The Church of St Mary the Virgin

The following notes on Yarlington Church and Village are taken from A Guide to the Camelot Parishes.  More details about the village can be found on the parish website www.yarlington.org.uk
 

Yarlington Parish Church

 The South Tower, which is in an unusual position, was part of the perpendicular church said to have been built by Richard, Earl of Warwick.

The Arch under the tower is Norman, or even late Saxon, and it probably survived from an earlier central tower.

The Font is perpendicular with chamfered corners, and it is decorated with quatrefoils and panel tracery.

The Former Gallery Panel is an interesting feature of the church, for we learn From T E Rogers' Records of Yarlington that: "There was a gallery at the west end of the church ornamented with five panels by some local artist, all copies of Italian Masters.  Bishop Law, who in 1825 suddenly descended upon the village in a carriage and pair, directed by the Rector, the Canon Frankland, to have the decorations removed.  This was was so earnestly deprecated that they were allowed to remain until 1878"
In fact, one of the panels, which depicts King David playing a harp, was found in a local cottage and taken to the Bishop or Bath and Wells (then Bishop 'Jock' Henderson), who returned it to the church in 1972.

The church Bells were restored in 1899.

The Organ was first installed in the chancel in 1906 and rebuilt in its present position in 1961.

The Reredos was erected in 1921.

The Church itself was mostly restored in 1878.  During the work a stone coffin was found under the floor: it was removed and now stands against the churchyard wall; inside it was found a stone ornament in the shape of a figure of eight.

The Registers go back to 1654.  The old ones, together with some other records, are deposited in the County Record Office in Taunton.

Yarlington Village

The Manor.  It is recorded in the Domesday Book that Gerlington was given to William I's half brother Robert, but through his son's disgrace it was later given to the Montacute family, who held it until 1521.  During this period the sixth Baron Montacute was allowed to construct a moat to the east and south of the church and house, and the family also had a very unusual right in connection with the deer park: known as the deer's leap, it gave them a claim to all the timber growing within six feet outside the boundary.  The Manor was given by Henry VIII to Catherine Parr, but was sold and came into the Godolphin family.  In 1782 it was bought by John Rogers, who took materials from the old house by the church and built a new Yarlington House on the hill a site which caused George III (who was passing by the turnpike from Weymouth to Longleat) to say that it was a bold man who would build a house on such a "blasted heath".

King John twice spent a night in the old manor house (in 1209), for his address is given on a charter as apud Gerlington.

Yarlington Fair was founded by charter in 1315; this gave permission for a market every week and a Fair for three days every year.  The Fair must have included every kind of entertainment, for records tell us of Swords and Single Sticks: "A guinea for the man who breaks most heads and saves his own", and even of the selling of William Attweel's wife to Thomas Wadman (for five shillings).  The Fair was discontinued in 1900 - but revived in 1986.

The Yarlington Mill Cider Apple was developed when a pip (called the gribble in Somerset) took root in the stonework or the water-wheel at Yarlington Mill.  Stones were removed to allow the root system to develop, and the resulting fruit turned out to be a new variety: pear-shaped with a russet skin, and perfect for cider.  Cuttings were taken and the tree was planted extensively in the south-west; the Yarlington Mill Cider Apple is now a firmly established species.

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