REBELLION
I love a battlefield, but Sedgemoor has an atmosphere, and not just because men died here on 6 July, 1685. You’d expect spectral armies and there is allegedly some of that. The ill-fated Duke of Monmouth is said to appear. There’s more. If you hear pounding feet, followed by hooves, this might be the alleged ‘race’ between captor and horseman. The man was recaptured and executed. His lover is then said to have drowned herself.
LADY AGNES
Farleigh Hungerford has ‘previous’. When Edward Hungerford inherited in 1516, he married widow Agnes Cotell. After Edward’s death (1522), Lady Agnes was arrested on suspicion of doing away with husband number one. She’d allegedly had him strangled then burnt in her own furnace. It’s Lady Agnes who’s said to haunt Farleigh today, appearing in the vicinity of the chapel, before disappearing. Perhaps she seeks out the chapel for repentance.
BLACK DOG
This story is from the October 2020 edition of Somerset Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 2020 edition of Somerset Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Up on the Down
Try this easy-to-follow Exmoor walk with SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE
Shop until you drop
It’s Somerset’s county town, it’s the place to go for the big shops, but Taunton is also home to a thriving independent scene, discovers CATHERINE COURTENAY
Creatures of the night
Have you ever had something swoop past your ear, almost unseen? You may have had a brief encounter with a bat, says BERNARD BALE
Bowled over
Now that we can return to skittle and bowling alleys - albeit with new rules BERNARD BALE reveals that the sport of bowling has many Somerset links
Trackway through time
In the Somerset Levels SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE discovers a place where our Neolithic heritage rubs shoulders with the present day
SAVING THE SPLENDOUR OF EXMOOR
The splendour of Exmoor National Park may appear timeless and untroubled, but a new book reveals the long and often bitter struggle conservationists faced to save the landscape from the twin threats of afforestation and the plough
Decorative art
Not simply functional, treat your walls like an extension of your personality
Charity starts at home
How do we teach our children the importance of giving back?
Blooming brilliant
Will and Lauren Holley purchased a four-acre field in Somerset, converted it into a nursery, opened during lockdown and now their perennial plants are flying off the shelves. JULIE HARDING meets the go-getting couple
Age-old advice
Just become a grandparent for the first time? Perhaps you need a little guidance, so here are some top tips about how to embrace your new family role
