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Milborne Port, Somerset OS Grid Ref: ST675188
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Maps from Multimap |
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THE GUILDHALL
The Guildhall in the High Street |
The Guildhall stands on the south side of the High Street next to the butcher's shop.
Its ancient door, set in a Norman Arch, possesses fine ornamnetal ironwork and a doorplate depicting a lion and a unicorn. Within the door was housed the old village goal and, above it, the Guildhall meeting room which is still used, as it has been for centuries by the Commonalty.
The Commonalty was originally a merchant guild but is now a charity. Twice a year, it distributes money to the "second poor" of the borough. It owns twenty two houses and three shops which provide it with a valuable rental income.
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MILBORNE's MILLS
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The Watermill at Milborne Wick |
In 1087, at the time of the Domesday survey, Milborne is recorded as possessing no less than six mills along the little river Gascoinge. They served the woollen, flax and hosiery industries which were the mainstay of the medeival village's economy and contributed greatly to its prosperity which earned it the status of a borough.
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The origins of the first part of the name of the village, 'Milborne', are derived from the combination of 'mill' and 'bourne' (meaning stream or torrent). |
The mill at Kingsbury, on the eastern side of Milborne Port still survives, as does that at Milborne Wick (a small hamlet upstream and to the north of Newtown).
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THE PARISH CHURCH
of St John the Evangelist
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The parish church, dedicated to St John the Evangelist, can be reached from the High Street by turning south next to Oxford's Bakers Shop into the Garden of Remembrance (which was once the old "fives or ball court". From here go through the ironwork gate.
A church has stood on this site since Saxon times, being built about the year AD940.
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THE OLD CHURCH SCHOOLHOUSE
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The grand former Church Schoolhouse on the corner of Gainsborough and the A30 Sherborne Road was built in 1863 by the Meldycott family and closed it doors as a school in 1979.
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THE TOWN or MARKET HALL
 The Town Hall in the High Street from the east |
The Town or Market Hall, standing in the High Street on the corner of North Street, was built c.1700. As was common at the time of its buiding, 'Town Hall ', the rooms where the Mayor and Burgesses of the borough met, would be on the upper floor and the area below would be open to house market stalls. The arches of the lower storey have since been filled in.
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A Village Hall was built in 1982 so that Milborne Port is probably unique in having both a Town Hall and a Village Hall. |
Built privately as a Market Hall, the building was purchased by the parish in 1950. it has seen a number of uses including service as a schoolhouse and museum. It's arches also housed the fire engine presented to the town by Thomas Medlycott in 1733 (it is now in Taunton Museum).
On the upper storey is the meeting hall where the Parish Council hold their deliberations and a mens' hair-dresser. The lower storey houses the Parish Clerk's office and the Womens' Institure Centre.
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VEN HOUSE
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The Queen Anne mansion which stands at the eastern end of the village, on the Salisbury road was the seat of the Medlycott family for over two hundred years.
Built in 1698 by James Medlycott, it was much altered in 1835.
Ven House is a Grade I Listed Building.
Its gardens are included in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
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VICARAGE
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The present Vicarage
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on the opposite side of Bathwell Lane to the Parish Church, was erected in 1937.
The 'Old Vicarage'
which it replaced stands across the stream, to the west of the
Parish Church and off the A30 Sherborne Road. It was built in 1872 and is now a
hotel and restaurant.
An earlier vicarage stood in what is now the north-western corner of the churchyard (where the War Memorial and
Mortuary now stand). Its porch
was rebuilt on the west of the junction of Gainsborough and the A30 Sherborne
Road, opposite the Old Church Schoolhouse. It bears the date 1662 and the initials of the Vicar of Milborne at
the time, Nathaniel Napper.
VILLAGE CROSS - 'THE CLUMP '
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The Village Cross stood at the main junction of the town, near the Town Hall where the High Street meets North and South Streets. It was the centre of many activities and where the borough's members of parliament were elected.
In 1959, only the base of the cross remained and this was moved to its present position where Bathwell Lane leaves the south side of the A30 Sherborne Road.
see also: Standing Crosses
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INTRODUCTION
