BRANSCOMBE'S VICARS

There were probably Vicars of Branscombe from about 995 AD, but records prior to the thirteenth century have been lost. So the list begins, appropriately, with Bishop Bronescombe's Register.

	1269	Laurence de Sydebery
	1283	Sir Thomas Faitcoul
	1318	Sir Walter Lovecoke
	1362	Robert Hamounde
	1401	John Taylour
	no record	Sir John Houndeburghe
	1421/22	Master Henry Webber B.D.
	1428	Sir Hugh Balle	Chaplain
	1447	Sir Richard Dobyne	Chaplain
	1449	Sir Richard Martyne	Chaplain
	1463	Sir John Cruys
	1481/82	Master Richard Mayow
	1500	Master John Atwylle M.A.
	1503	Master John Rugge M.A.
	1539/40	John Tailour alias Cardemaker B.D.
	1554	Master Gregory Bassett B.D.
	1557	Sir John Vele
	1580/81	Sir John Carpenter
	1621	Anthony Turner B.A.
	1641	Edward Pynne M.A.
	1650	Robert Drake B.A.	Puritan ministers
	1656	Edward Nosworthy B.A.	not legally instituted
	1660/61	William Pring B.A.
	1713	Thomas Vaughan B.A.
	1735	William Beele B.A.
	1758	John Anthony Foote B.A.
	1784	John Kingman B.A.
	1794	Thomas Puddicombe B.A.
	1827	Whittington Landon D.D.
	1829	George Landon M.A., B.C.L.
	1837	Sydenham Henry Peppin B.A.
	1868	Henry George Tomkins
	1872	Robert Swansborough B.A.
	1910	Arthur Steele King M.A.
	1924	William Horace Raymer M.A.
	1949	Frederick Charles Butters L.TH.
	1955	D'Arcy William Ward M.A.
	1958	Anthony Thomas Allwork M.A.
	1962	Wilfred Elliott Henn M.A.
	1968	Emlyn Floyd Drew
	1972	Harold William Tremlett Stamp
	1976	Michael Monlas Courtney	Team Vicar
	1984	Gordon Hope McNeill Shelford	Honorary Vicar
	1986	Nigel Howard Freathy B.A.

According to Bishop Bronescombe's Register, Lawrence of Sydebery (Sidbury - an ancient priory four miles west of Branscombe) received all altillage of the parish, that is, one in ten of all small things such as turnips, eggs and sucking pigs, along with a tithe of beans and peas. Lawrence lived in the manse that had by then been constructed at La Ford, later known as Vicarage, and now called the Square. The meadow called Personhegh (Parson's Field) and the great, or corn tithe, were reserved for the benefit of the Chapter.

In the report of an inspection of the parish in 1307, Sir Thomas Faitcoul was said to be diligent in church and out, a good preacher, speaking from his heart, a lover of his church. He had donated, at his own expense, a "pair" of organs and a long roll of music. He had also paid for a new Antiphoner and Psalter (books) worth five marks. In other respects, though, the glimpse of life in medieval Branscombe afforded by the report was far from idyllic. According to Elijah Chick:

`The document is a sad story of neglect and mismanagement, of forced labour, of favouritism. Of usual food and payment withheld from the labourers, of houses in ruins, sheds and mills in disrepair, of cattle turned off the commons before time and thriftless or poor hay-selling tenants.'

The two-year incumbency of John Tailor, alias Cardemaker has already been mentioned.

His successor, Gregory Bassett, had also at one time been suspected of "heretical" leanings, and was subjected to persecution. He is described by John Foxe (a Protestant writing in Elizabeth's reign) as a "rank papist".

John Carpenter, of Exeter College, Oxford, was a theological scholar and author of some note.

The names of Robert Drake and Edward Norworthy, two parochial ministers during the Commonwealth, are not recorded in the Bishop's Registers as they were not appointed by the true patrons, the Church. At the institution of William Pring, it is distinctly stated that the benefice was then vacant.

More has been written about Thomas Puddicombe (1794-1827) than any other of Saint Winifred's vicars. it is said that he was a benevolent autocrat. A story concerning him and his choir was that, because they refused to sing at the proper time, he warned them he would ban them forever. They evidently did not heed his warning, as it is said he always afterwards led the hymns with his violin.

He apparently compelled parishioners who had erred to do penance, by clothing them in white sheets and cursing them into the church at the start of the service, then blessing them out at the end. If the church was a bit thinly populated, it is said he would start the congregation on singing a long psalm and go out and round up the absent flock.

In exacting tithe, he is said to have demanded a tenth of the honey produced by his parishioners. One evening, so the story goes, a disgruntled bee-keeper called to see him, bearing a skep of bees under his arm. He was shown into Parson Puddicombe's study and without more ado, exclaimed "here's your tenth part of my bees", and emptied the lot into the room, closing the door behind him! Puddicombe's records in the burial register are often accompanied by detailed notes of a critical nature, especially when death was brought about by suicide, accident, or alcoholic excess.

But Puddicombe's feistiness was more than matched by that of Henry George Tomkins (1868-1872), the only Vicar of Branscombe to take his organist to court. The dispute arose when the organist, Miss Ford, played a different tune to that requested by the Reverend. That this should have led to a court appearance is evidence of a growing tension between him and some of his flock. At the height of the dispute, a policeman was drafted into the church to prevent individuals on a blacklist drawn up by Tomkins, from taking their accustomed places in the pews. It was reported at great length in the local press.

The case eventually came before Honiton Magistrates, and was dismissed when it was revealed the message about the vicar's choice of music had not been passed on to his organist by the sexton's son, before the service.

But trouble rumbled on in the parish. In May 1871, another dispute arose over the appointment of the two churchwardens, in which the Archdeacon had to intercede. So there must have a been a collective sigh of relief in the village when Tomkins was replaced the following year by Robert Swansborough (1872-1910).

Unfortunately for the good people of Branscombe, he turned out to be just as controversial if less litigious. The church is in possession of a comical paper dunce's cap he made, to be worn by those he caught acting inappropriately during his service. On one side is written:

`A Despiser of God's Presence in God's own House'

On the other are quotes from Genesis, Ecclesiasticus & Isaiah.

But there was another side to the Reverend Swansborough's character. He was an enthusiastic patron of John White, probably Branscombe's most famous artist. White lived in the village for about twenty years, from the end of the nineteenth century. He painted many local scenes, using villagers as models when he wished to add human interest. His pictures were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, and elsewhere, helping to make the charms of Branscombe village more widely known. When Robert Swansborough died in 1910, having been Vicar of Branscombe for twenty-eight years, an inventory of the vicarage's contents listed several local views by John White, including a water colour: Branscombe Church - Sunday Morning, and an oil: Branscombe Beach. It is not known what has become of these pictures. Whittington Landon was also Dean of Exeter Cathedral (1813-38). He was succeeded by his third son, George, in 1829.

Drawings © 1996 Angela Lambert

© 1996 Ronald Branscombe branscombe@globalnet.co.uk

Register now for 1Mb of FREE! web space with GeoCities.

Return to Branscombe Parish.

Return to Branscombe Home Page.

This page last updated: 15 August 1996 18:40:21