_Stowey_, a parish 2 m. W. of Clutton. It has a small church,
noteworthy for the irregularity of its windows (the small one in the S.
wall was originally the S. door). It has a 14th cent. font (note the
cockle-shell); and an interesting bit of sculpture is built into the
exterior N. wall of the chancel. Near it is an incised pair of shears
(a woolstaplers' mark). Not far from the church is an old manor house,
half of which has been destroyed. Within the parish is _Sutton Court_
(Sir E. Strachey), a house which has historical associations, for here
Bishop Hooper found an asylum during the Marian persecution. The
mansion is of considerable antiquity, parts of it dating from the reign
of Edward II., and others from Tudor times.
_Stowey, Nether_, a village 9 m. W. from Bridgwater (from which place
there is a motor service). It owes its interest to having been the
residence of S.T. Coleridge from 1796 to 1798: his cottage, marked by a
tablet, is at the end of the village on the Minehead road. Both
"Christabel" and "The Ancient Mariner," as well as several of his
shorter poems, are said to have been partly written in this
neighbourhood. Here he must have entertained Wordsworth, Charles Lamb,
William Hazlitt, and many others of his literary friends. A movement
has been recently started to purchase the cottage for the nation. The
church contains nothing of note except a mural tablet in memory of
Thomas Poole, described as the friend of "Wordsworth and Davy (i.e. Sir
Humphrey), Southey, and Coleridge": his tomb is on the W. side of the
S. door. The two painted mitres beneath the roof-beams commemorate two
vicars who became bishops (Majendie of Chester and Fisher of Exeter).
[Illustration: NETHER STOWEY]
Near the church is _Stowey Court_, a 15th cent. mansion which was
garrisoned in the Civil War. There are three fish ponds in the grounds,
and a curious summer-house (called the "Gazébo") overlooking the road
(cp. Montacute). On Castle hill (take road to left where the highway
from Bridgwater forks at the sign-post) are the foundations and
ramparts of a castle, the last owner of which, James, Lord Audley, was
executed for supporting Perkin Warbeck. The site is worth visiting for
the prospect alone.
_Stowey, Over_, a parish 9 m. W. of Bridgwater, situated on the slopes
of the Quantocks. Its church has some carved bench ends of an ordinary
type, but otherwise contains little of interest. _Quantock Lodge_ (E.J.
Stanley) is in the parish.
_Stratton on the Fosse_, a village standing (as its name implies) on
the old Roman road, 1 m. S.E. from Chilcompton Station. The parish
church (ded. to St Vigor) is entirely overshadowed by its Roman
neighbour, Downside Abbey. It is a poor little building, with a debased
tower; but preserves one or two remnants of Norm. work (e.g. a S.
doorway and a fragment of the original apse). Within is a small 15th
cent. stone pulpit, and a Norm. font.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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