Church micro #9378 Winford Multi-Cache
Leonards193: Time for this one to go
Church micro #9378 Winford
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The Church of St Mary and St Peter in Winford, Somerset, England, dates from the 15th Century. It has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.
If you walk around the church and follow the marked footpath, you will see Winford Aqueduct in the adjacent field, itself a Grade II listed building.
The 4-stage west tower, which was built around 1437, has set back buttresses, moulded string courses and the north-east corner has a polygonal stair turret.
Trefoil-headed open panel parapet with corner crocketted pinnacles and fine gargoyles. The top 3 stages have 2-light openings with hoodmoulds and lozenge stops, those below bell stage blind, those to bell stage louvred.
1st stage of west facade has deeply moulded pointed-arched doorway with 2-leaf doors and applied Gothic mouldings; light with intersecting tracery above. Above this a 3-light Gothic window.
An unidentified monument and a Shire Monument dating from around 1764 in the churchyard are also listed.
Winford is a pre-Conquest settlement and the first written record we have of it is in a will, dated 970AD. It is thought that its Old Saxon name, Winfrith, means ‘a happy holy stream’ which would have accurately described Winford Brook at that time. The entry in the Domesday Book tells us that the property of Winford, now listed as Wenfre, formerly held by the Saxon Lord Alfwold had been given to Geoffrey de Mowbray, half brother to William 1, and was valued at the grand total of 25s. Through several changes of ownership, usually dictated by the political climate of the time, Winford continued to thrive, with the brook playing no small part in its development. Although the area has always been predominately agricultural the brook has, over the centuries been used to power several mills, evidence of which can be found at various sites around the village such as Snuff Mill in Kentshare Lane, its name suggesting its origin, and in Littleton Lane the remains of one of the village’s former mill complexes is centred on Powdermill Farm, which produced gunpowder. The gunpowder works are thought to have started production in the mid 17th Century and 100 years later was the largest powder producing complex in the South West, apparently producing 3,500 barrels of gunpowder by 1762. Also based at Littleton from around 1450 onwards there would have been a Fulling Mill to turn local wool into felted cloth. The Redding pit would have been another source of employment, producing iron ore and redding to be used as a dye. The pit was reopened on a larger scale in 1871 and continued production until well after World War II.
The Church is dedicated to St Mary and St Peter, the two names commemorating the original church and chantry chapel where masses were said for the souls of the wealthier members of the community in medieval times. The nave of the church was replaced in the eighteenth century but the fine fifteenth century tower has survived. The date over the door of the Court is 1593 but it is assumed that this was one of the re-buildings of the manor which in earlier form probably pre-dates the church and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The cottages opposite the brook are known as ‘The Barracks’ and the footpath up to Dundry known as ‘The Drum’. Both names are believed to be a link with the Napoleonic Wars.
Beyond Court Farm the view is dominated by the aqueduct, a major feat of mid-nineteenth century engineering, perhaps the oldest surviving engineering work of its type in the country, which carries the principle water supply to Bristol via the Barrow tanks from the Mendips. It was not until 1846 that Winford had a school. The Curate, Rev Ward, raised the then huge sum of £324 14s 11d to build a fine school, large enough to accommodate 80 pupils.
It is interesting to note from the ancient documents a number of recurring names. Families that have been resident in this area since medieval times and are still active in the community provide us with fascinating links to the past. And we can actually boast a celebrity! Around 1320-30 a master mason was born, known as William of Wynford. He became famous as one of the most influential architects of his time and was appointed Master mason at Wells Cathedral, designing the West Tower and supervising the work. From there he went on to work at Windsor Castle, Corfe Castle, Abingdon Abbey and New College, Oxford. His final commissions were at Winchester Castle and Winchester College where his effigy can be found.
People have always been Winford’s best commodity. Although we live in a very different village today, it is still, at its heart, a rural community with a thriving church, chapel and pub and any number of local associations and services. The Brook, our ‘happy holy stream’ continues to run strongly through it's midst.
To find the cache work out the following:
N51º 22.DD(B+A-D)
W002º 39.(C+1)AC
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