At Cothelstone to the north, approached by a romantic winding road
embosomed in lofty beech trees which dip suddenly down into a
picturesque dell, the church and manor-house nestle cosily together,
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surrounded by hills and hanging woods. It is a typical Jacobean
manor-house of stone, with ball-surmounted gables and heavy
mullioned windows, approached from the road through an imposing
archway, with a gatehouse beyond containing curious little niches
and windows. In the gardens an old banqueting-room and ruined
summer-house complete the picturesque group of buildings. The
church has some fine tombs. One of the lords of the earlier manor-
house reclines full length in Edwardian armour, his gauntleted hands
bearing a remarkable resemblance to a pair of boxing-gloves. A
descendant, Sir John Stawel, who fought valiantly for Charles in the
Civil War, lies also in the church. For his loyalty his house was ruined
and his estate sold by the Parliament, but his son was made a peer
by the Merry Monarch in acknowledgment of his father's services.
"The Lodge," an old landmark at Cothelstone, can boast a view of no
less than fourteen counties, and from a gap in the Blackdown Hills,
Halsdown by Exeter may be seen, while close at hand Will's Neck
looms dark against the sky.
OLD HOUSE, CROWCOMBE.
Beneath the rolling Quantocks the road runs seawards, and at
Crowcombe, embowered in woods, brings us to another picturesque
group: the church on one side and
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a dilapidated Tudor building on the other. It is called the "Church House," and, alas! by its ruinous condition one may judge its days are
numbered, although its solid timber Gothic roof, now open to the sky,
looks still good for a couple of centuries more. A crazy flight of stone
steps leads to the upper storey, or rather what remains of it, the floor
boards having long since disappeared. In the basement, nature has
asserted itself, and weeds and brambles are growing in profusion.
This lower part of the building was once used as almshouses, the
Tudor-headed doors leading into the several apartments. The upper
storey was the schoolroom, and had a distinct landlord from the
basement. Difficulties consequently arose; for when the owner of the
schoolroom suggested restorations to the roof, the proprietor of the
almshouses declined to participate in the expense, declaring that it
was his intention to pull his portion of the building down! A more
striking example of a house divided against itself could not be found,
hence the forlorn condition of the joint establishment of youth and
age.