Marston Bigot
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Marston Bigot is a small village in the civil parish of
Trudoxhill Trudoxhill is a village and civil parish near Nunney in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. History The name Trudoxhill comes from the Old English ''treow'' meaning tree, ''dox'' for dark and ''hyll'' for hill. The parish includes the vi ...
, near
Nunney Nunney is a village and civil parish in the Mendip local government district within the English county of Somerset. It is located south-west of Frome and the parish includes the hamlet of Holwell. The name of the village comes from Old Englis ...
and south of
Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...
in
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
, England.


History

Marston Bigot was listed as "Mersitone-tora" in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, which gave the name of the then Saxon landowner as Robert Arundel. It became known as Marston Bigot some time after it was given by
William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
to Roger de Bigod, which later became the Bigott family. The manor of Marston Bigot was held by the Crown after the execution of Lord
Charles Stourton, 8th Baron Stourton Charles Stourton, 8th Baron Stourton (c. 1520 – 1557) was an English peer who was executed for murder. Life He was the eldest son of William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton and Elizabeth Dudley, daughter of Edmund Dudley, a key adviser to Henry ...
in 1557. It was sold by
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
in 1596 to William Brown and James Orenge, or Orange. The parish was part of the
hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of
Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...
. Nearby is
Marston Moat Marston Moat is the site of a fortified manor house in the parish of Trudoxhill, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is now on the Heritage at Risk Register due to animal burrowing. The wide moat which m ...
the site of a fortified manor house.


Marston Bigot Park

Marston Bigot Park encompasses approximately and includes Marston House, Marston Pond and the remains of the medieval shrunken village of Lower Marston.


House

The earliest description of Marston House is contained in a letter from
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (13 October 1566 – 15 September 1643), also known as the Great Earl of Cork, was an English politician who served as Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland. Lord Cork was an important figure in the continuing ...
, in 1641, when he purchased the Manor from Sir John Hippisley. In 1714, Marston was inherited by Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery, who rebuilt it. The house later passed to
John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork and 5th Earl of Orrery, FRS (13 January 1707 – 16 November 1762) was a writer and a friend of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson. The only son of Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery, and his wife Lady ...
, and successive generations, who each left their mark on the house and grounds, including
Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork and 7th Earl of Orrery (21 November 1742 – 30 May 1798) was an Irish peer and Somerset landowner. Family A younger son of the 5th Earl of Cork and Margaret Hamilton, he succeeded to his half-brother's titles on 17 ...
who added Marston Pond, a boathouse, and three gate lodges. However late in the 19th century the house fell into disrepair and it was sold in 1905 to the Bonham-Christie family. Marston House and its grounds were used by the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and were finally rescued from dereliction in 1984 by John and Angela Yeoman of Foster Yeoman Ltd, and used as the company headquarters. Foster Yeoman put the house on the market in 2012 at a price of £6 million. The house is a Grade II*
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. It is built of squared and coursed
Doulting Doulting is a village and civil parish east of Shepton Mallet, on the A361, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. History The parish of Doulting was part of the Whitstone Hundred. The parish includes the village of Bodden, which wa ...
stone with a slate roof and
balustraded A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...
parapet, located on a long terrace with stone urns. The house is long but generally only deep, therefore presenting a massive facade when viewed from the park. In the three-storey central block of this front are four Ionic columns, which were built by Sir
Jeffry Wyattville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatvill ...
around 1817, with two-storey wings on either side, which were added in 1776 by
Samuel Wyatt Samuel Wyatt (8 September 1737, Weeford, Staffs. – London, 8 February 1807) was an England, English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th- and 19th-century English architects, his work was prima ...
.


Gardens

The garden at Marston House is listed Grade II in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The
gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
were laid out by
Stephen Switzer Stephen Switzer (1682–1745) was an English gardener, garden designer and writer on garden subjects, often credited as an early exponent of the English landscape garden. He is most notable for his views of the transition between the large garden ...
between 1724 and 1745. They cover an approximately rectangular area of approximately . They include a rustic, rectangular-shaped, above-ground
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
grotto dating from 1743, north-east of the house near the Frome road, which was built by James Scott. Much of the 18th century layout is now hidden by a lake which was created in the 1820s and 1830s, as part of a restyling in the style of Capability Brown, with advice from William Sawrey Gilpin.


Church

The small stone church, dedicated to St Leonard, was built on the site of an older one and was opened to the public in 1789. It has a tower containing a fine peal of eight bells. It was altered in 1844 by Edward Davis. The
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
has three bays with semi-circular headed windows with heavily enriched surrounds and an elaborate hammerbeam roof. It has been designated by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
as a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The stained glass in the east window dates from the 15th century and is from
Altenberg Abbey Altenberg Abbey (''Abtei Altenberg'') ( la, Vetus Mons) is a former Cistercian monastery in Altenberg, now a part of the municipality of Odenthal in the Bergisches Land, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History The abbey was founded in 113 ...
near
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It depicts a scene from the early life of St Bernard, the driving force of the Cistercian order.
Henry Waldegrave, 11th Earl Waldegrave Henry Noel Waldegrave, 11th Earl Waldegrave (14 October 1854 – 30 December 1936) was a British peer and minister of religion. Waldegrave was born in 1854, the posthumous son of William Waldegrave, Viscount Chewton (the eldest son of William ...
, was
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of the village from 1905 to 1912, and lived in the rectory, which is also a listed building.


References


External links

{{Commons category-inline, Marston Bigot Villages in Mendip District