Goathurst: Difference between revisions

Goathurst is a small village in the English county of Somerset, around 3miles from the town of Bridgwater.

Originally part of the Royal Forest of North Petherton, its first squire owner battled with Richard the Lionheart on the Crusades [1]Goathurst's St Edward's church includes a 19th century monument to three-year-old Isabella Kemeys, which shows the child lying on a pillow holding a broken flower [2]

It was the location of a small Prisioner of War camp during World War II, initially housing Italian prisoners from the North Africa campaign, and later German prisoners post D-Day.

Halswell Park and House

Purchased by the Tynte family, they were united with the Kemeys family of Cefn Mably when Jane Kemeys married the Rev. John Tynte (d. 1710), 2nd baronet of Halswell, and rector of Goathurst. They were succeeded in turn by their three sons, Halsewell Tynte (1705-30), 3rd baronet, of Halswell and Cefnmabli, whose two daughters died young, the Rev. John Tynte (1707-1740, d. unm.), 4th baronet and rector of Goathurst, and Charles Kemeys Tynte (1710-1785, dsp.), 5th baronet. Cefn Mably remained in the hands of the Kemeys Tynte family until 1923 [3]

Halswell Park was developed between 1745 and 1785 as a setting for Halswell House. The 17 acre pleasure garden was created by Sir Charles Kemeys Tynte, the transformation of the landscape on a grand scale to rank in scope and importance with some of the finest landscape gardens in Europe.

The grounds contain many fanciful buildings, fish ponds, cascades and bridges, including the Temple of Harmony which stands in Mill Wood. Completed in 1767, it is Grade II listed and has been fully restored. It is open to the public on Sundays from May until September [4]

The contents of the house were sold in 1948, and the house in 1950 when the rest of the estate was auctioned. Part of the house was converted into flats. In 1985 it was again sold and restoration work was carried out, it is now owned by Dunchester Investments and being covrted into a an up market hotel come entertainment venue.

The Halswell Park Trust was established with the aim of acquiring the buildings and surrounding land of Halswell Park, restoring them and opening them to the public. In 1998, the Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust restored Robin Hoods Hut (Grade II), which commands views over Somerset, the Bristol Channel and South Wales. The Hut is now owned by the Landmark Trust, who let the building on short holiday lets.

See also

• Location: 51°06′N 3°04′W / 51.10°N 03.07°W / 51.10; -03.07 ST2534
• List of POW camps in Britain

External links

• Entry at Quantock online
• British History online comprehensive background on Goathurst and Haswell House
• Vision of Britian entry lots of statistics
• Entry at GeniUK
• History of the Poulett family
• Archives Wales information on the Kemeys-Tynte family
• Halswell House being developed by Dunster Properties
• John Salvatore Zuncheddu story of the PoW camp
• Map of Goathurst from Sedgemoor online
• Huntstile Organic farm also has a farm shop, plus local caravan/camping site

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