Aston Somerville
Encyclopedia
Aston Somerville is a small village
approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Evesham
, Worcestershire
, England. More information including books on the Somerville family, a pamphlet on the village and St Mary's Church can be found here: http://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/
A good text on the village is "Aston Somerville through the Ages"http://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/local/evesham/4646877.History_of_village_is_revealed/ by June Barnet and Val Svendsen. Many thanks to the authors for this outstanding book.
Percy Baverstock
Earnest Stock Dalehttp://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/ESD.html
Gerald Haines
George Frederick Hoddinot - "Fell at Damery" (Also Recorded on a tombstone)http://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/JFH.html
James Pay
Alfred Perkins
Leonard Pitman
Recorded on another gravestone in the Churchyard is another WW1 Casualty:
Henry West KRR "Missing at Langemarch" http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=876563http://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/StonesandMonuments/target4.html
The sole WW2 casualty recorded is:
Geoffrey Norman Wilson (son of Lt Col D.D. Wilson)
The Parish of Aston Somerville
DOWN in the Vale, between the Bredon and the Cotswold, Hills, in an extreme corner of the Diocese of Gloucester, lies the retired little parish of Aston Somerville. Of the early. history of the parish there are no records. After the invasion and conquest of England by William of Normandy, in 1066, the Norman barons received the reward of their services at the expense of the Saxon lords, who were deprived of their lands and property. Among those who assisted the Conqueror was a certain Sir Gualter de Somerville, a Norman knight, who took his name from the manor of Somerville, near. Évreux in Normandy. For his services Sir Gualter had conferred upon him the manor of Whichenour in the County of Stafford, " and Bartane neer to it. It appears that this knight’s two eldest sons were named Walter and William respectively. Walter married a certain Cicilly Delunsie. Among the children of this marriage was a younger son, Roger. Wishing to make provision for this son, Walter acquired for him the manor of Aston (=East Town) in Gloucestershire. There is good reason for believing that this happened some years before 1142. It was this Roger de Somerville who bestowed upon our village the name of Somerville-Aston, to distinguish it from other manors with the same name. Sir Gualter’s second son, William de Somerville, acquiring certain possessions in Scotland, founded the Scottish baronial family. More than six centuries later, as we shall see, William's descendants were to become associated with our village. The senior branch of the Whichenour line became extinct with an heiress who married Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, executed for high treason in the reign of Henry VIII. The two other branches, however, continued to flourish in the descendants of Wi1liarn de Sornervi1le (son of the Norman invader) in"Scotland, and in the descendants William’s nephew, Roger de Somerville, at Aston. We now come to the year 1730, and our most reliable guide , is Wa1ter Scott in his edited version of "Memorie of the Somervilles”. He writes as follows: " From a long line of Ancestors this estate (i.e. Somerville Aston), and the representation of the English house, descended upon William Somerville, the wel1 known author of the Chase and other poems. Economy is seldom the companion of the Muses, and this amiable man became, ere the close of his life, involved in difficulties of a financial nature. . . Being himself without issue and desirous to continue the ancient estate in the same family William Somerville made in the year 1730 a transaction with Lord Somerville (13th lord), by which, in consideration of certain sums applied to the relief of burdens, he settled Upon his lordship the reversion of his estates at his death; this event took place in 1742, when the English property passed to the baronial house of Somerville in Scotland. So, in the person of the 13th Lord Somerville, the representation and the remaining property of both the English and Scottish branches of this ancient family became united after a separation of more than six hundred years." 'The Sornervi1les’ long connection with the village continued until 1870. In that year Aubrey John, 19th Baron Somerville, died, and since there was no male heir, the estate passed into the hands of the five surviving daughters of the 17th baron. They did not wish to retain it, and so IAsto1n Somerville was sold for 48,300 at a public auction in London.
THE VILLAGE. It is said that Aston Somerville has been destroyed by fire on three separate occasions. This would account for the survival of few old houses in the village. A Previous rector the Rev. G. Head, made the following note some sixty years ago, " At the back of the Church adjoining the churchyard to the south is a small paddock known as 'I`he Park. Here, says tradition, is the site of a mansion which belonged to the Somervilles. Tradition also says that in the hollow to the south-east was an ornamental lake fed by the old brook beyond, which still exists." He also noted that stones blackened by fire had been found on this site, and that numerous coins of various dates had been brought to him from the south-west fields of the parish. These notes indicate the probable site of the old village. The present Hall is modern, but it was undoubtedly built on the site of an older house.
The Parish Church of St Mary's
It may be that at the Conquest our village already possessed a Saxron Church. Archbishop Theodore is said to have divided the country into parishes about the year 680. It is certain that a large number of our villages and hamlets possessed Saxon churches. very often wooden structures, with stone foundation and rough rubbled walls.- When the Normans came, they began building on a large scale. During the half century ll20—ll70 an immense number of churches were built or; rebuilt in England. This is truly remarkable when one, remembers that Domesday Book puts the population of England at only one and a half million. Although architects and masons from Normandy were employed, much use was made, of local Saxon labour and not all the early Norman work was of the same high quality. It would seem that during this period a church and tower were built in our village. All that remains of this Norman church are the two round piers, each with its original base and capital, which support the _western arch of the nave. During the next century, perhaps about 1220, most of the church was rebuilt. Possibly some of the earlier Norman work was found to be unsatisfactory. There were many later alterations, but we still see much of this 13th century church. It was at this time that the long, narrow, lancet-shaped windows in the chancel were inserted. ,These belong to the Early English period. Again during the 14th century further alterations were Made. The large windows in the nave are in the Decorated style of that century. During the 15th century a number of important alterations were made. The present east window, with the straight lines of the Perpendicular style, was now inserted, the roof of the nave was raised the beautiful screen was erected; and a chapel, now demolished, was built on the south side of the church.
In answer to the question. " How old is Aston Somerville church?" we can only say that it belongs to several different periods. While there are traces of Norman work, chancel and have belong to the l3th century, and there is clear evidence of many alterations made during the 14th and -15th centuries. Let us now examine the church in detail:
THE CHANCEL dates from the 13th century, but later work has been added, including the chancel arch, the east window,and the beautiful open timber roof. These alterations were made in the 15th century. The door is evidently not of the original level, but was at least six inches higher formerly.
Upon the south wall is a stone piscina or water drain, and a priest’s door with a rather unusual outer arch. The massive white stone altar is modern ‘It was placed in the church by the Rev. G. Head, a former Rector. The oak choir stalls and return stalls. date from the restoration in 1908. The beautiful Jacobean panelling in the sanctuary came from old box pews which once stood in the, nave.
THE SCREEN dates from the 15th century. It is of oak and is carved, the beam being very good and well undercut. There is a mortice upon the top of the beam for a rood. It is not difficult to visualise the large wooden rood-left or gallery which stretched across the chanccl arch in the l5th century. On this gallery rested carved figures representing our Lord on the Cross with S. Mary and S. John on either side. The remains of. The staircase leading to this gallery may be plainly traced on the other south wall of the nave. Near the top of each pier supporting the chancel arch may be seen the blocked holes that once received a beam supporting the rood-loft. We can be thankful that when in a later century the Puritans pulled down the gallery they left standing the beautiful screen undamaged.
THE NAVE dates back to the 13th century, but it was raised, and had its windows enlarged during the next two centuries. A blocked arch on the south side is all that remains of a chapel built at the time these alterations were made. The round piers supporting the western arch of the nave are the earliest work in the church. and date from perhaps the 12th century. The west wall was evidently altered considerably when the present tower was built during the 14th and. 15th centuries, the wing walls being built upon an angle, presumably to take the weight from the tower buttresses. The only remains of the medieval glass are a few fragments which fill a quatrefoil in the north-west window of the nave.
THE FONT stands on the same base occupied by the Norman font of the 12th century. It is difficult to tell its date, but it is probably post Reformation. It may have been mutilated during the Cromwellian period. The parish register records that prior to the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 the font had not been used for many years. It will be seen that at least nine inches have been taken from the top, cutting through the simple design, and leaving rather a shallow bowl
THE TOWER dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, and has a winding staircase up to the bell chamber. The height. to the top of the parapet is 52 feet 2½ inches. The pinnacles were probably added in the 16th century. Note the four grotesque Gargoyles at the angles of the tower. These queer looking creatures are just the carved ends of the water spouts, and they are called ‘gargoyles’ or ‘gurgoyles’ because of the gurgling noise that the water makes when passing through them. They are sometimes supposed to represent the evil spirits escaping from the church.
BELLS. There are two bells. The larger one is of specially good tone and is dated 1690. It has a freize with the following inscription, Voco adsis nulla prigrid sit tibi causa. W.B. made 1690. Robertus Somerville Esq." The Latin inscription may be translated, " I call you to be present, make no excuse for being slack." This bell was evidently made by William Bagley of Charcomb, a wel1 known maker of bells. The Bagleys had their foundry at Charcomb in Northamptonshire from 1631–1782, but they also opened a foundry at Evesham. where this bell was probably cast. The inscription implies that it was presented to the church by Robert Somerville. This bell weighs 19.25 cwt The smaller bell, weighing 6cwt.; has an inscription in English, "Come away without delay. A.R. 1744." This bell was most likely cast at Abel Rudhall’s foundry in Gloucester. ·
THE CLOCK. There is a note in the parish records of a new dial plate being made for the church clock in 1786. It seems that this clock was replaced by Lord Somerville in the year 1869. This later clock must have been of inferior workmanship, for it was pronounced worthless in 1891, when the late Rev. G. Head made a gift to the church of the present clock. The new clock cost £l36, and it still keeps excellent time.
THE PORCH Prior to the restoration in 1908 the porch was in a ruinous state. It was pulled down, each of the principal stones being numbered, and was carefully rebuilt on improved foundations. The two small windows with pointed cusped heads were newly made at the time. ·
MONUMENT (in nave). The much worn figure of a knight in armour, which rests in the nave, is believed to be an effigy of Sir John de Somerville, who held the manor from 1250–1290. The figure is in a complete suit of chain mail, a haubert to its knees, with sleeves covering the-hands and a hood over the head fastened with a ring. There is a sword belt across the hips supporting a cross·hi1ted sword which the knight is sheathing. Perhaps this effigy once rested in the small chapel which stood on the south side of the church. There is nothing to support a local tradition that this monument was found in a field. It probably remained for a long time in the open when the chapel was taken down. Samuel Rudder, the historian, who visited the parish in 1770, wrote later, "On the south side of the old church is a very ancient figure in stone of a knight in armour about the time of Edward III. This monument has been shamefully violated by the country people, who at sheepshearing have been suffered to whet their knives and shears against ‘Old Somerville’s nose,’ as they used to say, so that half the face is whetted away." The stone coffin which supports the effigy may have been the tomb of this knight. The small oval table in the belfry was made with oak taken from, the old communion table formerly standing in the chancel.
CHURCH PLATE. In regular use is the Elizabethan silver chalice with paten cover dated 1572. Measuring only 6⅝ inches` high, it is the smallest chalice of the period in the diocese, There is also a silver flagon dated 1700, inscribed, " Mr. Samuell Parry gave this for the service of God in the us of the Sacrament in the Church of Somervile’s Aston for ever in the year 1700." There is a silver alms dish. 8¾ inches in diameter inscribed, "I John Parry give this to God who preserved my life under the feaver and colick and my eight children under the small pox 1683." There is also in regular use a silver gilt paten 6 inches in diameter, with an inscription underneath "Given by Sir William and Lady Nora Fitz-Herbert on their leaving the parish Oct. l936."
PARISH REGISTERS. The old registers were either lost or destroyed during the Crornwellian period. The present registers date from the Restoration, 1660. For the first 54 years the entries are in the handwriting of the Rev. John Parry, who was Rector from 1660 until his death in 1714. These old entries record the names of past generations of villagers. Occasionally there are notes not found in modern registers. There is for example this entry made on Dec. 30th, 1709: "Baptized Preserved, an illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Climer aged 18 so named by me because being laid under a hayrick full three days and nights; the first day a cold wind and frost at night the second storms of hail and frost and snow at night, the third a great snow and a hard frost; yet this child was taken up alive, brought home and lived 24 Hours. The Coroner’s Inquest brought in Wilful Murder and Elizabeth Climer was sent to Gloucester Goal."
“November 15th, 1678. Anne Campden was buried being wrapt in woolen according to a late Act of Parliament.” For the next sixty years after each entry in the burial register, git is recorded that the deceased "was buried in woolen" This Act of Parliament was passed to improve the condition of the wool trade." "May 4th, 1669. Thomas Brookes was buried in the year of his age 94." This village worthy was born in 1575 when Elizabeth was Queen of England."
THE PARISH CHEST. Besides the registers, the parish chest contains some interesting old documents and records. We read this copy of an extract from the Register of Thomas de Cobham, Bishop of Worcester, dated 1324. It appears that a certain monk, Philip de Tyribroke, was sent from the Cathedral with a mandate of the Court of Canterbury to the church of Aston Somerville. On arriving in our village the record informs us that the messenger was treated with threats and indignity. "Some silly priest whose name he does not know, assaulted him in complicity with a number of others, who drew their swords and other weapons upon him. They caused him to dismount and take refuge from fear in the church and kept him there till he revoked the citation which he brought to the Rector on behalf of the Court. They beat his horses and ill-treated his servants, and beyond question this priest and his accomplices have thus incurred sentence of excommunication, which we enjoin you to pronounce publicly in the churches of your deanery, and then to take the usual proceedings.” This is a small incident, but it shows the growing spirit of independence during the course of the 14th century. A little more than 20 years later came the terrible Black Death (1348–1349). A third or possibly a half of the population of every village and town in the kingdom died of plague. This had far reaching results. The labour position on the farms, already difficult, now became acute, Prices rose, but wages rose faster, and a struggle developed between employers and workers which led to the Peasants Rising of l38l. Trevelyan says that " The spirit that prompted the rising was one of the chief reasons why serfdorn died out in England as it did not die out on the Continent of Europe. The chest also contains the faded and worn original copy of the prayer sent to every parish by the command of George III in the year 1779. They were difficult days for England. We were at war with America, France and Spain. The French were threatening invasion; America was determined to secure her independence. The prayer reads, "Be Thou to us, O Lord a strong Guardian and Rock of Defence in this Time of our Necessity, when we are exposed to the Dangers and Calamities of foreign War, and threatened with powerful Invasions from abroad… Turn, O Lord, the Hearts of our Sovereigns rebellious Subjects in America. . . ." There is, too, the original copy of a prayer of thanksgiving dated 1762, on the occasion of the birth of a son to the young King George III and Queen Charlotte. It contains a petition, "Establish and adorn the Royal House with a numerous Progeny resembling their Parents."
THE RESTORATION OF 1908. We have followed the story of the building of our old parish church. By the end of the 15th century the builders had completed their work, and the church must have looked truly beautiful. We can picture the newly raised roof of the nave, the enlarged east window, probably, filled with stained glass, the recently constructed chantry the freshly carved screen with its gallery and figures, the walls very likely adorned with coloured paintings.
Then came a period of decline, beginning with the Reformation during the ,16th century. In the course of time the south chapel was removed, the gallery was taken down, the stone altar was replaced by a wooden table, the coloured glass was stripped from the windows, and the walls were covered with white wash. A photograph taken of the interior at the beginning of the present century shows a depressing,picture. Not only was the inside of the church dismal, but in all directions there were signs of dilapidation.
In 1907, W. FitzHerbert; Esq., acquired they larger part of the parish. including the advowson of the living, At once the set about obtaining the required money to restore the church; The necessary sum was soon raised, and the work was started. We can truly say that the church was completely transformed. The whitewashed plaster was carefully stripped from the walls revealing the gold-tinted stone beneath, With skill and care the dilapidations were made good, and nothing was done to spoil the ancient and beautiful work. Once again today we are able to see our fine old parish church as the ancient builders intended it to be. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who so wisely and lovingly carried out the restoration in 1908.
RECI'ORS OF`ASTON SOMERVILLE. Except during the period of the Commonwealth in the 17th century, there has probabIy been an unbroken line of Rectors for at least 800 years. It has not been possible to trace every name, and it will be seen that there are some big gaps. Here is an incomplete list:
Johm Southam 1266
Robert de Corbustoik 1271
Henry Dawkes 1559
Anthony Hunt -
Gerald Trye 1576
John Davys 1615
Giles Collier -
Richard Davys 1642
" Mr. Woods a Layman in the Reign of the usurper Oliver Protector”
John Parry 1660–1714
John Moore 1715
Edward Somerville 1726
Thomas Edkins 1735
John Reynaulds 1741–1773 (Also Rector of Hinton)
William Somerville 1774–1803
Edward Forster 1804–1813
The Hon. William Somerville 1813–1841
William Pashley 1841–1847
George Head 1847–1893
Stephen Fry Whitehead 1893–1913
Fredk. Wm. Cropper 1914–1918
Edmund Hugh Samwell 1918–1919
Somers Percy Heriz-Smith 1920–1925
Geo. Cecil Twist 1925–1928
Montague James Case 1928–1931
Alfred Augustus Cockle 1931–1941
Arthur James Clement Turner 1942-
1t will be seen that there have been some long incumbencies. John Parry was rector for 54 years, George. Head for 46 years, and John Reynaulds for 32 years.
Gerald Trye seems to have come here from Childswickham in 1576, to the great relief of the people of the latter parish! While at Childswickham it was reported of him that “ he doth sowe hempe in the churchyard. he omits to say the services in due tyme and order, he has broken the head of one Robert Stephens w’th a cuppe in the ale-house."
John Reynaulds, incumbent from 1741–1773 was also Rector of Hinton-on-the·Green, but he seems to have resided here. From 1774–1803, and again from 1813-l84l, a member of the Somerville family held the living, It would appear, however, that neither of these Somervilles lived in the parish. At that time it was common for a clergyman to hold two or more livings in different parts of the country, and to employ curates to do his duty, the curates only being paid a portion of the stipend. The names of several curates who served Aston Somerville at this time are found in the Registers.
During the time that the Rev. William Pashley was Rector, l841-1847, the Bishop gave him permission to live in Sedgeberrow, because the old rectory was in such a dilapidated condition that it was unfit for a residence. Each year this permission was renewed by a formal licence. The old rectory was pulled down in 1861, when the present house was built.
The Rev. George Head, Rector from 1847–1893, was related on his mother’s side to the Somervilles. This Rector, still remembered by a few old residents, was a real link with the past. During his time the normal Sunday services were Morning Prayer at ll a.m., and Evensong at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. There were no evening services, and the Holy Communion was only celebrated on the great festivals and possibly a few other occasions. It was only at these celebrations that a collection was taken in church. Church expenses were met by a compulsory levy, made by the Parish Meeting, upon the local landowners. When in 1868 the Church Rate, as it was called, was abolished, church expenses were paid from Mr. Head’s own pocket. At that time it would have been difficult for the ordinary villager to support his church. The normal wage for farm workers was 12 shillings a week, with no pay in bad weather! On hunting days marriages had to take place early in the morning to enable Mr. Head to ride to the meet. Old residents say, that when he returned, there was always a child ready to open the,rectory gate. The reward for this service was a silver threepenny piece. The patronage of the living was in the hands of the Somervilles from the building of the church until 1870. In that year it passed to John Whitehead, Esq. He only made one presentation, the Rev. S. Whitehead, his nephew. When the next presentation was made in 1914, the advowson was in the possession of W. Fitzherbert, Esq. He was the last private patron, for on leaving the village, he handed the advowson to the Diocesan Board of Patronage. When in the year 1931 various adjustments were made in the county boundaries, Aston Somerville passed into Worcestershire, but the ecclesiastical parish still remains in the diocese of Gloucester.
THE SCHOOL. Soon after John Whitehead, Esq., bought the Aston Somerville estate in 1870, he had a building erected, which served both as a school and a dissenting chapel. After some years it ceased to be used for religious services, but it continued to serve as a day school for the children of the village. This building was, however, privately owned. In 1924 a special meeting of parishioners was called to discuss the future of the village school. The existing building was required by the new owner for conversion into a farm house. It was decided to build a new Church School on a plot of land given by W. FitzHerbert, Esq. Some generous donations were given, and various grants were received, but a great deal of the necessary money was raised by local effort. When the present buildings were completed, at a cost of £l,230, all the required money was in hand. The new school was formally opened in May 1925.
John Parry, Rector of Aston Somorville 1660—1714
John Parry was born in the year 1639. During his boyhood Charles I was king, and England was divided by civil war. The young John was barely ten years old when Charles was beheaded. Four years afterwards, Cromwell, whom John Parry later described scornfully as " The Usurper," rose to supreme power in the state. Episcopacy and the Prayer-book already had been abolished, and a large number of clergy had been dispossessed of their benefices. In Aston Somerville, it would appear, the Rector had been deprived, and a layman, a certain Mr. Woods, was installed as the minister of the parish.
Mr. Woods either refused, or did not wish to use the font while he was in the parish. for in 1660 it was recorded that baptisms again took place at the font " after many years disuse." Perhaps he administered baptism in private houses. That his own children were baptized is clear from the following extract, made from the will of Anthony Gybbs of Morecott, dated 20 March 1656: " I give and bequeath to Mr. Woods of Aston Summerfield his children £3 whereof Mary Woods is to have 20s. of the said £3. To Widdow Matthus of Aston Summerfield £3. To Sarah Wilkins wife of Harrie Wilkins of Aston Summerfield 20s. ‘for those seaven I was a witness for at their baptisme’."
In the meanwhile John Parry was growing up and was receiving his education. He was sent to Oxford (Christ Church) where he received the degree of Master of Arts. The year 1660 was a glorious year in England. It was the year of the Restoration, when Charles II was called back from his exile in Holland. and crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. With the restoration of the King came the restoration of the Church. The imprisoned bishops were brought back to their sees, while others returned from exile. A number of new bishops was consecrated, and many of the clergy who had been turned out of their benefices were restored to office. Young men came forward and offered themselves for ordination, and immediately were put in charge of parishes. Thus it was that John Parry, possibly at the request of the squire and patron of the living, came to Aston Somerville. He was only 2l years old, and could have had little training for the work which he had to undertake.
Whether he found a Rectory suitable for his residence is not recorded. Possibly an Elizabethan or even older house was in existence. John Parry little realised, perhaps, that he was entering on his life’s work. For the next 54 years until they day of his death, he remained Rector of Aston Somerville, ministering to the population, numbering few over a hundred, in this small parish.
The years that followed John Parry’s appointment saw many changes. The first question that had to be decided was the form of the Prayer-book. During 1661 a joint session of the Convocations of Canterbury and York worked at Prayer-book revision, and completed its task by the December. By May of the following year the revised book had passed both Houses of Parliament and received the Royal Assent.
The new Prayer-book was made the only legal service-book in England, and all clergy were obliged to use it, and none other, in their churches after the feast of St. Bartholomew. And so, in August 1662, John Parry began using in our parish church the very Prayer-book still in use at our services today. On September 9, 1664, four years after coming to the parish, John Parry married Rebeccah, daughter of Thomas Fullwood, Esq., of Little Alne in the County of Warwick.
John Parry was then 25 years of age, while his bride was a year older. During the next 16 years ten children were born to them:
John 1665
Rebeccah 1667
Henry 1668
Samuel 1670
Thomas 1671 (died at age of two).
Thomas 1674
Benjamin 1675
Anne 1677
Mary 1679 (died at age of two).
Joseph 1680
The year 1665 was one that the Parrys would always remember. On February 7 their first child, a son, was born. He was named John after his father. This boy was to grow up to follow in his father’s steps. There was, however, another and terrible reason why the Parrys would not easily forget the year 1665. It was the year of the " Plague of London." This devastating epidemic was the last of a series of outbreaks that had occurred since the Black Death in the 14th Century. Those who were in a position to do so fled from London to the country, until people in the surrounding villages and towns refused to receive them. At the height of the plague it is said that people were dying at the rate of 8,000 a week, and burials had to take place in communal graves. On August 2 a solemn fast was observed throughout the country " to deprecate God’s displeasure against the land by pestilence." Although in London the plague eased with the winter, it continued, to rage in various parts of the country. The Plague was followed by another terrible disaster. The summer of 1666 had been one of the hottest and driest in living memory. On the night of the 2nd of September a fire broke out in a wooden bakehouse near Fish Street in the City of London. It quickly spread and got out of hand, helped by a strong east wind blowing at the time. For five days the Great Fire of London raged, and destroyed the whole city proper between the Tower and the Temple, St. Paul’s Cathedral and 88 other old churches were burnt to the ground. We can imagine the news of these disasters, the Plague and the Fire, reaching our village, and the prayers that would be said in our parish church by the young John Parry.
In 1667 a second child was born to the Parrys, a daughter, who was named Rebeccah after her mother. In due course the other children came along. Thomas, born in 1671, died at the age of two, but as the next child was a son, he was given the sarne name. Mary, born in 1679, also died when two years old. So while the Parrys were yet in their early forties they found themselves with eight young children. Their home seems to have been a happy one, and as the children grew up and went out into the world, they remembered with affection their home and the village of their birth.
John Parry was a scholarly man, and without doubt he supervised the education of his young family it was, perhaps, soon after the birth of Joseph, the youngest 'child, that John Parry was taken seriously ill with "feaver and colick." Hardly had he recovered when there was one of those frequent outbreaks of smallpox. Fortunately his family escaped. In 1683 he presented a lovely silver alms dish to our little church as a thankoffering. `
John, the firstborn, may have decided at an early age to follow in his father’s footsteps. This would have given great pleasure to his parents as they watched him prepare for ordination. We cannot follow his career, but we know that for many years he was curate of St. James (Picadilee Circus), Westminster, the church of which the late Archbishop William Temple was once Rector. The younger John married, and he and his wife Mary had one child, whom they named Rebeccah. Little Rebeccah, who was " a very engaging child and of very promising hope," died in 1719 at the age of three. Her death must have been a great grief to her parents. The younger John and his wife eventually retired to Bath, where John died in 1737, and Mary two years later. They were both buried in our church, and their stone may be seen in the nave aisle.
The Parrys’ second child, Rebeccah, seems to have remained at home until she was 32. In the year 1699 she was married at Aston Somerville to William Wells, Esq., of Stanton. In 1700 they had a son whom they named John after his grandfather. Two years later a daughter was born (at 2 o’clock in the morning!) and she was named Rebeccah after her mother and grandmother.
Nothing is known about Henry, the third child of the old Parrys. He appears to have grown to manhood and eventually went away from our village.
Both Samuel and Thomas went to London, where they became seedsmen of the Grocers‘ Company. At this time many young men of such families were seeking their fortune in the commercial world. While the young Parrys were growing up England was rapidly becoming a great trading country.
It was not long after John Parry came to our village that England captured and annexed from the Dutch the group of Middle Colonies between New England and Virginia; turning New Amsterdam into New York, and so forming an unbroken coastline under the British flag from Maine to Carolina. At the same time the developing trade of the East India Company was bringing great wealth to England. By the time Samuel and Thomas set forth for London, England had won the race for commercial leadership over her great rival, the Dutch, and had become the greatest manufacturing and trading country in the world.
The two brothers found much of the City of London rebuilt after the disastrous fire. Christopher Wren, now at the height of his power, had already completed some of his noble buildings. Often the brothers must have stood and watched the massive blocks of the new Portland stone being moved into position as Wren’s masterpiece, St. Paul’s, slowly rose above the ruins of the old church. In 1699 Thomas came home in good health to our village to see his parents. On that occasion he expressed the wish that in the event of his death he wanted to be buried in our church, even pointing out to his father the exact spot. Neither he nor his parents realised that in a year’s time his wish would be fulfilled. The year 1700 was indeed a sad one for the ageing Parrys. First Thomas died in the March at the age of 26, and then in November came the heavy blow of Samuel’s death at the age of 30. His father’s words express the parents’ grief, "Thus ye come home in blooming years, to be bedewed with parents‘ tears. Dear Sam is come .... With us both life and death are mixt." Before, his death Samuel bought, and gave to our church, a beautiful silver Hagen, " for the service of God in the use of the Sacrament in the Church of Somervile’s Aston for ever." It is still one of our treasured possessions. Samuel’s body was also brought from London and laid to rest in the chancel of our church.
Some years previously John and Rebeccah had watched their young Benjamin set forth for London. It was planned that he should join the Goldsmiths Company. The principal goldsmiths resided in Lombard Street, and by the time Benjamin reached London they were handling enormous sums of money, not only for the wealthy city merchants, but also for landowners all over the country. ln effect they had become the first English bankers. However, it could not have been long after Benjamin’s arrival in the City that the Bank of England was founded. At the time England was at war with France, and the government of William III wanted money badly. The goldsmiths of Lombard Street had been in the habit of lending large sums of money to the Government at high rates of interest. The idea occurred to a Scotsman named William Paterson that a large sum of money might be subscribed amongst a certain number of people and lent to the Government at a reasonable interest. The idea was taken up, and the Bank of England was established by charter in 1694. In January of the year 1702, news reached Aston Somerville of Benjamin’s death at the early age of 27. His body was brought from London and buried in our church. His gravestone may be seen in the belfry. Of the remaining two children little is known. Anne was married in our church to a Mr. Thomas Keyte, of Broadway, and there is no mention of her again. Joseph lived to be 83. He was married and lived at Clifford, He died, and was buried here in 1763. Susannah, his wife, was buried here in 1765.
It was on July lst, 1709, that Rebeccah, the loved wife of the now aged John Parry, died. Her live surviving children had been summoned, and they were with their mother at her death. It must have been a sad day for John Parry. On the alabaster tablet, which he had erected to her memory, he had these words inscribed:
" Chara mihi conjux! merito tua funera ilevi: i
Corpus humi recubat, tu super astra manes.
Sanctior aut melior sit consors, haud scio certe.
_Heu miserum me! Quis maesta corda levet?"
[" O wife, dear to me! I have bewailed thy death, as thou
deservedst. Thy body lies in the ground, but thou abidest
above the stars. There may be holier and better partners - I
know not for certain. Alas! for me in my sorrow! Who may
raise sad hearts?"] '
John Parry’s daughters were now married. His surviving sons had grown up and had left home. Yet for five more years he continued as Rector. He died on June 29, 1714, at the age of 75, and after 54 years in the parish.·So there passed to his rest one of whom it could be written, "He was a constant and faithful preacher, diligent and careful in all other offices of his calling, the best of husbands and of fathers, and kind and charitable to all." He had lived through the reigns of Charles I, Cromwell, Charles II, James II, William and Mary, William III, and Anne, some of the most interesting years in our history. A little over a month after the passing of John Parry, Queen Anne died, George I ascended the throne, and. there began a new chapter in English history.
Let us remember this faithful priest, and thank God for his ministry in our church and village.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Evesham
Evesham
Evesham is a market town and a civil parish in the Local Authority District of Wychavon in the county of Worcestershire, England with a population of 22,000. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon...
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England. More information including books on the Somerville family, a pamphlet on the village and St Mary's Church can be found here: http://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/
A good text on the village is "Aston Somerville through the Ages"http://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/local/evesham/4646877.History_of_village_is_revealed/ by June Barnet and Val Svendsen. Many thanks to the authors for this outstanding book.
Farms and Buildings
Historically the Village has had three individual farms (originally known as Lower, Middle and Upper Farms) but the three have been frequently farmed as one estate (notably by the Crowther Family in the 19C.).War Memorials
The following names appear on the Village's war memorial in St Mary's Church:Percy Baverstock
Earnest Stock Dalehttp://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/ESD.html
Gerald Haines
George Frederick Hoddinot - "Fell at Damery" (Also Recorded on a tombstone)http://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/JFH.html
James Pay
Alfred Perkins
Leonard Pitman
Recorded on another gravestone in the Churchyard is another WW1 Casualty:
Henry West KRR "Missing at Langemarch" http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=876563http://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/StonesandMonuments/target4.html
The sole WW2 casualty recorded is:
Geoffrey Norman Wilson (son of Lt Col D.D. Wilson)
Marriages
A list of marriages at St Mary's church from 1700 to 1812 can be found here by following this reference http://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/RandomGenealogy.htmlAston Somerville, by A.J. Turner
For a short introduction to the history of Aston Sommerville, below is a two chapter pamphlet on the Village written by Rev A.J Turner in the 40's.http://fattie.freehostia.com/astonsomerville/turner/index.htmlThe Parish of Aston Somerville
DOWN in the Vale, between the Bredon and the Cotswold, Hills, in an extreme corner of the Diocese of Gloucester, lies the retired little parish of Aston Somerville. Of the early. history of the parish there are no records. After the invasion and conquest of England by William of Normandy, in 1066, the Norman barons received the reward of their services at the expense of the Saxon lords, who were deprived of their lands and property. Among those who assisted the Conqueror was a certain Sir Gualter de Somerville, a Norman knight, who took his name from the manor of Somerville, near. Évreux in Normandy. For his services Sir Gualter had conferred upon him the manor of Whichenour in the County of Stafford, " and Bartane neer to it. It appears that this knight’s two eldest sons were named Walter and William respectively. Walter married a certain Cicilly Delunsie. Among the children of this marriage was a younger son, Roger. Wishing to make provision for this son, Walter acquired for him the manor of Aston (=East Town) in Gloucestershire. There is good reason for believing that this happened some years before 1142. It was this Roger de Somerville who bestowed upon our village the name of Somerville-Aston, to distinguish it from other manors with the same name. Sir Gualter’s second son, William de Somerville, acquiring certain possessions in Scotland, founded the Scottish baronial family. More than six centuries later, as we shall see, William's descendants were to become associated with our village. The senior branch of the Whichenour line became extinct with an heiress who married Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, executed for high treason in the reign of Henry VIII. The two other branches, however, continued to flourish in the descendants of Wi1liarn de Sornervi1le (son of the Norman invader) in"Scotland, and in the descendants William’s nephew, Roger de Somerville, at Aston. We now come to the year 1730, and our most reliable guide , is Wa1ter Scott in his edited version of "Memorie of the Somervilles”. He writes as follows: " From a long line of Ancestors this estate (i.e. Somerville Aston), and the representation of the English house, descended upon William Somerville, the wel1 known author of the Chase and other poems. Economy is seldom the companion of the Muses, and this amiable man became, ere the close of his life, involved in difficulties of a financial nature. . . Being himself without issue and desirous to continue the ancient estate in the same family William Somerville made in the year 1730 a transaction with Lord Somerville (13th lord), by which, in consideration of certain sums applied to the relief of burdens, he settled Upon his lordship the reversion of his estates at his death; this event took place in 1742, when the English property passed to the baronial house of Somerville in Scotland. So, in the person of the 13th Lord Somerville, the representation and the remaining property of both the English and Scottish branches of this ancient family became united after a separation of more than six hundred years." 'The Sornervi1les’ long connection with the village continued until 1870. In that year Aubrey John, 19th Baron Somerville, died, and since there was no male heir, the estate passed into the hands of the five surviving daughters of the 17th baron. They did not wish to retain it, and so IAsto1n Somerville was sold for 48,300 at a public auction in London.
THE VILLAGE. It is said that Aston Somerville has been destroyed by fire on three separate occasions. This would account for the survival of few old houses in the village. A Previous rector the Rev. G. Head, made the following note some sixty years ago, " At the back of the Church adjoining the churchyard to the south is a small paddock known as 'I`he Park. Here, says tradition, is the site of a mansion which belonged to the Somervilles. Tradition also says that in the hollow to the south-east was an ornamental lake fed by the old brook beyond, which still exists." He also noted that stones blackened by fire had been found on this site, and that numerous coins of various dates had been brought to him from the south-west fields of the parish. These notes indicate the probable site of the old village. The present Hall is modern, but it was undoubtedly built on the site of an older house.
The Parish Church of St Mary's
It may be that at the Conquest our village already possessed a Saxron Church. Archbishop Theodore is said to have divided the country into parishes about the year 680. It is certain that a large number of our villages and hamlets possessed Saxon churches. very often wooden structures, with stone foundation and rough rubbled walls.- When the Normans came, they began building on a large scale. During the half century ll20—ll70 an immense number of churches were built or; rebuilt in England. This is truly remarkable when one, remembers that Domesday Book puts the population of England at only one and a half million. Although architects and masons from Normandy were employed, much use was made, of local Saxon labour and not all the early Norman work was of the same high quality. It would seem that during this period a church and tower were built in our village. All that remains of this Norman church are the two round piers, each with its original base and capital, which support the _western arch of the nave. During the next century, perhaps about 1220, most of the church was rebuilt. Possibly some of the earlier Norman work was found to be unsatisfactory. There were many later alterations, but we still see much of this 13th century church. It was at this time that the long, narrow, lancet-shaped windows in the chancel were inserted. ,These belong to the Early English period. Again during the 14th century further alterations were Made. The large windows in the nave are in the Decorated style of that century. During the 15th century a number of important alterations were made. The present east window, with the straight lines of the Perpendicular style, was now inserted, the roof of the nave was raised the beautiful screen was erected; and a chapel, now demolished, was built on the south side of the church.
In answer to the question. " How old is Aston Somerville church?" we can only say that it belongs to several different periods. While there are traces of Norman work, chancel and have belong to the l3th century, and there is clear evidence of many alterations made during the 14th and -15th centuries. Let us now examine the church in detail:
THE CHANCEL dates from the 13th century, but later work has been added, including the chancel arch, the east window,and the beautiful open timber roof. These alterations were made in the 15th century. The door is evidently not of the original level, but was at least six inches higher formerly.
Upon the south wall is a stone piscina or water drain, and a priest’s door with a rather unusual outer arch. The massive white stone altar is modern ‘It was placed in the church by the Rev. G. Head, a former Rector. The oak choir stalls and return stalls. date from the restoration in 1908. The beautiful Jacobean panelling in the sanctuary came from old box pews which once stood in the, nave.
THE SCREEN dates from the 15th century. It is of oak and is carved, the beam being very good and well undercut. There is a mortice upon the top of the beam for a rood. It is not difficult to visualise the large wooden rood-left or gallery which stretched across the chanccl arch in the l5th century. On this gallery rested carved figures representing our Lord on the Cross with S. Mary and S. John on either side. The remains of. The staircase leading to this gallery may be plainly traced on the other south wall of the nave. Near the top of each pier supporting the chancel arch may be seen the blocked holes that once received a beam supporting the rood-loft. We can be thankful that when in a later century the Puritans pulled down the gallery they left standing the beautiful screen undamaged.
THE NAVE dates back to the 13th century, but it was raised, and had its windows enlarged during the next two centuries. A blocked arch on the south side is all that remains of a chapel built at the time these alterations were made. The round piers supporting the western arch of the nave are the earliest work in the church. and date from perhaps the 12th century. The west wall was evidently altered considerably when the present tower was built during the 14th and. 15th centuries, the wing walls being built upon an angle, presumably to take the weight from the tower buttresses. The only remains of the medieval glass are a few fragments which fill a quatrefoil in the north-west window of the nave.
THE FONT stands on the same base occupied by the Norman font of the 12th century. It is difficult to tell its date, but it is probably post Reformation. It may have been mutilated during the Cromwellian period. The parish register records that prior to the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 the font had not been used for many years. It will be seen that at least nine inches have been taken from the top, cutting through the simple design, and leaving rather a shallow bowl
THE TOWER dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, and has a winding staircase up to the bell chamber. The height. to the top of the parapet is 52 feet 2½ inches. The pinnacles were probably added in the 16th century. Note the four grotesque Gargoyles at the angles of the tower. These queer looking creatures are just the carved ends of the water spouts, and they are called ‘gargoyles’ or ‘gurgoyles’ because of the gurgling noise that the water makes when passing through them. They are sometimes supposed to represent the evil spirits escaping from the church.
BELLS. There are two bells. The larger one is of specially good tone and is dated 1690. It has a freize with the following inscription, Voco adsis nulla prigrid sit tibi causa. W.B. made 1690. Robertus Somerville Esq." The Latin inscription may be translated, " I call you to be present, make no excuse for being slack." This bell was evidently made by William Bagley of Charcomb, a wel1 known maker of bells. The Bagleys had their foundry at Charcomb in Northamptonshire from 1631–1782, but they also opened a foundry at Evesham. where this bell was probably cast. The inscription implies that it was presented to the church by Robert Somerville. This bell weighs 19.25 cwt The smaller bell, weighing 6cwt.; has an inscription in English, "Come away without delay. A.R. 1744." This bell was most likely cast at Abel Rudhall’s foundry in Gloucester. ·
THE CLOCK. There is a note in the parish records of a new dial plate being made for the church clock in 1786. It seems that this clock was replaced by Lord Somerville in the year 1869. This later clock must have been of inferior workmanship, for it was pronounced worthless in 1891, when the late Rev. G. Head made a gift to the church of the present clock. The new clock cost £l36, and it still keeps excellent time.
THE PORCH Prior to the restoration in 1908 the porch was in a ruinous state. It was pulled down, each of the principal stones being numbered, and was carefully rebuilt on improved foundations. The two small windows with pointed cusped heads were newly made at the time. ·
MONUMENT (in nave). The much worn figure of a knight in armour, which rests in the nave, is believed to be an effigy of Sir John de Somerville, who held the manor from 1250–1290. The figure is in a complete suit of chain mail, a haubert to its knees, with sleeves covering the-hands and a hood over the head fastened with a ring. There is a sword belt across the hips supporting a cross·hi1ted sword which the knight is sheathing. Perhaps this effigy once rested in the small chapel which stood on the south side of the church. There is nothing to support a local tradition that this monument was found in a field. It probably remained for a long time in the open when the chapel was taken down. Samuel Rudder, the historian, who visited the parish in 1770, wrote later, "On the south side of the old church is a very ancient figure in stone of a knight in armour about the time of Edward III. This monument has been shamefully violated by the country people, who at sheepshearing have been suffered to whet their knives and shears against ‘Old Somerville’s nose,’ as they used to say, so that half the face is whetted away." The stone coffin which supports the effigy may have been the tomb of this knight. The small oval table in the belfry was made with oak taken from, the old communion table formerly standing in the chancel.
CHURCH PLATE. In regular use is the Elizabethan silver chalice with paten cover dated 1572. Measuring only 6⅝ inches` high, it is the smallest chalice of the period in the diocese, There is also a silver flagon dated 1700, inscribed, " Mr. Samuell Parry gave this for the service of God in the us of the Sacrament in the Church of Somervile’s Aston for ever in the year 1700." There is a silver alms dish. 8¾ inches in diameter inscribed, "I John Parry give this to God who preserved my life under the feaver and colick and my eight children under the small pox 1683." There is also in regular use a silver gilt paten 6 inches in diameter, with an inscription underneath "Given by Sir William and Lady Nora Fitz-Herbert on their leaving the parish Oct. l936."
PARISH REGISTERS. The old registers were either lost or destroyed during the Crornwellian period. The present registers date from the Restoration, 1660. For the first 54 years the entries are in the handwriting of the Rev. John Parry, who was Rector from 1660 until his death in 1714. These old entries record the names of past generations of villagers. Occasionally there are notes not found in modern registers. There is for example this entry made on Dec. 30th, 1709: "Baptized Preserved, an illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Climer aged 18 so named by me because being laid under a hayrick full three days and nights; the first day a cold wind and frost at night the second storms of hail and frost and snow at night, the third a great snow and a hard frost; yet this child was taken up alive, brought home and lived 24 Hours. The Coroner’s Inquest brought in Wilful Murder and Elizabeth Climer was sent to Gloucester Goal."
“November 15th, 1678. Anne Campden was buried being wrapt in woolen according to a late Act of Parliament.” For the next sixty years after each entry in the burial register, git is recorded that the deceased "was buried in woolen" This Act of Parliament was passed to improve the condition of the wool trade." "May 4th, 1669. Thomas Brookes was buried in the year of his age 94." This village worthy was born in 1575 when Elizabeth was Queen of England."
THE PARISH CHEST. Besides the registers, the parish chest contains some interesting old documents and records. We read this copy of an extract from the Register of Thomas de Cobham, Bishop of Worcester, dated 1324. It appears that a certain monk, Philip de Tyribroke, was sent from the Cathedral with a mandate of the Court of Canterbury to the church of Aston Somerville. On arriving in our village the record informs us that the messenger was treated with threats and indignity. "Some silly priest whose name he does not know, assaulted him in complicity with a number of others, who drew their swords and other weapons upon him. They caused him to dismount and take refuge from fear in the church and kept him there till he revoked the citation which he brought to the Rector on behalf of the Court. They beat his horses and ill-treated his servants, and beyond question this priest and his accomplices have thus incurred sentence of excommunication, which we enjoin you to pronounce publicly in the churches of your deanery, and then to take the usual proceedings.” This is a small incident, but it shows the growing spirit of independence during the course of the 14th century. A little more than 20 years later came the terrible Black Death (1348–1349). A third or possibly a half of the population of every village and town in the kingdom died of plague. This had far reaching results. The labour position on the farms, already difficult, now became acute, Prices rose, but wages rose faster, and a struggle developed between employers and workers which led to the Peasants Rising of l38l. Trevelyan says that " The spirit that prompted the rising was one of the chief reasons why serfdorn died out in England as it did not die out on the Continent of Europe. The chest also contains the faded and worn original copy of the prayer sent to every parish by the command of George III in the year 1779. They were difficult days for England. We were at war with America, France and Spain. The French were threatening invasion; America was determined to secure her independence. The prayer reads, "Be Thou to us, O Lord a strong Guardian and Rock of Defence in this Time of our Necessity, when we are exposed to the Dangers and Calamities of foreign War, and threatened with powerful Invasions from abroad… Turn, O Lord, the Hearts of our Sovereigns rebellious Subjects in America. . . ." There is, too, the original copy of a prayer of thanksgiving dated 1762, on the occasion of the birth of a son to the young King George III and Queen Charlotte. It contains a petition, "Establish and adorn the Royal House with a numerous Progeny resembling their Parents."
THE RESTORATION OF 1908. We have followed the story of the building of our old parish church. By the end of the 15th century the builders had completed their work, and the church must have looked truly beautiful. We can picture the newly raised roof of the nave, the enlarged east window, probably, filled with stained glass, the recently constructed chantry the freshly carved screen with its gallery and figures, the walls very likely adorned with coloured paintings.
Then came a period of decline, beginning with the Reformation during the ,16th century. In the course of time the south chapel was removed, the gallery was taken down, the stone altar was replaced by a wooden table, the coloured glass was stripped from the windows, and the walls were covered with white wash. A photograph taken of the interior at the beginning of the present century shows a depressing,picture. Not only was the inside of the church dismal, but in all directions there were signs of dilapidation.
In 1907, W. FitzHerbert; Esq., acquired they larger part of the parish. including the advowson of the living, At once the set about obtaining the required money to restore the church; The necessary sum was soon raised, and the work was started. We can truly say that the church was completely transformed. The whitewashed plaster was carefully stripped from the walls revealing the gold-tinted stone beneath, With skill and care the dilapidations were made good, and nothing was done to spoil the ancient and beautiful work. Once again today we are able to see our fine old parish church as the ancient builders intended it to be. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who so wisely and lovingly carried out the restoration in 1908.
RECI'ORS OF`ASTON SOMERVILLE. Except during the period of the Commonwealth in the 17th century, there has probabIy been an unbroken line of Rectors for at least 800 years. It has not been possible to trace every name, and it will be seen that there are some big gaps. Here is an incomplete list:
Johm Southam 1266
Robert de Corbustoik 1271
Henry Dawkes 1559
Anthony Hunt -
Gerald Trye 1576
John Davys 1615
Giles Collier -
Richard Davys 1642
" Mr. Woods a Layman in the Reign of the usurper Oliver Protector”
John Parry 1660–1714
John Moore 1715
Edward Somerville 1726
Thomas Edkins 1735
John Reynaulds 1741–1773 (Also Rector of Hinton)
William Somerville 1774–1803
Edward Forster 1804–1813
The Hon. William Somerville 1813–1841
William Pashley 1841–1847
George Head 1847–1893
Stephen Fry Whitehead 1893–1913
Fredk. Wm. Cropper 1914–1918
Edmund Hugh Samwell 1918–1919
Somers Percy Heriz-Smith 1920–1925
Geo. Cecil Twist 1925–1928
Montague James Case 1928–1931
Alfred Augustus Cockle 1931–1941
Arthur James Clement Turner 1942-
1t will be seen that there have been some long incumbencies. John Parry was rector for 54 years, George. Head for 46 years, and John Reynaulds for 32 years.
Gerald Trye seems to have come here from Childswickham in 1576, to the great relief of the people of the latter parish! While at Childswickham it was reported of him that “ he doth sowe hempe in the churchyard. he omits to say the services in due tyme and order, he has broken the head of one Robert Stephens w’th a cuppe in the ale-house."
John Reynaulds, incumbent from 1741–1773 was also Rector of Hinton-on-the·Green, but he seems to have resided here. From 1774–1803, and again from 1813-l84l, a member of the Somerville family held the living, It would appear, however, that neither of these Somervilles lived in the parish. At that time it was common for a clergyman to hold two or more livings in different parts of the country, and to employ curates to do his duty, the curates only being paid a portion of the stipend. The names of several curates who served Aston Somerville at this time are found in the Registers.
During the time that the Rev. William Pashley was Rector, l841-1847, the Bishop gave him permission to live in Sedgeberrow, because the old rectory was in such a dilapidated condition that it was unfit for a residence. Each year this permission was renewed by a formal licence. The old rectory was pulled down in 1861, when the present house was built.
The Rev. George Head, Rector from 1847–1893, was related on his mother’s side to the Somervilles. This Rector, still remembered by a few old residents, was a real link with the past. During his time the normal Sunday services were Morning Prayer at ll a.m., and Evensong at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. There were no evening services, and the Holy Communion was only celebrated on the great festivals and possibly a few other occasions. It was only at these celebrations that a collection was taken in church. Church expenses were met by a compulsory levy, made by the Parish Meeting, upon the local landowners. When in 1868 the Church Rate, as it was called, was abolished, church expenses were paid from Mr. Head’s own pocket. At that time it would have been difficult for the ordinary villager to support his church. The normal wage for farm workers was 12 shillings a week, with no pay in bad weather! On hunting days marriages had to take place early in the morning to enable Mr. Head to ride to the meet. Old residents say, that when he returned, there was always a child ready to open the,rectory gate. The reward for this service was a silver threepenny piece. The patronage of the living was in the hands of the Somervilles from the building of the church until 1870. In that year it passed to John Whitehead, Esq. He only made one presentation, the Rev. S. Whitehead, his nephew. When the next presentation was made in 1914, the advowson was in the possession of W. Fitzherbert, Esq. He was the last private patron, for on leaving the village, he handed the advowson to the Diocesan Board of Patronage. When in the year 1931 various adjustments were made in the county boundaries, Aston Somerville passed into Worcestershire, but the ecclesiastical parish still remains in the diocese of Gloucester.
THE SCHOOL. Soon after John Whitehead, Esq., bought the Aston Somerville estate in 1870, he had a building erected, which served both as a school and a dissenting chapel. After some years it ceased to be used for religious services, but it continued to serve as a day school for the children of the village. This building was, however, privately owned. In 1924 a special meeting of parishioners was called to discuss the future of the village school. The existing building was required by the new owner for conversion into a farm house. It was decided to build a new Church School on a plot of land given by W. FitzHerbert, Esq. Some generous donations were given, and various grants were received, but a great deal of the necessary money was raised by local effort. When the present buildings were completed, at a cost of £l,230, all the required money was in hand. The new school was formally opened in May 1925.
John Parry, Rector of Aston Somorville 1660—1714
John Parry was born in the year 1639. During his boyhood Charles I was king, and England was divided by civil war. The young John was barely ten years old when Charles was beheaded. Four years afterwards, Cromwell, whom John Parry later described scornfully as " The Usurper," rose to supreme power in the state. Episcopacy and the Prayer-book already had been abolished, and a large number of clergy had been dispossessed of their benefices. In Aston Somerville, it would appear, the Rector had been deprived, and a layman, a certain Mr. Woods, was installed as the minister of the parish.
Mr. Woods either refused, or did not wish to use the font while he was in the parish. for in 1660 it was recorded that baptisms again took place at the font " after many years disuse." Perhaps he administered baptism in private houses. That his own children were baptized is clear from the following extract, made from the will of Anthony Gybbs of Morecott, dated 20 March 1656: " I give and bequeath to Mr. Woods of Aston Summerfield his children £3 whereof Mary Woods is to have 20s. of the said £3. To Widdow Matthus of Aston Summerfield £3. To Sarah Wilkins wife of Harrie Wilkins of Aston Summerfield 20s. ‘for those seaven I was a witness for at their baptisme’."
In the meanwhile John Parry was growing up and was receiving his education. He was sent to Oxford (Christ Church) where he received the degree of Master of Arts. The year 1660 was a glorious year in England. It was the year of the Restoration, when Charles II was called back from his exile in Holland. and crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. With the restoration of the King came the restoration of the Church. The imprisoned bishops were brought back to their sees, while others returned from exile. A number of new bishops was consecrated, and many of the clergy who had been turned out of their benefices were restored to office. Young men came forward and offered themselves for ordination, and immediately were put in charge of parishes. Thus it was that John Parry, possibly at the request of the squire and patron of the living, came to Aston Somerville. He was only 2l years old, and could have had little training for the work which he had to undertake.
Whether he found a Rectory suitable for his residence is not recorded. Possibly an Elizabethan or even older house was in existence. John Parry little realised, perhaps, that he was entering on his life’s work. For the next 54 years until they day of his death, he remained Rector of Aston Somerville, ministering to the population, numbering few over a hundred, in this small parish.
The years that followed John Parry’s appointment saw many changes. The first question that had to be decided was the form of the Prayer-book. During 1661 a joint session of the Convocations of Canterbury and York worked at Prayer-book revision, and completed its task by the December. By May of the following year the revised book had passed both Houses of Parliament and received the Royal Assent.
The new Prayer-book was made the only legal service-book in England, and all clergy were obliged to use it, and none other, in their churches after the feast of St. Bartholomew. And so, in August 1662, John Parry began using in our parish church the very Prayer-book still in use at our services today. On September 9, 1664, four years after coming to the parish, John Parry married Rebeccah, daughter of Thomas Fullwood, Esq., of Little Alne in the County of Warwick.
John Parry was then 25 years of age, while his bride was a year older. During the next 16 years ten children were born to them:
John 1665
Rebeccah 1667
Henry 1668
Samuel 1670
Thomas 1671 (died at age of two).
Thomas 1674
Benjamin 1675
Anne 1677
Mary 1679 (died at age of two).
Joseph 1680
The year 1665 was one that the Parrys would always remember. On February 7 their first child, a son, was born. He was named John after his father. This boy was to grow up to follow in his father’s steps. There was, however, another and terrible reason why the Parrys would not easily forget the year 1665. It was the year of the " Plague of London." This devastating epidemic was the last of a series of outbreaks that had occurred since the Black Death in the 14th Century. Those who were in a position to do so fled from London to the country, until people in the surrounding villages and towns refused to receive them. At the height of the plague it is said that people were dying at the rate of 8,000 a week, and burials had to take place in communal graves. On August 2 a solemn fast was observed throughout the country " to deprecate God’s displeasure against the land by pestilence." Although in London the plague eased with the winter, it continued, to rage in various parts of the country. The Plague was followed by another terrible disaster. The summer of 1666 had been one of the hottest and driest in living memory. On the night of the 2nd of September a fire broke out in a wooden bakehouse near Fish Street in the City of London. It quickly spread and got out of hand, helped by a strong east wind blowing at the time. For five days the Great Fire of London raged, and destroyed the whole city proper between the Tower and the Temple, St. Paul’s Cathedral and 88 other old churches were burnt to the ground. We can imagine the news of these disasters, the Plague and the Fire, reaching our village, and the prayers that would be said in our parish church by the young John Parry.
In 1667 a second child was born to the Parrys, a daughter, who was named Rebeccah after her mother. In due course the other children came along. Thomas, born in 1671, died at the age of two, but as the next child was a son, he was given the sarne name. Mary, born in 1679, also died when two years old. So while the Parrys were yet in their early forties they found themselves with eight young children. Their home seems to have been a happy one, and as the children grew up and went out into the world, they remembered with affection their home and the village of their birth.
John Parry was a scholarly man, and without doubt he supervised the education of his young family it was, perhaps, soon after the birth of Joseph, the youngest 'child, that John Parry was taken seriously ill with "feaver and colick." Hardly had he recovered when there was one of those frequent outbreaks of smallpox. Fortunately his family escaped. In 1683 he presented a lovely silver alms dish to our little church as a thankoffering. `
John, the firstborn, may have decided at an early age to follow in his father’s footsteps. This would have given great pleasure to his parents as they watched him prepare for ordination. We cannot follow his career, but we know that for many years he was curate of St. James (Picadilee Circus), Westminster, the church of which the late Archbishop William Temple was once Rector. The younger John married, and he and his wife Mary had one child, whom they named Rebeccah. Little Rebeccah, who was " a very engaging child and of very promising hope," died in 1719 at the age of three. Her death must have been a great grief to her parents. The younger John and his wife eventually retired to Bath, where John died in 1737, and Mary two years later. They were both buried in our church, and their stone may be seen in the nave aisle.
The Parrys’ second child, Rebeccah, seems to have remained at home until she was 32. In the year 1699 she was married at Aston Somerville to William Wells, Esq., of Stanton. In 1700 they had a son whom they named John after his grandfather. Two years later a daughter was born (at 2 o’clock in the morning!) and she was named Rebeccah after her mother and grandmother.
Nothing is known about Henry, the third child of the old Parrys. He appears to have grown to manhood and eventually went away from our village.
Both Samuel and Thomas went to London, where they became seedsmen of the Grocers‘ Company. At this time many young men of such families were seeking their fortune in the commercial world. While the young Parrys were growing up England was rapidly becoming a great trading country.
It was not long after John Parry came to our village that England captured and annexed from the Dutch the group of Middle Colonies between New England and Virginia; turning New Amsterdam into New York, and so forming an unbroken coastline under the British flag from Maine to Carolina. At the same time the developing trade of the East India Company was bringing great wealth to England. By the time Samuel and Thomas set forth for London, England had won the race for commercial leadership over her great rival, the Dutch, and had become the greatest manufacturing and trading country in the world.
The two brothers found much of the City of London rebuilt after the disastrous fire. Christopher Wren, now at the height of his power, had already completed some of his noble buildings. Often the brothers must have stood and watched the massive blocks of the new Portland stone being moved into position as Wren’s masterpiece, St. Paul’s, slowly rose above the ruins of the old church. In 1699 Thomas came home in good health to our village to see his parents. On that occasion he expressed the wish that in the event of his death he wanted to be buried in our church, even pointing out to his father the exact spot. Neither he nor his parents realised that in a year’s time his wish would be fulfilled. The year 1700 was indeed a sad one for the ageing Parrys. First Thomas died in the March at the age of 26, and then in November came the heavy blow of Samuel’s death at the age of 30. His father’s words express the parents’ grief, "Thus ye come home in blooming years, to be bedewed with parents‘ tears. Dear Sam is come .... With us both life and death are mixt." Before, his death Samuel bought, and gave to our church, a beautiful silver Hagen, " for the service of God in the use of the Sacrament in the Church of Somervile’s Aston for ever." It is still one of our treasured possessions. Samuel’s body was also brought from London and laid to rest in the chancel of our church.
Some years previously John and Rebeccah had watched their young Benjamin set forth for London. It was planned that he should join the Goldsmiths Company. The principal goldsmiths resided in Lombard Street, and by the time Benjamin reached London they were handling enormous sums of money, not only for the wealthy city merchants, but also for landowners all over the country. ln effect they had become the first English bankers. However, it could not have been long after Benjamin’s arrival in the City that the Bank of England was founded. At the time England was at war with France, and the government of William III wanted money badly. The goldsmiths of Lombard Street had been in the habit of lending large sums of money to the Government at high rates of interest. The idea occurred to a Scotsman named William Paterson that a large sum of money might be subscribed amongst a certain number of people and lent to the Government at a reasonable interest. The idea was taken up, and the Bank of England was established by charter in 1694. In January of the year 1702, news reached Aston Somerville of Benjamin’s death at the early age of 27. His body was brought from London and buried in our church. His gravestone may be seen in the belfry. Of the remaining two children little is known. Anne was married in our church to a Mr. Thomas Keyte, of Broadway, and there is no mention of her again. Joseph lived to be 83. He was married and lived at Clifford, He died, and was buried here in 1763. Susannah, his wife, was buried here in 1765.
It was on July lst, 1709, that Rebeccah, the loved wife of the now aged John Parry, died. Her live surviving children had been summoned, and they were with their mother at her death. It must have been a sad day for John Parry. On the alabaster tablet, which he had erected to her memory, he had these words inscribed:
" Chara mihi conjux! merito tua funera ilevi: i
Corpus humi recubat, tu super astra manes.
Sanctior aut melior sit consors, haud scio certe.
_Heu miserum me! Quis maesta corda levet?"
[" O wife, dear to me! I have bewailed thy death, as thou
deservedst. Thy body lies in the ground, but thou abidest
above the stars. There may be holier and better partners - I
know not for certain. Alas! for me in my sorrow! Who may
raise sad hearts?"] '
John Parry’s daughters were now married. His surviving sons had grown up and had left home. Yet for five more years he continued as Rector. He died on June 29, 1714, at the age of 75, and after 54 years in the parish.·So there passed to his rest one of whom it could be written, "He was a constant and faithful preacher, diligent and careful in all other offices of his calling, the best of husbands and of fathers, and kind and charitable to all." He had lived through the reigns of Charles I, Cromwell, Charles II, James II, William and Mary, William III, and Anne, some of the most interesting years in our history. A little over a month after the passing of John Parry, Queen Anne died, George I ascended the throne, and. there began a new chapter in English history.
Let us remember this faithful priest, and thank God for his ministry in our church and village.