Preston Plucknett is a suburb of Yeovil in Somerset, England. It was once a small village, and a separate civil parish until 1930, when it was absorbed into the neighbouring parishes of Yeovil,

Brympton Brympton is a civil parish and electoral ward in Somerset, England. The parish is situated on the north-west edge of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The parish/ward has a population of 7,308. The civil parish covers the western part of t ...

and West Coker. It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Preston" (

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

: ''preost tun'', "priest farm/settlement") when its lord was Ansger of

Montacute Montacute is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 831 (2011 census). The name Montacute is thought by some to derive from the Latin "Mons Acutus", referrin ...

(Alfward before 1066). In the 13th century, Alan de Plugenet was lord of the manor and added his surname to Preston. Following the 20th century expansion of Yeovil, Preston Plucknett became little more than a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of the town. Throughout the centuries the spelling and pronunciation of the name has changed and evolved until it became the present day "Preston Plucknett." The parish of Preston Plucknett was part of the Stone Hundred. The village church, dedicated to

St James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints *James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater **Saint James Matamoro ...

, dates from 1420, and has a 20 m (60 ft) tower with six bells. The church was restored and partially rebuilt during the 1860s. A vestry was added in the 1950s and an annexe in 1979, which was expanded in 2001. It became a separate parish church in 1988: until that time, it had been a church of St John’s, the parish church of Yeovil. It has a daughter church, St Peter's, built in the 1930s. The tithe barn at Preston Plucknett was included in the fifth list of ancient monuments prepared by the

Commissioner of Works A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

in 1925. The Abbey Barn and associated Abbey Farm House are both Grade I listed buildings. The still preserved manor house of Preston Plucknett was built in the early 15th century, around 1420, by John Stourton (d. 1438; cousin of his namesake John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton), a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

, and several times Member of Parliament for Somerset, who, helped by three good marriages, accumulated a respectable wealth. The manor was left to his third and surviving spouse, Katherine Payne, and eventually inherited by his three daughters, one of which, Alice, was married to Sir

William Daubeney William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...

and was the mother of Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney. The village is included in '' The Meaning of Liff'' defined as "a very large string bag made of thin strong cord into which feathers from freshly killed ducks and chickens were stuffed, from Preston in Lancashire".

References

*S. J. Gunn, "Daubeney, Giles, first Baron Daubeney (1451/2–1508)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 4 Dec 2005
*G. L. Harriss, "Stourton family (per. c. 1380–1485)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 4 Dec 2005

External links

{{Commons category, Preston Plucknett
The history of St James' Church, Preston Plucknett, Yeovil
(from the church's website)
Records pertaining to Preston Pluckett
in collections in the

British National Archives , type = Non-ministerial department , seal = , nativename = , logo = Logo_of_The_National_Archives_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg , logo_width = 150px , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , juris ...

.
St Peters Church, Preston Plucknett, Yeovil
(from the church's website)

References

External links

Further reading