Chedington

Chedington is a small village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated near the A356 road 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Crewkerne in Somerset.

Chedington Court itself was completely rebuilt in 1840 by the then owner William Trevelyan Cox, as a flamboyant, Jacobean-style mansion where curvilinear gables feature prominently.

Across the narrow thoroughfare, directly opposite to Chedington Court, is the 16th-century Manor Farm, much altered in the 17th c. The porch of this dressed-stone building, bears the inscription "Thomas Warren 1634".

[2] "Tucked into the deep hills of western Dorset, just off the major tourist routes across England, Chedington is so small that its handful of cottages doesn't even appear on some large-scale maps.

He had travelled from the battlefield through a series of safe-houses through Castle Cary to Trent Manor House and then to Charmouth staying at the Queen's Arms.

Chedington Court, which dates from 1285, was re-built in old Ham Stone in Jacobean-style in 1840, a Grade II listed property[6] with grounds and parkland of 31 acres which included the source of the River Parrett, with that of the Axe being nearby.

It had received good reviews, including The New York Times in June 1987, "Ten acres of garden containing a lovely variety mature trees and shrubs.

There were sweeping lawns, elegant terraces and a summer house nestling under an ancient yew hedge close to a landscaped pool.

[10] However, the hotel was sold in 1997 to Canadian businessman Brendan Clouston for £1.2 million and returned to residential use, upsetting the local villagers in the process.

It involved Mary Squires, an ageing gypsy, accused with Mrs Susannah 'Mother' Wells of carrying out an abduction (Elizabeth Canning) for prostitution, as brothel matrons.

The newly elected Lord Mayor of London, a notable humanitarian and freeman of the Brewers' Company named Sir Crisp Gascoyne (1700–61), reviewed fresh evidence and eventually, Mary Squires secured a pardon, but Susannah Wells, was less fortunate as she had already been hanged.

Along here, through Winyard's Gap, King Charles led his troops after successful West Country campaigns in 1644 in England during the Civil War.

[7] After the First World War, the National Trust, which owns Winyard's Gap, donated 16 acres of land here for a memorial to the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division of the Dorsetshire Regiment and a replica[21][22] of the monument found on Hill 112 at Caen in Normandy was erected.

St James church, postcard c.1906
Chedington Court