Doulting
| Doulting | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Tithe Barn, Manor Farm, Doulting | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST645435 |
| Location: | 51°11’22"N, 2°30’26"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 618 (2011) |
| Post town: | Shepton Mallet |
| Postcode: | BA4 |
| Dialling code: | 01749 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Mendip |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Wells |
Doulting is a village in Somerset a mile and a half east of Shepton Mallet, on the A361 in the Whitstone Hundred of the county.
The parish includes the village of Bodden, which was founded in 1541 by Earl Michael Bodden (1512-1569). Also a part of the parish is Prestleigh which was on the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The viaduct that carried it over the village was demolished in 1996; the railway itself had been out of use for a number of years before this.
There is one pub in the village, the Prestleigh Inn.
History
Doulting village dates from the 8th century when King Ine of Wessex gave the local estate to Glastonbury Abbey after his nephew Aldhelm died in the village in 709.[1][2] In his honour the local spring which is the source of the River Sheppey is called St Aldhelm's Well. The well head was built in the late 19th century and incorporates a wrought-iron pump handle. It is marked with a cast-iron plate with raised initials: "W.N.F.M.", and an additional brass memorial plaque dating from 1976.[3] Folklore has attributed healing powers to the water from the well.[4]
The poet John Edmund Reade went to school in Doulting, and later wrote a poem about a return visit there, called 'Lines upon Doulting Sheep-slate', [5][6] a "sheep-slate" being a piece of pasture used for grazing sheep.[7] In it he says that:
Grey Doulting's spire above the waste a sheeted spectre rose;
And Mendip's bleak and barren heights again enclosed me round,
Like faces of forgotten friends met on forgotten ground.
Parish church
The parish church is also dedicated to St Aldhelm and dates from the 12th century. It is a Grade I listed building,[8] and has a tall spire rather than the towers which are more usual in Somerset. It has a two-storey porch which incorporates a carving of the Green Man into its vaulting.[2]
The local primary school is dedicated to St Aldhelm as well.[9]
About the village
The tithe barn at the southern end of the village dates from the 15th century and was used to store tithes, from the local farmers to the ecclesiastical landlord at Glastonbury Abbey.[10]
Around the village there are some extensive quarries of freestone, from which Wells Cathedral and later additions to Glastonbury Abbey and other churches were built.[2] Doulting Stone Quarry has been producing stone since Roman times. Until 1994 it was operated by Amalgamated Roadstone Corporation (part of Hanson plc since 1989), at which time the landowner terminated the tenancy and now operates the quarry as an independent business.[11] The stone is oolite of middle Jurassic age deposited as sediments in fairly shallow coastal seas.[12]
The heritage East Somerset Railway runs just to the south of the village, and terminates at the Mendip Vale railway station.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Doulting) |
References
- ↑ Powicke, Sir F. Maurice (editor) [1939] (1961). Handbook of British Chronology, p. 254. London: The Royal Historical Society.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Scott, Shane (1995). The hidden places of Somerset. Aldermaston: Travel Publishing Ltd. p. 58. ISBN 1-902007-01-8.
- ↑ {{NHLE|1221315|Well head with pump at NGR ST64684318
- ↑ "St Aldhelm's well, Doulting, Somerset". Living Spring Journal. http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/living-spring/journal/issue1/dipping/kjorald1.htm. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
- ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, : Reade, John Edmund
- ↑ Reade, John Edmund (1857). Poetical Works, Volume IV. London: Longman. p. 241. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TcMVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA242.
- ↑ "Sheep-lease". The complete Farmer: or a gen. Dictionary of Husbandry. London. 1767. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bXVDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PT593&dq.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1217750: Church of St Aldhelm
- ↑ "St Aldhelm's Primary School". St Aldhelm's Primary School. http://www.staldhelms.co.uk/. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1221353: Tithe Barn in farmyard at Manor Farm
- ↑ Quarry History: Doulting Stone Quarry
- ↑ "Geology". Doulting Stone Quarry. http://doultingstonequarry.co.uk/?Geology. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
