Evercreech bishops palace and hunting lodge

In the civil parish of Evercreech. In the historic county of Somerset (Modern Authority of Somerset, 1974 county of Somerset).

The Bishops of Bath and Wells held the manor of Evercreech from at least C11 to 1548 when it was sold. Judging by the documentary evidence there was a manor house at Evercreech from C14 and later evidence refers to several buildings with a chapel. Leland describes the site in 1545 as "demolished completely" by the previous bishop (Clerk). The location is problematic. Leland's description of the building in Evercreech and comparision with other sites would suggest a location by the church (ST650387) but Collinson states that it lay in Evercreech Park near to the later house (at given map ref). In the village is an area known as "Priors Hill" which may be the site but is associated with a hospital. The history given in Payne does mention several episodes of new building and it may be that during one of these the house moved from a position in the village to a position in the park. Payne suggests Evercreech Park was a hunting lodge, ancillary to the palace in the village, at least in origin, but may have been enlarged enough to become the palace in the C14. It is possible the older palace was retained, at least for a while, as ancillary accommodation.
See Payne (2003) for a full discussion and possible locations of palace in village.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST633375

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 35966; 35967 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=35966
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p673
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p170
    Bond, J., 1998, Somerset Parks.and Gardens, A Landscape History (Tiverton: Somerset Books) p30
    Thorn, C. and Thorn, F., 1980, Domesday Book 8 Somerset (Chichester: Phillimore) p6
    Hembry, P., 1967, The Bishops of Bath and Wells, 1540-1640 (London: The Athlone Press) p112-3
    Collinson, J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset (Bath: R. Cruttwell) pt3 p414
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p415
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p294 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) p111-125 [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]
    Payne, N., 1999, The residences of the medieval Bishops of Bath and Wells (unpubl MA dissertation, Bristol)