Babington is a small village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Kilmersdon Kilmersdon is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills in Somerset between the towns of Radstock and Frome. It is located on the B3139 between Wells, Somerset, Wells and Trowbridge i ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England, which has now largely disappeared. It is between

Radstock Radstock is a town and civil parish on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, about south-west of Bath and north-west of Frome. It is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. The Radsto ...

and

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

History

In 1233 or 1234 much of the southern area of what is now Babington Parish was granted to the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

and became known as Temple Newbury. It consisted of around four

Virgate The virgate, yardland, or yard of land ( was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually (but not always) reckoned as hide and notionally (but seldom exactly) equal to 30 acr ...

s and may have supported cloth making and fulling mills. The parish of Babington was part of the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

, The village dates from

medieval times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

. Its name derives from the

Babington family Babington is the name of an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-IrishBurke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1958, 4th Edition by L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage: 'Babington of Creevagh', pg 42' and English gentry family. The Anglo-Irish branch of the family is still ...

, who were once associated with the village, but appears to have been largely demolished to make way for the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

around 1705. Evidence of the medieval village was found during excavations carried out in 1997. It is known that the manor was sold by Thomas and Mary Mankham to Joan Elcode, a widow, in a deed dated Easter 1572. The Manor then contained 7

messuage In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

s, one cottage, 10 tofts, 1

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

, 10 gardens, 14 orchards, of land, of meadow, of pasture, of wood, of

furze ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are na ...

and 4s annual rent and 1 lb of pepper. In 1931 the parish had a population of 248. On 1 April 1949 the parish was abolished and merged with Kilmersdon and Coleford.

Babington House

The current

Babington House Babington House is a Grade II* listed manor house, located in the village of Babington, between Radstock and Frome, in the county of Somerset, England. Converted to a private members club and hotel by Nick Jones, it is currently owned by S ...

was built around 1705 for Henry Mompesson, probably on the foundations of an earlier building. Babington was inherited by successive members of the Knatchbull family until 1952, when the House and immediate grounds were sold. In 2000, it was bought by the Soho House club, and converted to a hotel, club and wedding venue in 2000. The

Georgian architecture Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Han ...

house is designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The 18th-century stable block and coach house have now been made into three separate dwellings. The grounds also contain a listed ice house and two impressive sets of gates.

Church of St Margaret

The church is thought to date from 1748 and was probably built by

John Strahan John Strahan was an architect working in Bristol and Bath, England, in the early 18th century. He died around 1740. List of works * Shakespeare Public House, Bristol (1725) * Combe Hay Manor Combe Hay 1728 to 1730 * Frampton Court, Frampton-on- ...

William Halfpenny William Halfpenny (active 1723–1755) was an English architect and builder in the first half of the 18th century, and prolific author of builder's pattern books. In some of his publications he described himself as "architect and carpenter ...

, and is considered to be very similar in conception to

Redland Chapel Redland Parish Church is a Georgian church, built in 1742, in the Redland suburb of Bristol, England. It is a Grade I listed building. History It which was built, probably by John Strahan and completed by William Halfpenny, with plasterwork ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

which was long considered to be by John Strahan but now known to be by William Halfpenny. It is a Grade I

. The interior includes an unusual Royal Arms of the

Hanoverians The House of Hanover ( ) is a European royal house with roots tracing back to the 17th century. Its members, known as Hanoverians, ruled Hanover, Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Empire at various times during the 17th to 20th centurie ...

on the Rood. The church is owned and operated by the St Margaret's, Babington, Charitable Trust, and is licensed for weddings and public worship. The Trust works in partnership with the management of Babington House, which is adjacent, to arrange weddings for Babington House clients in the church. The church is not exclusively for Babington House clients. Within the churchyard there are a set of three chest tombs. The monument to John Shute is dated 1688 and that to Thomas Branch 1779.

Charity Cottage

Charity Cottage in Charity Lane dates from the 17th century and was built as three cottages, although they have now been converted into one property.

References

External links

Babington House Hotel
* {{OpenDomesday, ST7051, babington, Babington Villages in Mendip District Former civil parishes in Somerset