Description

PUCKLECHURCH

1096/4/210 WESTERLEIGH ROAD
15-AUG-85 (East side)
PARSONS MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABO
UT 8 METRES SOUTH OF NAVE OF ANGLICAN
CHURCH OF ST THOMAS À BECKET

(Formerly listed as:
WESTERLEIGH ROAD
PARSONS MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABO
UT 8 METRES SOUTH OF NAVE OF CHURCH OF
ST THOMAS OF CANTERBURY)

GV II
Chest tomb. Early C19, commemorating Jane Parsons (d.1807) and other members of the Parsons family. It lies in the churchyard of St Thomas à Becket, Pucklechurch, about 8 metres south of the nave. The sandstone monument has a flat top with moulded edge, plinth and plain quarter balusters.

HISTORY: Pucklechurch, which appears from the archaeological evidence to have Roman origins, was an important settlement from the later Anglo-Saxon period, when it became the administrative, military and judicial centre of the Hundred which bears its name. The settlement, once forming parts of the ancient Forest of Kingswood, may have been a royal burh in the later Saxon period. Certainly it was the site of Edmund, King of Wessex's hunting lodge; he was murdered in Pucklechurch in AD946, and his body taken to Glastonbury Abbey for burial. The manor of Pucklechurch was formally granted to Glastonbury Abbey in AD950, and was subsequently transferred to Bath Abbey in the C13. After the Dissolution in the C16, the village underwent a phase of rebuilding and gentrification, with a number of large houses erected in the C16, C17 and C18, indicating that the settlement was relatively wealthy in this period. A further phase of expansion and prosperity occurred from the mid-C19, when a number of collieries opened in the parish.

The parish church was founded in the Norman period, and was perhaps a royal foundation, but the current building dates largely from the C13; a north aisle and south porch were built in the C14, together with parts of the tower. A chantry, now the site of the Lady Chapel, was set up by William de Cheltenham in 1337. There were further alterations in the C17, coinciding with the increased prosperity of the settlement after the Dissolution, and there were two major phases of work in the C19, the first, by R C Carpenter, in 1846-56, and the second, by J D Sedding, in 1889. These included some reordering, and the replacement of some windows, the introduction of new fittings, and some stained glass. There has been some further, minor refitting in the C20.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Parsons tomb is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: as a good example of an early-C19 chest tomb
* Group value: for its relationship with the Grade I-listed church of St Thomas à Becket, and with other listed tombs

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66477447

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)