storeyed and of rough stone and thatch. (fn. 11) Ten cottages were built along Burrow wall between 1800 and 1841 (fn. 12) but by 1841 there were no dwellings at Tutyate or Tappingweir, (fn. 13) and only one at Owery.

In the later 1960s at least two jointed-cruck buildings in the village were demolished. (fn. 14) In the centre of the village there are surviving 17th- and 18th-century farmhouses, improved in the second half of the 19th century, when several three-bayed, two-storeyed villas were built, mostly of stone. The Cedars, of whitewashed stone, is the most distinguished. Late 19thcentury houses are concentrated at the north end of the village; one of those, a little further north, still has contemporary farm buildings. (fn. 15) Local authority houses are clustered in the south-west of the village. (fn. 16)

SOCIAL LIFE

In 1315 twenty-two ale sellers were in breach of the assize of ale. (fn. 17) Unlawful games were held in an alehouse in 1607. (fn. 18) In 1620 there were a victualler and an innholder and in 1630 one licensed victualler. (fn. 19) In 1686 there were three guest beds and stabling for six horses. (fn. 20) There was only one licensed house, the Inn or Burrough inn, in Othery parish in the late 17th and 18th centuries except in 1732 when two licenses were issued. (fn. 21) The inn probably stood on the road along the river bank on the old route of the Wells - Taunton road and was last recorded in 1792. It probably closed shortly afterwards as by 1797 the Bell inn, later the King Alfred, had been established in Burrowbridge (fn. 22) and would have been better placed for traffic on the old and new roads. (fn. 23) The New Inn was recorded in 1779 and may have been the second licensed house of 1732, but by 1791 there were no licensed premises. (fn. 1) In 1851 there were three inns. (fn. 2) The Castle and London inns on the main village street were recorded in 1859. (fn. 3) The Castle closed after 1947 and remained untouched until the owner's death in 1985. It was converted into residential accommodation. (fn. 4) The London inn remains open. The New Inn on the main road north of the village may have been open in 1851 and was recorded by name from 1871 until 1906. (fn. 5)

There was a revel at Othery in 1678. (fn. 6) In 1947 there were tennis and skittles clubs. (fn. 7)

MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES

OTHERY MANOR

Othery was said to have been given by King Edgar to his servant Wulfhelm in 963. (fn. 8) By 1086 it was evidently part of Glastonbury abbey's Sowy manor and remained so during the Middle Ages. (fn. 9) At the Dissolution the whole estate passed to the Crown and Othery was granted to Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset. (fn. 10) In 1553, following Somerset's attainder in 1552, Othery was granted to Thomas Dyer (d. 1565) and his wife Frances. (fn. 11) Thomas was followed by his son (Sir) Edward (d. 1607). It passed with Middlezoy to Sir Edward's nephew, also Edward Dyer, who in 1613 with his father-in-law Bostock Fuller sold them jointly to Thomas Warre and Edward Tynte. In 1617 after Warre's death Edward Tynte of Chelvey became the owner of the whole of Othery manor under an agreement giving Middlezoy to the Warre family. (fn. 12) Tynte was succeeded in 1629 by his infant son John. (fn. 13)

John (d. 1669) was followed by his son Halswell (cr. Bt. 1673, d. 1702) and his grandson Sir John (d. 1710). Sir John's three sons Halswell, the Revd. John, and Charles succeeded in turn. On Charles's death in 1785 the baronetcy became extinct but the estate passed to his niece Jane and to her husband John Johnson, who took the name Kemeys-Tynte. Jane's son Charles (d. 1860) (fn. 14) sold a considerable amount of land before 1832 (fn. 15) and had only c. 330 a. by 1841. (fn. 16) Lordship remained in the Kemeys-Tynte family until 1897, but by 1899 it had been sold to Harry Chambers. By 1902 it had been bought with some remaining land by James Baker, who renamed his early 19th-century farmhouse near the church the Manor House. (fn. 17) The house was sold in 1934 but the lordship passed to James's son, also James, who devised it to his daughter Mrs. Kunzli, formerly of Spaxton, owner in the late 20th century. (fn. 18) There is no record of a capital messuage.

OTHER ESTATES

In 1189 Henry of Sowy did fealty to the abbot of Glastonbury for 3 virgates at Sowy, (fn. 19) later said to be at Othery. He was succeeded by his daughter Eve (fn. 20) who married Hugh of Greinton and after his death held 20 a. in dower, and their daughter Eve of Middlezoy held 1½ virgate of the fee of Lisun. (fn. 21) The remaining 1½ virgate by c. 1300 or earlier appears to have been acquired by the prior of Montacute and possibly absorbed into Creech St. Michael manor. (fn. 22) The younger Eve gave a 12d. rent charge on her Othery estate to Athelney abbey, a gift confirmed c. 1330 by her grandson William Huse. (fn. 23) In 1300 William was in dispute with his uncle, Eve's son James Trivet, over the services of Robert of Brent, claiming that he was mesne lord and Robert held of him. (fn. 24) The only land that William held c. 1308 was 18 a., compensation for release of common. (fn. 25) The estate was probably merged with the former Lisun fee. (fn. 26)

In 1189 Godfrey of Lisun did fealty to the abbot of Glastonbury for ½ hide, (fn. 27) later said to be in Othery. Godfrey was followed by William of Lisun and by William's son John, who gave it to Robert of Brent. (fn. 28) Robert sold it to Sir Richard de Loughtebergh, who was followed by John Samuel who appears to have sublet it to Ralph Huse until 1310 but did fealty in 1337. (fn. 29)

Samuel's estate was not recorded again and in 1343 Ralph's heir Reginald Huse appears to have sold it, retaining a life interest, to William de Montagu, earl of Salisbury, (fn. 1) although in 1409 it was said that the king had given the fee to Simon de Montagu, probably William's grandfather. (fn. 2) William (d. 1344) was succeeded in turn by his son, also William (d. 1397), by William's nephew John (d. 1400), and by John's son Thomas, earl of Salisbury (d. 1428). (fn. 3) Thomas granted the estate, described as ¼ fee or a carucate, actually only 18 a. in Othery, before 1413 to William Stourton (d. 1413) and Thomas Bonham. (fn. 4)

Sir William Bonville was terre tenant of the land under the earls of Salisbury until his death in 1408, (fn. 5) but there is no further trace of his interest and the fee, sometimes described as a manor (fn. 6) and half a quarry, passed to Sir William Stourton's son John (cr. Baron Stourton 1448, d. 1462), to his grandson William (d. 1478), and to William's son John (d. 1485). John had a son Francis who died an infant in 1487 and was followed by his brothers William and Edward (d. 1535). William Stourton, the 7th baron, son of the last, sold the estate in 1541 to John Harris. (fn. 7) In 1580 John was licensed to alienate to Nicholas Harris, who in 1581 was licensed to sell the estate to Henry Shattock. (fn. 8) In 1627 when Edward Tynte took possession, he described it as five yards, and presumably it was absorbed into the manor. (fn. 9)

Glastonbury absorbed several former freeholds in Othery in the course of the 13th and 14th centuries. One was a ½ hide held in the mid 13th century by Robert of Middleton, which passed to his widow Maud and which his son William released to the abbey. (fn. 10) Another belonged to the Cnolton family in the later 13th century (fn. 11) and in 1308 comprised 2 virgates and 103 a. held by John of Cnolton. (fn. 12) Abbot Monington acquired the holding from John's son, also John, and it became part of the endowment of Monington's anniversary. (fn. 13) A third was an estate, later described as 75 a. and two houses, held in 1349 and 1352 by Robert St. Clare, which was acquired in 1365 to maintain a lamp in the abbey. (fn. 14) All passed at the Dissolution to the Crown and presumably were considered part of Othery manor. (fn. 15)

Simon of Hilcumbe gave ½ virgate, apparently in Othery, to Montacute priory before c. 1155. (fn. 16) More land, amounting to 1½ virgate c. 1300, half of an estate held by Henry of Sowy of Glastonbury in 1189 or earlier, appears to have been acquired by Montacute priory (fn. 17) and may have been absorbed into or administered with Creech St. Michael manor. At the Dissolution it passed to Sir Thomas Wyatt (d. 1542) and passed with Creech manor to William Knapman. In 1557 Knapman was licensed to alienate the estate to Simon Saunders and John Venn. Venn died in possession of the reversion in 1609, but in 1558 Knapman was licensed to alienate the same estate to John Harris, owner of the former Stourton land. (fn. 18) In 1598 John settled his estate on his son, also John, who in 1614 let it to William Michell. (fn. 19) Another John Harris with others conveyed the estate in 1690 to Walter Coventry. (fn. 20) It was not recorded again but may be the estate called Harris's owned by the Lyng family between 1785 and 1832. (fn. 21)

ECONOMIC HISTORY

AGRICULTURE

In 1189 Othery tenants were required to provide a week's work in the summer, and small parcels of demesne there were let to tenants. (fn. 22) In the mid 13th century there were 11 half-virgaters and 22 ferling holders of whom one held two ferlings and another former demesne. There were also four free tenants holding a total of over four virgates and 15 cottars, one with 10 a., the rest with 5 a. or less. (fn. 23) By 1308 the number of half virgaters had fallen to 6, there were 33 ferdellers or ferlingers, 8 5-a. tenants, and 34 cottars and other householders mostly with less than 5 a., but one at Stathewere with over 18 a. In addition most tenants held small parcels of overland. There were varying burdens of work but each half-virgater and some ferdellers owed 20½ a. of ploughing and carrying 3 cartloads of corn a day from Othery field and 4 a day from Middlezoy field. Many cottar tenants owed no works. (fn. 1) In 1357 some Othery men refused to thresh at Westonzoyland grange. (fn. 2) During the 14th century the abbey acquired land from freeholders, some of which was absorbed into the manor. (fn. 3) Southlake was sufficiently drained by 1384 to provide c. 40 a. of agricultural land and to have a highway through it known as the Drove which ran from Othery through Pathe to Tutyate on the Parrett opposite Stathe and was chased, for stray livestock, in the 1360s. (fn. 4) In 1515 there were 8 half virgaters, some of whom held very little land although one had over 50 a., 31 ferdellers, three with two holdings, and 35 tenants classed as 5-a. tenants or less, although five had accumulated over 20 a. Eleven tofts or cottages were held with other tenements. There were 24 neifs. (fn. 5)

In 1600 there were 103 holdings on Othery manor including c. 15 landless cottages, some new and one a room in a barn, and curtilages, presumably let for building. There were only two tenements over 40 a., the largest 56 a., and 22 bond persons were recorded, mainly from two families, half of them living elsewhere. (fn. 6) In c. 1613 or earlier the manor comprised 774 a. of arable, in east and west fields, and 644 a. of meadow. All tenants had common pasture in Sedgemoor, Pinsey Longmoor, and all the droves for as many cattle as they could winter. (fn. 7) In 1638 in addition to the common moors Othery was said to share with Middlezoy 1,067 a. of meadow in Southlake and Earlake. (fn. 8) A survey of the manor in 1670 showed little change with 106 tenements including c. 20 landless cottages. One tenant owed two hens which were still demanded c. 1710 or later. Most holdings were very small, the largest 43 a., and were predominantly arable. (fn. 9)

At least two men were malting barley c. 1609, (fn. 10) and in 1657 a woman lost 60 sheaves of pea and bean haulm. In 1657-8 there was a violent dispute over the collection of tithe wheat and peas, (fn. 11) and in 1691 tithe hay and fruit were taken in kind. Areas of orchard and meadow had been inclosed out of both fields with 41 a. of arable turned into meadow and pasture, although it may have been taken previously from meadow and moor. (fn. 12) A tenant in 1708 was still required to house the lord's oxen and provide straw in return for the dung. (fn. 13)

Holdings remained small in the early 18th century. Although some houses were abandoned before c. 1710, one to become a barn, and three cottages in Summerhedge Lane between the village and Pathe to fall down, new dwellings were built by the pound and at Owery and one house was divided. By 1720 a total of 11 dwellings was down or in hand, although the rental at £75 was only slightly less than in the early 17th century. (fn. 14) In 1774 a tenant was sub-letting a small holding for a rack rent and a quantity of saleable reed. The new tenant was required to sow 9 a. with clover at 14 lb. to the acre. (fn. 15) Half the parish land remained arable in the 1780s and the soil was said to be very rich. (fn. 16) In 1795 107 allotments amounting to 568 a. were received for rights in Sedgemoor, following inclosure, (fn. 17) and 550 a. of arable in the open fields was inclosed in or after 1799 under an Act of 1797. (fn. 18)

In 1801 the parish produced 178 a. of wheat, 141 a. of barley, 121 a. of beans, and 26 a. of peas, potatoes, and rape. (fn. 19) In 1831 94 out of 117 families were engaged in agriculture and only 19 males were craftsmen or retail traders. (fn. 20) By 1841, excluding the part of the parish in Sedgemoor, (fn. 21) there were 400 a. of arable and 800 a. of pasture. Although there were still many tiny holdings, some larger farms had been created following the sale of large parts of the manor, especially by the Chard family whose Pathe farm measured over 200 a. There were 4 holdings of between 50 a. and 100 a. and 12 of between 25 a. and 50 a. Withies were grown on small plots on the peat south of Owery farm. (fn. 22) In 1843 labourers were paid partly in cider although at least one farmer was willing to give potato ground in lieu. One man worked from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. for 3s. 4d. a day, managed ½a. of potatoes with the help of his wife, and kept two pigs. Another worker received 1s. a week instead of cider but intended to exchange this for ½ a. of ground to produce 100 bags of potatoes to feed himself, his wife, and their pig. He already grew potatoes and cabbages in his garden. (fn. 23) In 1851 Pathe farm had 400 a. but employed only 4 labourers and possibly a dairyman; 3 other farms were over 100 a., and a further 17 had over 25 a. There were many very small holdings and only 38 farm labourers were employed. (fn. 24) In 1856 a small farmer had a winnowing machine and a cider press and mill. He bought land in 1856-7 intending to spread the gravel it contained on the family's land, presumably to improve drainage. (fn. 25)

By 1867 agriculture was mainly pastoral. Boys between 8 and 10 were employed all year but women only at haymaking and harvest. There were many cottages not well kept but mostly with gardens. (fn. 26) By 1871 there had been little change in the size of farms although there were 6 over 100 a. and 54 labourers and two dairymen were employed. (fn. 1) In 1881 there were many paupers and several houses were in multiple occupation. (fn. 2) A threshing machine engine driver was resident in 1891 and several haycutters. (fn. 3)

By 1905 grass covered over 1,753 a. and only 358 a. was arable. (fn. 4) Grove farm, formerly part of the Pathe estate, was a dairy farm when sold in 1910. It consisted of 10 a. with the house and 140 a. of accommodation meadow. (fn. 5) Similarly, Shride farm in 1919 consisted of a ring-fenced 20-a. dairy farm with 20 cowstalls and a double piggery, and nearly 100 a. of additional land. (fn. 6) In 1911 there were few farms of over 100 a. (fn. 7) As late as 1939 only one farm had over 150 a. (fn. 8) There were four dairy farms in 1947. (fn. 9) Southlake moor in the later 20th century was deliberately flooded to maintain a high water table. (fn. 10)

FISHERIES

At Othery in 1189 a tenant held a fishery for 1s. and 3,000 eels, (fn. 11) but by the mid 13th century that fishery had been abandoned and the land was meadow. (fn. 12) In c. 1270 Walter of Shapwick released to the abbot of Glastonbury his rights in Stathewere fishery, probably in the Parrett near Stathe, which had belonged to Walter's ancestors (fn. 13) although the abbey had had a fishery there in 1201. (fn. 14) The fish weir was let c. 1308 and in 1515. (fn. 15) The river Parrett was also used for navigation and weirs were a hindrance c. 1310. (fn. 16) Between Stathe and Burrowbridge by 1384 were two weirs called Tappingweir, one built before 1310 belonging to the bishop of Winchester and one from time immemorial belonging to the abbot of Glastonbury. (fn. 17) In 1515 tenants at Othery also leased a weir at Langwey, another at Ory, probably Owery on the former river Cary, a quarter of Tappingweir, and a fishery at Nythe. (fn. 18) Tappingweir was destroyed before 1539 when the river was widened by order of the Commissioners of Sewers. (fn. 19) Owery weir and another were held by tenants in 1600. (fn. 20)

MILLS

The rectory estate included a horse mill in 1268 (fn. 21) which was in hand in 1274-5 and let by 1302. (fn. 22)

In 1308 a windmill in Othery was held as a freehold of Sowy manor. (fn. 23) It may have been absorbed into the manor and farmed in the 1330s and 1340s. It needed repair in 1346. (fn. 24) It was down by 1403 when a tenant acquired the mill moot on condition that a mill was built within three years. (fn. 25) The mill was on the western edge of the village (fn. 26) and was recorded in 1515. (fn. 27) From 1535 until 1670 or later it was held by the Somer family. (fn. 28) About 1811 it was demolished because it was too near the turnpike road and was causing a nuisance by frightening horses. (fn. 29)

A second windmill belonged to the Harris family by 1598 when it was settled by John Harris and Joan his wife on their son John and others. (fn. 30) In 1600 the younger John and his daughter held a plot of land from the manor on which to turn their mill, presumably to face the wind. (fn. 31) In 1614 John let the mill to William Michell and in 1690 another John Harris with others sold the mill to Walter Coventry. (fn. 32) It was last recorded in 1701, although the Winslades are said to have had a windmill in the early 19th century, and it may have been in the east field. (fn. 33)

In 1384 there were said to be mills at Southlake and Tappingweir, possibly watermills. (fn. 34)

A steam mill was built in the village in the mid 19th century, probably using gearing removed from the Somer's windmill. It went out of use in 1944 and had been mostly demolished by 1987, the tall chimney having been struck by lightning. (fn. 35)

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Quarries at Pathe produced Pathestone or Dunstone in 1515 and there was a quarry west of the village. (fn. 36) In 1779 John Chard obtained a license to dig clay to make brick and tile and to build kilns on 2 a. of land in return for providing the lord of the manor with good brick for use in the manor at 12s. the thousand. The land was to be filled and levelled when brickmaking ceased. (fn. 1) The Chard family had land at Pathe called Stone Quarry close in 1841. (fn. 2)

A leather worker was killed c. 1501. (fn. 3) A carrier from Taunton was said to supply gloves for sewing in Othery in the 1860s (fn. 4) and two glovers were recorded in 1881. (fn. 5) Two grocers and a shopkeeper were recorded in 1841 (fn. 6) and a confectioner in 1851. (fn. 7) In 1859 there were two coal merchants and two plasterers, (fn. 8) in 1871 a cooper and three shopkeepers, although six shops were recorded in 1872 and 1875. (fn. 9) There was a basketmaker in 1891. (fn. 10) In 1947 there were four shops, three tea rooms, an undertaker, and two garages but no business or industry employing more than two people. (fn. 11) By 1972 there were two garages, a shop, and a restaurant, which all remained in business in 1979. (fn. 12) The shop, with post office, remained open in 2000 but the garages were not in business.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Othery constituted a tithing in Whitley hundred, and in the 1530s, and probably much earlier, sent a tithingman to the hundred court. (fn. 13) The tithingman was assisted by post men in 1586. (fn. 14)

The vill sent its own halimote jury to the Sowy manor court at Westonzoyland by the late 13th century. By 1307 it appointed its own hayward. (fn. 15) A court for Othery manor, held in the church house by 1585, continued to meet until 1700 or later (fn. 16) and heriots and suit were claimed until 1748 or later. (fn. 17) A pound, recorded in 1515, (fn. 18) stood south-east of the church in 1904. (fn. 19)

The churchwardens paid for maintaining drainage, setting men to watch for flooding, (fn. 20) and destroying vermin. Travellers received alms in 1693. From 1783 one warden was appointed by the vicar. (fn. 21) The two overseers of the poor, apart from responsibilities for drainage, (fn. 22) provided relief in kind including turves for fuel and in 1782 a spinning wheel. (fn. 23)

A vestry, meeting by 1747, (fn. 24) was responsible for apprenticing poor children, one of whom set fire to his master's house twice, and authorising the overseers to pay exceptional bills such as indemnifying the tithingman against legal action in 1787 and keeping birds out of the cornfields. (fn. 25) In 1898 the vestry decided to provide a cemetery. During the early 20th century the vestry and parish council were both concerned with pollution and insanitary houses and shared an interest in obtaining local authority houses and a village hall. (fn. 26)

The church house (fn. 27) was leased by the lord of the manor to a group of parishioners for the use of the poor in 1656 and from 1700 was leased by the overseers for the same purpose. (fn. 28) In 1774 a loft was put in the house which was also glazed and thatched. The oven was repaired in the following year. The house was last recorded in 1810 and appears to have been given up before 1841. (fn. 29)

Othery formed part of the Bridgwater poor-law union from 1836 and from 1894 was part of Bridgwater rural district, which was absorbed into Sedgemoor district in 1974. (fn. 30)

DRAINAGE

In the Middle Ages the vill shared with Middlezoy and Westonzoyland responsibility for the maintenance of Greylake Fosse, for which it provided two of the supervisors, for Lake wall in Westonzoyland, and for Burrow wall. (fn. 31) The vill was also responsible for drainage and shared with Middlezoy the high cost of maintaining Burrow clyce from the 1360s or earlier. (fn. 32) It was also responsible with Aller manor for Pathelake or Cox's clyce and with Middlezoy for a third of Bultes clyce, probably at the end of Lake wall. The tenant who held Kinglake ferry was responsible for Sowyland clyce, which protected Sowy island, and Kinglake clyce. (fn. 33) Burrow and Southlake walls became the responsibility of Othery parish in the 16th century, and by 1600 the churchwardens rented land from the manor at Grove to support the maintenance of the wall. (fn. 1) In 1694 the churchwardens paid for cutting Southlake wall, presumably to alleviate flooding, and for stopping it up. (fn. 2)

Burrow clyce prevented tidal water from flowing into the Burrow Wall rhyne, (fn. 3) around the north of Burrow Mump, and carried the Taunton road on a bridge in the 17th century. (fn. 4) The clyce needed rebuilding in 1757 when Middlezoy agreed to share the cost and it was rebuilt again in 1802. In 1737 the parish made clyces in Southlake at Pathe and at Burrow Mump and agreed to maintain them for ever. (fn. 5) After 1830 responsibility passed to the Othery, Middlezoy, and Westonzoyland Drainage Commission, later Board, which considered providing Southlake with a steam engine in 1843. An engine was installed in 1846, east of the junction of the rivers Parrett and Tone, and was improved in 1861 and 1900. (fn. 6) In 1932 a separate Southlake drainage district was established under the Board. Its main responsibility was the pumping plant which was abandoned in 1948 and replaced by a diesel engine at a cost of £1,200 in 1949. (fn. 7)

CHURCH

ORIGINS, PATRONAGE AND ENDOWMENT

Othery was a chapelry of Sowy parish (fn. 8) with its own chaplain from the 13th century. (fn. 9) In 1515, when Sowy was divided, Othery became a separate parish with its own parish church and vicar. (fn. 10) The living remained a sole vicarage, although sometimes held in plurality with Middlezoy, (fn. 11) until 1952 when it was united with Middlezoy. Since 1980 it has also been joined with Moorlinch and its chapel at Stawell. (fn. 12) In 1840 part of the ecclesiastical parish of Othery was included in the new ecclesiastical parish of Burrowbridge. (fn. 13)

Parish chaplains were appointed by the rectors of Sowy, and after 1268 by the vicar. (fn. 14) After 1515 the patronage belonged to the lords of the manor; Glastonbury abbey presented in 1522, the Crown in 1544, and the bishop by lapse in 1555. (fn. 15) Thereafter the bishop continued to be patron and since 1980 has had the right to present on two turns in every three. (fn. 16)

The vicarage was worth £12 net in 1535. (fn. 17) Its reputed value c. 1673 was £20, (fn. 18) and in 1707 £19 10s. 2d. net, mainly from land. (fn. 19) In 1815 the vicar valued it at c. £60 (fn. 20) but in the early 1830s the average gross income was £166. (fn. 21) An augmentation out of the Common Fund of £110 a year was made in 1874. (fn. 22)

In 1535 the vicarial tithes were assessed at £5 14s. 4d. (fn. 23) No tithe was recorded in 1707, but the vicar received 6s. 8d. from non-parishioners for feeding sheep in the common fields and Easter offerings were worth £5. (fn. 24) By the 1780s the small tithes were paid by composition, (fn. 25) and in 1841 were commuted for £147. (fn. 26)

In 1515 the first vicar of Othery was assigned c. 20 a. including 2 a. opposite his house by exchange for land in the fields (fn. 27) and worth £2 in 1535. (fn. 28) The glebe measured c. 20 a. in 1613 although further exchanges had been made. (fn. 29) In 1707 the glebe was worth over £15. (fn. 30) It measured 17 a. in 1841 (fn. 31) but most of it was sold in 1920 and the remainder in 1952. (fn. 32)

In 1268 the vicar of Sowy had a house in Othery, formerly the rector's barn, (fn. 33) but in 1515 the vicar of Othery was assigned a house formerly part of a tenement on the manor. (fn. 34) A two-storeyed house was mentioned in 1609. (fn. 35) In 1740 the house, barn, and stable were decayed and the cost of repairing the stone and thatch house, rebuilding the cob and thatch barn, stable, and stall, and fencing the glebe was estimated at £207. (fn. 36) By 1824 the vicar considered the house unfit and by 1827 had moved to Middlezoy, of which he was curate, until a new house should be built. (fn. 37) In 1828 a two-storeyed house with a three-bayed front of brick and tile was built for the vicar, Charles Henry Lutwidge, (fn. 38) by George Chappel at a cost of over £420. (fn. 39) In 1832 the Revd. John Noble Shipton extended the house to provide a drawing room, china pantry, and extra bedrooms, built a coachhouse, stable yard, walls, and entrance gates, laid out pleasure grounds, and planted fruit trees. In 1855 the front wall of the house was demolished and rebuilt with bay windows to the design of John Norton. (fn. 1) The house and grounds were sold in 1952 and a new vicarage provided. In 1980 it was replaced by a new house. (fn. 2)

Figure 48: Othery church, 14th century, with tower heightened and strengthened in the 15th century

CHURCH LIFE

The first vicar of Othery, John Colmer (1515-22), was a graduate. (fn. 3) Richard Cogan, vicar 1615-39, was sued in 1630 for money given by his predecessor for the use of a poor family and in 1635 he appeared before the Court of High Commission. (fn. 4) In the later 18th century there were only ten communicants and gaming took place in the churchyard on Sundays. (fn. 5) In 1815 there were Sunday services alternately morning and afternoon as the vicar was curate of Middlezoy, like his successor. (fn. 6) By 1839 there were two Sunday services and communion was celebrated three times a year in 1840, monthly in 1870, and fortnightly by 1912. (fn. 7) John Noble Shipton D.D., vicar 1832-64, was a wealthy man who paid for extensive alterations, furnishings, and repairs to the church as well as work on the vicarage house. (fn. 8)

The parish clerk was paid 13s. 4d. under the terms of the establishment of the parish. (fn. 9) In 1515 a tenant of the manor owed service of carrying the holy loaf. (fn. 10) A church house was held of the manor by 1585, the lord of the manor claiming to hold courts there. It was built of lias and Cornish tile. (fn. 11) From 1656 it was used as a poor house. (fn. 12)

CHURCH FABRIC

The church of St. Michael, so dedicated by 1545, (fn. 13) was built in the early 14th century, remodelled in the 15th century, and partly rebuilt after 1844. It is cruciform and has a chancel with north vestry, a nave with north and south doors and south porch, and a central tower with transepts. In the 15th century the top stage of the tower and, probably, the diagonal buttresses which rest on squinches internally, were added; the south-east buttress is pierced by a squint-type opening aligned on the south-west, low-side chancel window. New windows were inserted in the north transept and the nave was provided with a south door with sanctuary ring, and an octagonal font. The rood stair in the south transept was replaced by a stair tower in the north-west angle of the tower and nave; the rood screen survived in the 1780s. (fn. 14) The porch, which retains its 15thcentury roof timbers, was mentioned in 1554. (fn. 15)

An eastern gallery, in existence in 1724, was moved to the west end in 1739. (fn. 16) It was removed in or before 1847 when the church was reseated (fn. 17) to designs by Benjamin Ferrey, using 17th-century bench ends, some with poppyheads and initials, purchased from William Stradling, antiquarian collector of Chilton Polden, (fn. 1) as well as new ones carved in a similar style by William Halliday. (fn. 2) The north vestry had been added by 1847, the north transept having been used previously for this purpose. (fn. 3) The outer walls of the south transept were rebuilt after 1844, when it was ruinous and blocked off from the rest of the church, and in a 'shameful condition'. (fn. 4) Roundels of medieval glass depicting the heads of three doctors of the Church have been preserved there. (fn. 5) The east end of the chancel was rebuilt in 13th-century style on its old foundations in 1850-2, probably to a design by John Norton, and provided with sedilia, stalls, Minton encaustic floor tiles, and an oak roof. A piscina was preserved in a window sill. (fn. 6) A Perpendicular-style wall monument commemorated the Revd. John Noble Shipton (d. 1864) who paid for the work. Stained glass by Hardman, Bell, and Holland of Warwick was installed in the 1850s in chancel, vestry, and north transept, (fn. 7) and in 1851 a new Perpendicular-style pulpit of Painswick stone replaced the timber one, dated 1616, which had stood in the church in the 1780s. (fn. 8) The tower was restored in 1849 (fn. 9) and in 1853 when pinnacles and niches were built; sculpted heads and angels were added in 1854-5. There has been subsequent repair owing to subsidence. (fn. 10) In 1861 the porch was rebuilt and the nave wall repaired and given new windows. (fn. 11) The west window is also of the 19th century. There is a memorial to Colonel John Chard, V.C. (d. 1897), who led the defence of Rorke's Drift, South Africa, and whose father lived at Pathe. (fn. 12)

The plate includes a silver chalice and paten of 1639 by 'D.G.'. (fn. 13) There are five bells; the oldest is of the 1650s by Robert Austen, and the others date from between 1692 and 1815. (fn. 14) The registers date from 1560, but the first register appears to be a late 17thcentury copy of the original, crudely arranged in alphabetical order of Christian names and with a gap from K-Q. The practice was followed in the second, originally civil, register. (fn. 15)

NONCONFORMITY

Houses were licensed for unspecified congregations in 1689, 1718, and 1720. (fn. 16) A house in Broad Lane was licensed for Methodists in 1752 and there was a Methodist teacher in 1764, (fn. 17) but the society may have been short-lived. Methodists were meeting for a time in 1817. (fn. 18) Baptist meetings were held on alternate Sundays and on weekday evenings at houses in the area in the 1830s and many Othery people attended the Ebenezer chapel near Burrowbridge. (fn. 19)

The Independent cause is said to have begun from Langport c. 1834, a chapel was built in 1836, and there was a resident minister by 1841. (fn. 20) Zion chapel at the north end of the village was registered for marriages in 1839. It was rebuilt in 1876 and a schoolroom was added in 1883. (fn. 21) In 1912 there were 103 members and average attendance at Sunday school was 99 children and 12 teachers. The resident minister was assisted by five lay preachers. (fn. 22) The burial ground was closed in 1902. (fn. 23) By 1952 the minister was looking after chapels as far away as Puriton but in 1961 the manse was in poor condition without water or drainage laid on. (fn. 24) The chapel, of squared sandstone rubble under a slate roof, has Ytraceried windows and a pointed door-opening with floral stops and ornamental door hinges. It was closed and put up for sale in 1998. (fn. 25)

EDUCATION

There was a schoolmaster at Othery in 1682 (fn. 26) and a man was licensed in 1704 to keep an English school in Othery and Middlezoy. (fn. 27) By 1819 there was a day school with c. 40 pupils (fn. 28) and by 1833 a second school had opened. The total number of pupils taught was 90, all at their parents' expense, and 93 children attended a Sunday school established in 1827 by subscription and affiliated to the National Society. (fn. 1) Numbers had fallen by 1839 to 33 at a private day school and 36 who went to Sunday school only. An unknown number attended Sunday school at the Congregational chapel. (fn. 2) No day school was recorded in 1847, when 61 children attended Sunday school. (fn. 3) By 1867 both the church and Congregational chapel had established day schools but attendance was poor, especially by boys, although there was a night school for four months during the winter. (fn. 4)

A school board was established compulsorily in 1877 (fn. 5) and a school was built in the following year in the middle of the village for 106 children. In 1903 there were 76 children on the books and an evening continuation school was held. (fn. 6) Average attendance fell from 65 in 1908 to 30 in 1948. After 1950 children were taken only to the age of 11 and numbers rose to a peak of 70 on the register in 1970. There were 56 children at the school in 1998. (fn. 7)

The red-brick school house is close in style to threebayed villas in the village but with a central gable and bargeboards. The single-storey schoolroom has similar details.

CHARITIES FOR THE POOR

Mary Harley, by will dated 1893, left £300 for a coal distribution twice each winter to poor members of the Church of England in Othery. Bags of coal were given to a few regular recipients until 1987 or later. By 2000 no distributions had been made for several years. (fn. 8)

Footnotes