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Ballands Castle

Buildings and structures completed in the 11th centuryCastles in SomersetFormer castles in EnglandScheduled monuments in South Somerset

Ballands Castle was a castle near the village of Penselwood, Somerset, England.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ballands Castle (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Ballands Castle
Underhill,

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.0778 ° E -2.354 °
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Address

Underhill
BA9 8LL , Pen Selwood
England, United Kingdom
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Stavordale Priory
Stavordale Priory

Stavordale Priory near Charlton Musgrove, Somerset, England was built as a priory of Augustinian canons in the 13th century and was converted into a private residence after the suppression of the monastery in 1538. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.The original priory for Augustinian canons was founded by a member of the Lovel family, in 1243, probably following an endowment by Henry, Lord Lovel, who died about 1199.The list of Augustinian Priors of Stavordale Priory includes one 'John' Bodman who died there, as Prior, in 1361. Closer examination of the (Latin) primary source for this reference, however, reveals that his name was not, in fact, given as the English form 'John' but Johannis, the Latin form of Johannes. This appears to be the earliest historical record in England of a Johannes Bodman, and it is possible that he was a scion of the ancient, noble house of the Ritter von Bodman (also Freiherren and Grafen von und zu Bodman), who lived then and still live today at Bodman am Bodensee. However the name 'Johannis' is the Latin form for 'John' as well as 'Johannes' and there is little reason to create a German link to the prior. The bell tower is known to have existed by 1374, and the church was refitted and rebuilt around 1439. The chantry of Jesus was described as having been "recently completed" in 1526. It is thought to be linked to the village's old church near the altar by a tunnel, perhaps used as a priest's escape route, some two miles in length. Again there is no evidence or reason for such a 'tunnel' escape route. It was converted around the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, after the priory merged with Taunton in 1533.It was restored and extended by Thomas Edward Collcutt in 1905 for Mr. F.G. Sage.It is now owned by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. The gardens of Stavordale Priory were featured in the 2017 book The Secret Gardeners by Victoria Summerley and photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas.

Bourton, Dorset
Bourton, Dorset

Bourton is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated north of the A303 road on the border with Somerset and Wiltshire between Mere and Wincanton. The parish is the most northerly in Dorset and in the 2011 census had a population of 822. Bourton is the most populous village in the electoral ward called Bourton and District. The District extends to Silton then south to Buckhorn Weston and Kington Magna. The total ward population at the abovementioned census was 1,905. The village lies on the River Stour which passes through the historic Bourton Mill, once home to the second largest water wheel in Britain (60 feet (18 m) in diameter) . The village has two stores, a petrol station and a public house. The White Lion Inn stands on the High Street, which leads off what was the old main London to Exeter road before the village was bypassed to the south in 1992 by the A303. St George’s Church, which stands on one of the highest points in the village, was built via public subscription in 1810 and borders the primary school of the same name. The point at which the counties of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire meet beside the lake at the rear of Bourton Mill is marked by Egbert's Stone which once fell into the River Stour, but was rescued and re-erected. In 878 it formed the rallying point for Alfred the Great's troops before the Battle of Ethandun. His grandfather, Egbert of Wessex, was said to have placed the stone there to settle the shire boundaries. Just over the county border is King Alfred's Tower. The mill, which is mentioned in the Domesday book, has had many incarnations. As a linen mill it processed flax and supplied canvas to the Royal Navy but when industry declined it was developed into a foundry with a blast furnace and was one of the first places to make the new threshing machines in the West of England. It went on to build boilers, steam lorries and gas engines as well as gaining a reputation as a builder of water wheels. During the First World War Mills Bombs were produced here in vast quantities. After the Gasper dam burst upriver in the summer of 1917, much of the machinery was washed from the factory and it took a number of years for industry to restart on the site. When it did return in 1933 the factory entered its final phase as a dried milk processing plant and this continued up until its closure in 1998. It has now been demolished to make way for the Mill Lake development. Chaffeymoor Lodge, located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Chaffeymoor, is a large 17th-century house which retains original features including stone mullioned windows, large fireplaces and exposed beams. The extensive grounds include mature gardens, an ornamental pond, a croquet lawn and a lake, are recommended by The Royal Horticultural Society.The nearest railway station is in neighbouring Gillingham. Trains run on the Exeter to Waterloo line.