Pendomer is a village and former

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in the parish of

Closworth Closworth is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, south of Yeovil, on the border with Dorset. The village has a population of 220. The parish includes the villages of Pendomer and Sutton Bingham, the location for Sutton Bingham M ...

, 4.5 miles south-west of

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

, in the county of

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England, and on the border with

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

Twentieth-century administrative changes

Civil parish

In 1931, the parish had a population of 54. On 1 April 1933, the civil parish of Pendomer was united with that of

and

Sutton Bingham Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * Su ...

Ecclesiastical parish

In 1906, the

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

s of Pendomer and Sutton Bingham were united to form the benefice of Pendomer with Sutton Bingham. In 1969, this amalgam was divided, and the historical parish of Pendomer was united with

Hardington Mandeville Hardington Mandeville is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 585. History The Hardington part of the name of the village means ''settlement of Heardred's people''. ...

to form the benefice of Hardington Mandeville with Pendomer. In 1981, the benefice of Hardington Mandeville with Pendomer was united with the benefice of East Chinnock.

Geography

In 1919, the parish covered 1,114 acres. The contiguous parishes were Hardington Mandeville,

East Coker East Coker is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its nearest town is Yeovil, to the north. The village has a population of 1,667. The parish includes the hamlets and areas of North Coker, Burton, Holywell, Coker Marsh, Darvole, ...

, and

Halstock __NOTOC__ Halstock is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated approximately south of Yeovil in Somerset. It lies on the route of the ancient Harrow Way. In the 2011 census the parish had a population o ...

. The village of Pendomer stands at the end of a no through road, with access via Hardington, East Coker, and Halstock. The surrounding vale is on Fuller's Earth Clay, which can be sticky after prolonged rainfall. Birt's Hill, which is over 500 feet above sea level, was, in 1887, used to fire signal rockets to celebrate

Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 and 21 June 1887 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, and a banquet to which ...

. Other high ground is at Kit Hill (336), Pen Hill (365), and Abbot's Hill (c. 400). "Broad River," a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

River Parrett The River Parrett is a river that flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the So ...

, begins in the fields south of the village. Pen Wood lies on the northern slope of Birt's Hill. In 1958, the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

bought the wood (which covered 242 acres) along with other land in Pendomer, East Coker, and Sutton Bingham. Between 1964 and 1967, the Commission cleared and replanted 80% of the area, leaving the remainder to conserve the flora and fauna. The railway line between

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

and

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a major central London railway terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Undergroun ...

runs through the parish. The Macmillan Way Abbotsbury-Langport Link crosses the parish diagonally from northwest to southeast, intersecting with the village.

History

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'' has an entry for Pendomer under the name "Penne." In the 12th century, "domer" was added to denote ownership by the Domer family. Pendomer's tithe map was surveyed by William Wadham of Martock in 1840. The railway line was built between 1858 and 1860. The single track line was opened on 19 July 1860, and subsequently improved to double lines, which was opened on 1 June 1866. Two ganger's cottages stood near the bridge at Kit Hill until their demolition in the late 1960s. During the 19th and early 20th century, the Helyar/Heneage family of Coker Court owned much of the parish. This family also held the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

of the church until 1958. In the 19th and early 20th century, the farms in the parish comprised Abbot's Hill, Bryant's, Grove, Kit Hill, Lower Pen, Manor, Parsonage, and Pen Hill. A school opened in the village in 1875. In the 1880s, it closed and the village children were sent to East Coker School instead. During the Second World War, Austin, Arthur, and Alan Whetham (three brothers born in the village) and John Philip Jones (of Pen Hill Farm) made up half of the top secret "Coker Patrol", part of Churchill's clandestine resistance network. Alan Whetham later joined the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and was killed in action in Belgium in February 1945. The population as recorded by the decennial census was as follows: Pendomer - geograph

Literary references

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

's poem, "At Wynyard's Gap", the unnamed gentleman tells his female hunting companion that the hounds have headed in full cry "Towards Pen Wood...and bear towards the Yeo."

Notable people

Pendomer Rectory was the childhood home of Brigadier-General Arthur Beaumont Helyar

C.B.E. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1858-1933), of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, whose commands included the Territorial Artillery (Lowland Division)

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

between 1908 and 1912, the artillery of the 13th Division in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in 1915, and the artillery of the 10th Division in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and on the Bulgarian frontier in 1915-16. His grave is in Pendomer churchyard, close to those of his parents, brother, and two of his sisters.M. T. Medycott, ''Monumental Inscriptions of Pendomer, Somerset'', (1993), memorials 8-13.

External links

Manorial documents register

Entry for Pendomer in John Collinson's ''History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset'' (1791)

References

{{reflist Villages in Somerset Former civil parishes in Somerset