Description

PUCKLECHURCH

1096/4/211 WESTERLEIGH ROAD
15-AUG-85 (East side)
NICHOLS MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABO
UT 20 METRES SOUTH OF NAVE OF ANGLICAN
CHURCH OF ST THOMAS À BECKET

(Formerly listed as:
WESTERLEIGH ROAD
NICHOLS MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABO
UT 20 METRES SOUTH OF NAVE OF CHURCH O
F ST THOMAS OF CANTERBURY)

GV II
Chest tomb of 1773.

The monument is of sandstone and has a flat top with a moulded edge, moulded plinth and quarter balusters. There is a pair of cartouches to the north face decorated with an hourglass and foliage in spandrels, and further cartouches to the south face which have carved frames and a central putto (cherubic infant) with naturalistic feathered wings. The tomb commemorates Ann Nicholas, who died in 1773, and other members of her family.

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.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Nichols tomb is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as a good example of a late-C18 chest tomb; for its well-executed design and commemoration of members of a local family
* 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 Q66477448

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

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)