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A Suspicious Looking Box in Chard

A Suspicious Looking Box in Chard

A Suspicious Looking Box in Chard In late February 1915, there was a minor sensation in the Chard area when it was reported that a ‘suspicious-looking box’ was unearthed during road works near the Axewater Bridge which spanned the Dorset and Somerset county boundary just outside Winsham. Recent floods had caused the road to subside and Thorncombe contractor, Fred Reed and his gang were busy reinstating the carriageway. Fred was shovelling some soil when he was surprised to turn up…

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Dowlish Wake – From Africa’s Sunny Clime to the Yukon’s Frozen Wastes

Dowlish Wake – From Africa’s Sunny Clime to the Yukon’s Frozen Wastes

St. Andrew’s Church looks south across the roofs of Dowlish Wake to the tree lined ridge of Windwhistle and within its walls rests a man whose destiny lay in the heat of Africa far beyond these green hills. For centuries the interior of Africa had been a great mystery, but by the end of the 18th century, explorers were starting to unlock its secrets. In 1770 a Scotsman, James Bruce, reached the source of the Blue Nile, but the greatest…

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A November Wedding

A November Wedding

On Thursday 21 November 1867, the Parish Church of Maperton, near Wincanton, was the scene of the society wedding of Charlotte Elizabeth Harriet, the eldest daughter of Major H T G Fitz-Gerald, of Maperton House, to Captain J T Coke. The Western Gazette, reporting on the occasion, wrote that: ‘The bridal party proceeded from the residence of Major Fitz-Gerald to the church, which is close by, on foot, the pathway having been covered with cocoa-nut matting. The approaches to the…

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Compton Pauncefoot – St Andrew’s

Compton Pauncefoot – St Andrew’s

A Memorial in Glass and a Great Escape Traffic thunders along the A303 London to Exeter road less than a mile from St Andrew’s Church, yet the small village of Compton Pauncefoot, with its backdrop of hills and woods, could be miles from the hurly burly of the 21st century. This pleasant 15th century church with its spire, rare in South Somerset, sits beside a small village green accompanied by a splendid Georgian Rectory and an 18th century Manorhouse. Walk…

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A Cruel Murder at Weymouth

A Cruel Murder at Weymouth

A memorial stone in St Mary’s Church, Weymouth reads: ‘This stone was erected in remembrance of the cruel murder committed on the body of Ffloyd Morgan (who lies here) on the 27th April 1792 aged 22. Here mingling with my fellow clay, I wait the awful judgement day: And there my murderers shall appear Although escaped from justice here’ And this is the story. Early in the morning of Friday 27 April 1792, the body of a young man was…

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Villains and Heroes

Villains and Heroes

On a Saturday night in April 1790 fire broke out at the Greyhound Inn on South Street destroying the cellar and several outhouses. A couple of days later, a second fire was discovered in some outbuildings but it was extinguished before it could spread to the Inn. When a third fire broke in the next door smithy, arson was suspected and 19 years-old Alexander Pearce, a servant at the Greyhound was arrested. He was put on trial at the Somerset…

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