Chilton Priory (ST373389) (sometimes Stradling's Tower) is a Grade 2 listedfolly, later extended to become a country house prominently located on Polden Hill, overlooking Bath Road, close to Chilton Polden, Parish of Polden Wheel, Somerset. The tower was erected in 1838 for William Stradling, deputy lieutenant of Somerset[1] and a descendant of the local Stradling family who date back to the fourteenth century. The building commands extensive views over Somerset, including Glastonbury Tor. The first Ordnance Survey in 1886 recorded the tower and pleasure grounds as 'Chilton Priory (Museum).'[2]
Stradling refers to it as the 'Priory of Chilton-Super-Polden in his book of 1839.[3] Built as a landmark, it was also designed to be functional. The folly is a three-storey tower containing the Charles and Victoria rooms, with an observatory, nave, refectory, oratory and a crypt below,[4] with a wing at the rear was built in 1838, probably by the architect William Halliday, for the antique and art collector William Stradling to house his acquisitions.[5] A plaque recording the name 'G. Dowden 1836' is set atop the tower above the doorway. Stradling did not live at Chilton Priory, his abode was at Roseville, now The Towers House in the village, located within a small park with a grotto, bridge and temple.[2]
Stradling acquired and incorporated materials from the Roman Villa at Chedzoy; an old church at Langport provided the pinnacles; the grotesque heads, the upper windows and battlements came from a demolished castle at Enmore; staircase turret from a church in Shepton Mallet and three of the nave windows came from a chapel at Slapeland.[6] The buildings have several gargoyles.[5] The single-storey wing attached to the east of tower, has lancet windows and the gabled porch to the south has a fine door dated 1616. The south and east ranges have two storeys with stone mullioned windows.[2]
The refectory has some mediaeval stained glass, a fireplace set in a massive freestone surround and a 17th-century altar rail.[5] The inset above in the fireplace surround is an example of one of the eighteen sculptural works that she produced. This 1910 work, 'Magna Mater' (Great Mother), has links with Cybele and was commissioned by Elbert and Alice Hubbard.[7] The roof has gilt and oak rosettes from the Church of Glastonbury and on one of the beams is an elegantly carved scrawl surmounted by some tabernacle work, painted blue and red, ornamented with gold, taken from York Minster after the fire caused by an incendiary in WW2.[8] The small Oratory at the east end has a floor of ancient monastic tiles from the Abbeys of Glastonbury and Tintern.[8]
The Observatory
Stradling was a Freemason and a member of the 'Lodge of Perpetual Friendship in Bridgewater.[9] This refectory has 'a black and white stone floor, bordered with blue similar to those at Freemasons' Lodges, but it is not known if the room was ever used for Masonic rituals.[2] Stradling employed a Mr William Halleday as a warden, living in the Gothic Cottage.[1]
After Stradling's death much of his extensive collection was dispersed and the priory left for a time to deteriorate. A catalogue of his collection still exists.[1]
The first buildings are in Gothic style and a Tudor style used for the later additions with a mock-military theme.[5] These additional buildings were added towards the mid 19th century and finally some 20th century alterations and additions were added, such as the attached garage and outbuildings to the east.[5]
The Pleasure gardens
Pleasure garden features collected by William Stradling.
A wooded pleasure ground is located to the west of the folly tower and this also housed items from Stradling's collection.[2] The gardens are laid out on a slope with a tall retaining wall behind running parallel to the Bath Road that forms its south boundary. In 1839 Stradling published a book titled 'Description of the Priory of Chilton-Super-Polden'. He calls the grotto 'Pocock's Cell' after "a most extraordinary character, who for many years resided in a cavern a quarter of a mile from this spot." This anchorite's cavern, now collapsed, was "situated at the end of a long, deep, and narrow gulley, almost covered with briars: through which the stream runs that supplies Ford Mill".[2] Pocock is described as the Robin Hood of this area, and he records an old rhyme: "Rvnne mye boyes, rvnne, the moon shynes bryte, Pocock's yn hys cave, hys pvrsse ys lyte; Bytte, whenne thee nygte ys mvrkye ande darke Hee's offe wythe hys steede, blythe as a larke."[2] In the early 20th century Major Kennedy extended the gardens by adding a terrace and lawns to the north of his new house.[2] In 1918 Frederick Bligh Bond was employed by John and Katharine Maltwood, to further extend the house and to add a pond and a bridge into the gardens.[2]
The Grotto and tunnel
Pocock's Cell
As stated, Circa 1839 Stradling built a rustic single-celled and circular grotto 'Pocock's Cell' with an accompanying gently curving Gothic-arched 'dark' tunnel in his pleasure grounds, both covered with soil. The stonework in both cases is entirely exposed. The grotto has a Gothic-arched entrance, steps leading down, domed ceiling with a small circular opening to let in light and the circular chamber contains three niches with Gothic-arches niches. A wrought iron entrance gate was once present. The structures are Grade 2 Listed.[2]
The Grail Frieze
Circa 1920 Katharine made the Grail Frieze which she placed in a position overlooking the gardens.[2] It is inscribed it with a quote from Sir William Dugdale's 1655 'Monasticum Anglicanum.' It is approximately 4m long, constructed of large stone ashlar blocks with an irregular, stepped top, and is inscribed: "About sixty three years After the incarnation Of our Lord St Joseph Of Arimethea, Accompanied by Eleven Other disciples of St Philip was despatched By that apostle into Britain to introduce The Meek and Gentle System of Christianity They settled in the Isle of Avalon." The Grail Frieze may have been intended to have an architectural function.
Major Francis Kennedy
Major Kennedy owned Chilton Priory from 1909 until 1918. In 1909–10 he commissioned Frederick Bligh bond, an architect, author and psychical researcher to build a larger Tudor-Gothic-revival house on to the north-east side of the early 19th century folly tower, copying the castellated design of the original building.[2]
The Maltwoods
The Priory was home to the artist Katharine Emma Maltwood (1878–1961) née Sapsworth and her husband John from shortly after WWI.[2] She is best known as the discoverer of the Glastonbury Zodiac or Temple of the Stars), a supposed enormous geomantic creation, the inspiration for which came to her in a dream, that was thought to exist around Glastonbury Tor, defined by ancient landscape features.[10]
The Grail Frieze
John Maltwood made his fortune in WWI as managing director of Oxo Ltd who had a contract to supply combatants with their products. Katharine was a scholar, collector and artist, her early work being greatly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement and others. The couple travelled widely and were especially interested in the culture and art of countries such as Arabia, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, North Africa, Palestine and Vietnam.[2]
Katharine believed that William Stradling had deliberately built Chilton Priory on an early British pilgrimage route to Glastonbury and an ancient road 5 feet wide was indeed coincidentally discovered during building works at the priory, running parallel to the then toll road.[11] In the 1920s she became increasingly interested in ancient mythology, religious mysticism and spirituality. She made a detailed study of medieval Arthurian legends, in particular the visit by Joseph of Arimethea bearing the Holy Grail to Glastonbury.[2] Katharine's study was in the small room at the top of the west tower.
In 1935 the couple moved from Chilton Priory and in 1938 they sold it and moved to Canada.[2] A number of others occupied the priory, however the Bath Road became increasingly busy, detracting from the privacy of the property. After a long period of disuse in 2015 the estate was sold at auction and Chilton Priory is now privately owned.[2]
Glastonbury is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, 23 miles (37 km) south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than 1 mile (2 km) across the River Brue from Street, which is now larger than Glastonbury.
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Stourhead is a 1,072-hectare (2,650-acre) estate at the source of the River Stour in the southwest of the English county of Wiltshire, extending into Somerset. The estate is about 4 km northwest of the town of Mere and includes a Grade I listed 18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion, the village of Stourton, one of the most famous gardens in the English landscape garden style, farmland, and woodland. Stourhead has been part-owned by the National Trust since 1946.
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction.
Prior Park Landscape Garden surrounding the Prior Park estate south of Bath, Somerset, England, was designed in the 18th century by the poet Alexander Pope and the landscape gardener Capability Brown, and is now owned by the National Trust. The garden was influential in defining the style known as the "English landscape garden" in continental Europe. The garden is Grade I listed in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.
Woodspring Priory is a former Augustinian priory. It is near the scenic limestone promontory of Sand Point and Middle Hope, owned by the National Trust, beside the Severn Estuary about 3 miles (5 km) north-east of Weston-super-Mare, within the English unitary authority of North Somerset. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, and the whole site is scheduled as an ancient monument.
Beckford's Tower, originally known as Lansdown Tower, is an architectural folly built in neo-classical style on Lansdown Hill, just outside Bath, Somerset, England. The tower and its attached railings are designated as a Grade I listed building. Along with the adjoining Lansdown Cemetery it is Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.
Goldney Hall is a self-catered hall of residence in the University of Bristol. It is one of three in the Clifton area of Bristol, England.
Benjamin Ferrey FSA FRIBA was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival.
Somerset is a county in the south west of England. It has a varied cultural tradition ranging from the Arthurian legends to The Wurzels, a band specialising in Scrumpy and Western music.
Chilton Polden is a rural village and civil parish, situated close to Edington on the Somerset Levels to the north of the Polden Hills in Somerset, England.
Midford Castle is a folly castle in the village of Midford, and the parish of Southstoke 3 miles (5 km) south of Bath, Somerset, England.
The Grade I listed buildings in Somerset, England, demonstrate the history and diversity of its architecture. The ceremonial county of Somerset consists of a non-metropolitan county, administered by Somerset County Council, which is divided into five districts, and two unitary authorities. The districts of Somerset are West Somerset, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, Mendip and Sedgemoor. The two administratively independent unitary authorities, which were established on 1 April 1996 following the breakup of the county of Avon, are North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. These unitary authorities include areas that were once part of Somerset before the creation of Avon in 1974.
Described as "one of the most ambitious parish churches in Somerset", the present Church of St John the Baptist in Glastonbury, Somerset, England, dates from the 15th century and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
The Somerset Victoria County History is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Somerset in England, forming part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria. With ten volumes published in the series A History of the County of Somerset, the Somerset VCH is among the most substantial of the Victoria County Histories.
There are over 670 scheduled monuments in the ceremonial county of Somerset in South West England. The county consists of a non-metropolitan county, administered by Somerset Council. The two administratively independent unitary authorities, which were established on 1 April 1996 following the breakup of the county of Avon, are North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. These unitary authorities include areas that were once part of Somerset before the creation of Avon in 1974.
↑ Stradling, William. A Description of Chilton Super Polden and its Contents. Bridgewater: George Awbrey. pp.Dedication.
↑ Maltwood, Katharine E. A Guide to Glastonbury's Temple of the Stars. Royal Oak: Katharine Maltwood. pp.1–7.
↑ Stradling, William. A Description of Chilton-Super-Polden and its Contents. Bridgewater: George Awbrey. p.35.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
