swuklink: Parish Church of St John the Evangelist, Milborne Port, <a href="BAAAGBYS.php">Dorset</a>

Milborne Port, Somerset OS Grid Ref: ST675188

The County of Somerset
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Parish Church of St John, Milborne Port, Somerset

HISTORY

ARCHITECTURE

THE BELLS

There was a peal of six bells at St John's by the early 17th century which were recast in 1736. Their number was increased to eight by the gift of Sir William Medlycott in 1846 (although No. 8 was recast in 1858). The tenor bell weighs nearly one and a half tons and the peal combined, over five.

For a period of forty years the bells could only be chimed and not rung owing to the condition of the frame and mounting. In 1908 they were rehung on a new oak frame and the Tower was repaired.

There appears to have been a very keen spirit of competition amongst the bellfounders, Bilbie of Chewstoke, Knight of Blandford and Cockey of Frome - An inscription on one of the bells reads;-

Come here! friend Knight and Cockey too. Such work as this you cannot do

... another bell is inscribed;-

Thomas Bilbie made all we

THE FONT

MEMORIALS

OTHER FITTINGS & FURNITURE

THE CHURCHYARD

The Churchyard was considerably extended in the 19th century. Sir William Meldycott gave 1 rood and 13 perches of land to the east to add to it in 1854. In January of the following year, a number of trees were planted (including those which surround the Medlycott vault where seven of the family were interred between 1879 and 1966) and the new land was consecrated on April 28th.

It was further extended to the north-west when the vicarage which stood on what is now known as the "Church Lawn" was demolished c. 1872. This land was never consecrated so there have been no burials there. The War Memorial to those who lost their lives in the Great War was erected in 1921 on this land.

Prankerd's Charity still exists and the assets of three other parish charities were transferred to it in 1992.

Among the old tombs in the churchyard are six surviving chest tombs. The oldest is one of the two to the south of the nave. They bear inscriptions to the Prankerd family. The earliest of these is to Thomas Prankerd who died in 1609 and also records details of the charity he founded and its augmentation in 1699.

To the north are the chest tombs of the Pettman (from 1679>, Scott (from 1688) and Shepherd (from 1806) families. To the south-west, of the Raymonds (from 1686).

To the south-east of the church is the modern memorial marking the grave of the author Emma Raymond Pitman amongst whose 25 works is "Memorials of the Congregational Church, Milborn Port" (1883). other modern memorials include those to Silas Dyke and Thomas Ensor, the principal glove manufacturers of the town.

Although it retains its name, the mortuary is used to shelter the mowers which a team of volunteers use to look after the churchyard.

The Mortuary, St John's Churchyard, Milborne Port, Somerset

THE MORTUARY
The mortuary stands near the north-western corner of the churchyard. It was built at the time of the enlargement of the church and contains some of the materials from its fabric. These include the doorway, the niches to either side of it, the sculptured face above the door and the round windows within borders.