The Treasurer's House is a

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

-owned property in

Martock Martock is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the Somerset Levels north west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The parish includes Hurst, approximately one mile south of the village, and Bow ...

, in the English county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. It has been designated as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Apart from the

Bishop's Palace, Wells The Bishop's Palace and accompanying Bishops House at Wells in the English county of Somerset, is adjacent to Wells Cathedral and has been the home of the Bishops of the Diocese of Bath and Wells for 800 years. It has been designated by Englis ...

it is the oldest house in the county. The original 13th-century buildings have been added to several times, including a 15th-century great hall which has an arch-braced-collar truss roof. Several of the rooms have wall paintings which have been uncovered and restored since the

were given the building in 1970. The house belonged to the

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...

and at one time was used to store the

Great Seal of the Realm The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom (known prior to the Treaty of Union of 1707 as the Great Seal of England; and from then until the Union of 1801 as the Great Seal of Great Britain) is a seal that is used to sym ...

when

John Langton John Langton (died 1337) was a chancellor of England and Bishop of Chichester. Life Langton was a clerk in the royal chancery, serving as the first Master of the Rolls from May 1286, and became chancellor in 1292.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of B ...

was the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of England.

History

The Treasurer's House is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

priest's house built from

Hamstone Hamstone is the name given to a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material w ...

during the 13th century. The solar block, which was built around 1250 survives as the oldest part of the building, making it the second oldest inhabited house in Somerset. It is mentioned as the parsonage attached to the village Church of All Saints. In 1227 it was acquired by

Hugh of Wells Hugh of Wells (died 7 February 1235) was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln. He began his career in the diocese of Bath, where he served two successive bishops, before joining royal service under King John of England. He served in the royal administr ...

the treasurer of

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

who became the rector and patron of the church. The great hall was added in 1293. In 1297

, who was a

of England and

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's seat ...

, received the

which was stored at the "court at Martock". The kitchen was added in the 15th century. The

Bishop of Bath The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...

owned the building, which was known as Martock Priory, until 1849 when it was transferred to the

Ecclesiastical Commissioners The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu ...

. It was then privately owned and a small wing added. In 1943 it was bought by

Harold St George Gray Harold St George Gray (15 January 1872 – 28 February 1963) was a British archaeologist. He was involved in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford and later was the librarian-curator of the Museum for the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History So ...

, the librarian-curator of the

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

for the

Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society The Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society was founded in 1849. The Society bought Taunton Castle in 1874, and leases it to Somerset County Council to house the Museum of Somerset. A substantial proportion of the items held by the Mus ...

to preserve it. His wife bequeathed it to the

in 1970. In 1987 it was designated as a Grade I

Architecture

Treasurers House and garden, Martock (geograph 2759000)

The building has undergone various extensions and alterations since it was built. The building has a T shaped plan with the west projecting wing being a hall added in the late 13th century. The great hall has a 15th-century four bay open arch-braced collar-truss timber roof. The roof was covered with slate from local quarries until it was thatched in the mid 19th century. The current clay tiles were used in the early 20th century. The kitchen block was added in the late 15th century or early 16th century and has no direct connection with the rest of the house. The Solar Block is the oldest part of the building dating from around 1250. It has a

plate tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

window with a

Trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four rin ...

cusping surrounded by wall paintings. The solar separated from the hall by a

screens passage A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great c ...

. The walls of one of the private chambers on the upper floor were covered with 16th century

limewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...

which was removed in 1995, to expose a 13th-century wall painting with a depiction of Jesus on the cross and two other figures. The crucifixion scene with rosettes and vine leaf decoration was uncovered in the 1990s.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Treasurer's House, Martock
Treasurer's House information at the National Trust
Houses completed in the 13th century Houses in Somerset National Trust properties in Somerset Grade I listed houses in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset Museums in Somerset Historic house museums in Somerset Hamstone buildings

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links