Tag: National Trust

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Wessex Attractions: Branscombe

Branscombe is a village at the Western end of Devon’s Jurassic Coast, It features a sand and shingle beach, and three National Trust properties: a blacksmith’s forge dating from around 1580; a 19th century watermill; and a thatched bakery which is now used as a tea room.

The name is Celtic in origin, from the personal name Bran, and the word “cwm”, a valley, which later became one of the few Brythonic loan words into Old English (as “combe”). The order of the syllables suggests that the name is Saxon in origin, as a Celtic name would have put the personal name element after the topographic one, as in Cwmbran in Wales.

Branscome was once the haunt of smugglers, and a network of tunnels was discovered in the first decade of the last century. More recently it was the site of the salvaging of the shipwrecked cargo ship MSC Napoli, a salvage operation that took two and a half years.

The village was formerly a centre for the lace industry, giving its name to Branscombe point, a style used by lacemakers to this day. Unlike neighbouring Honiton, Branscombe lace was made using needles rather than bobbins, The lace was thicker than Honiton lace, and slightly quicker to make.

The postcode for satnav purposes is EX12 3DB, and the village is served by Axe Vale Mini-Travel bus number 899, from Sidmouth to Seaton.

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Wessex Attractions: Treasurer’s House

Treasurer’s House is a small house in Martock dating back to the reign of Edward I, and now owned by the National Trust. It was built in 1293, though the kitchen and great hall were added in the 15th century. It is the second-oldest building in Somerset, after the Bishop’s Palace in Wells.

In 1995, the 16th-century whitewash was removed from a wall in one of the upper chambers, revealing an unusual fresco depicting the crucifixion. It seems likely that the whitewashing was a result of the Protestant reformation, with its strictures against religious images.

The Treasurer’s House is located along the B3165 Church Road in Martock, opposite the church and the village stocks! The nearest bus stop is The Pinnacle, served by routes 10C, 52 and 652. The postcode is TA12 6JL.

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Wessex Attractions: Mompesson House

Mompesson House is an 18th century townhouse in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close, owned by the National Trust and named after Charles Mompesson, for whom it was built in 1701. At the time of writing, it is closed for winter, but will reopen in the spring of 2023.

After Mompesson died in 1714, the house passed to his brother-in-law, Charles Longueville. and thereafter to a succession of different families, until it passed to the National Trust upon the death of its last owner, Denis Martineau, in 1975. It opened to the public in 1977.

The house is noted for its walled garden, and its collection of 18th century drinking glasses. Admission costs £8 for adults and £4 for children. Its postcode is SP1 2EL, and being in the Cathedral Close, it is not difficult to find.

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Wessex Attractions: The Cerne Abbas Giant

Debate has long raged over the age of the Rude Man of Cerne Abbas, Britain’s largest chalk figure. Was it prehistoric? Roman? Or was it an elaborate wind-up of Oliver Cromwell’s puritans? In 2020, the National Trust, which owns the site, sent a team of archaeologists to thoroughly examine the sediment on the hillside in order to provide a definitive answer. After a year-long survey, the team concluded that the chalk figure was probably late Saxon in origin. However, the earliest record of the giant dates back to 1694. The most likely explanation is that it was early medieval originally, but had become overgrown, and was rediscovered some time in the late 17th century.

According to some of the more fanciful medieval “histories”, the figure was a representation of a pagan deity named Helith, who was worshipped in the area, When St Augustine of Canterbury tried to convert the villagers of Cerne Abbas during his mission to the English, they mocked him and his missionaries by pinning fish tails to their backs, a parody of the Christian ΙΧΘΥΣ symbol. As punishment, God made them sprout fish tails for real.

During World War 2, the giant was allowed to become obscured again, to prevent it from being used as a landmark by Luftwaffe bombers. Since then, it has been re-chalked every decade or so, a process that requires some 17 tonnes of chalk each time, while sheep are allowed to graze on the hill, in order to keep the grass short.

The Wessex Ridgeway passes within a mile of the giant. and it is only a quarter of a mile from the village of Cerne Abbas. On weekdays, Damory Coaches bus service 216 between Dorchester and Sherborne stops at the viewing area. The postcode, for satnav purposes, is DT2 7AL.

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Wessex Attractions: Ebbor Gorge

Ebbor Gorge is a 157-acre carboniferous limestone gorge in Somerset owned by the National Trust, managed by English Nature and close to Wookey Hole. The gorge is part of the Clifton Down limestone formation, a unit of the Pembroke limestone group. There is evidence of human habitation dating back to paleolithic times, along with animal remains of lemmings, steppe pika, reindeer and red deer. The latter exist in small numbers in the gorge to this day.

Ebbor gorge was declared a site of special scientific interest in 1952 and a national nature reserve in 1968. As well as the aforementioned red deer, it is home to horseshoe bats (greater and lesser), and several threatened species of butterfly. The humid environment makes it an ideal habitat for fungi and ferns, while bluebells and wood anemones are also abundant.

The postcode, for satnav purposes is BA5 1AY, and there is a free car park, open from dawn till dusk. First Bus 126 from Weston-super-Mare to Wells passes through Easton, about a mile and a half from Ebbor Gorge.