vicars st marys

Church pages

St Mary's

The church of St Mary the Virgin
East Brent

Vicars past and present.

1260 - 2000

1261	Gilbert de Sarum	1297	Rogerus
1334	Nicholas de Souwey	1350	Nicholas de Pladebury and Phillip Yerdeste
1408	John Aleward	1441	John Hooper
1482	William Bokett	1484	Richard Northyngton
1487	Richard Bokett and Robert Byss	1534	John Wytyng
1562	Francis Newton	1572	Christernus Peterson
1576	James Cottington	1582	Thomas Cooke
1610	Richard Powell	1623	Phillip Malet
1661	William Peers (Archdeacon) (T)	1662	Jonathan Radcliffe
1663	Charles Thurlby	1670	John Russel
1681	William Pope	1687	John Beauchamp
1689	William Churchey	1702	Nathaniel Marwicke
1736	John Wickstead	1754	Thomas Sparry
1785	Harry Farr Yeatman	1791	John Yeatman
1818	Caleb Rockett	1837	Robert Harkness
1840	Henry Law (Archdeacon) (T)	1840	William Towry Law
1845	George Anthony Denison (Archdeacon) (T)	1896	Charles Fane de Salis
1904	Frederick Samuel Pierpoint Searle	1911	Archdale Palmer Wickham
1935	Robert Lowman Lang	1936	Thomas Francis Palmer
1954	Alan Norman Stuart Holbrook	1966	Albert Tynewell Stevens
1974	John William Townsend Tuckey	1982	Jeremy Stephen Wells
2000	Martin Lee

Born in 1855, the Prebendary Archdale (Archie) Palmer Wickham was vicar of St Marys East Brent from 1911 - 1935

He was prebendary of Wells Cathederal. And Rural dean of Axbridge and Burnham district

Rev. Wickham was related to the Palmer family who were important 19th century Tea merchants and owned Cheam Park House in Surrey.

His wife Harriet Strong came from a family of Vicars and brewers!
An Uncle was the Rev. Thomas Watson STRONG rector of Brean SOM. Another Uncle founded Strongs Brewery in the midlands.

The Rev. Wickham was a keen sportsman and played first class cricket for Somerset.

He was also a respected entomologist. After his death his extensive collection of specimens and manuscript were lodged at the British museum.

He and his wife are buried in St Marys churchyard beneath the south wall of the church beside the path.

In 2005 the main gates to the church were replaced and dedicated to the Rev. Wickham.

With acknowledgements to Bryan Cooper. (Descendant of Rev. Wickham)

And Churchwardens of St Marys church East Brent.

On the North side of the chancel is a stained glass window, dedicated to Rev. Archdale WICKHAM. It depicts his love of cricket and entomology. His extensive collection of butterflies and moths etc. and manuscripts are now in the British Museum.

The Somerset County Cricket team 1897
The Rev. Wickham played wicket keeper, seen here seated right.

Although never actually a vicar of Brent, around the turn of the 18-1900's, the Rev John George Derrick had a holiday home believed to be on or near the site of 'Chestnut Farm'.

Which, on an OS map of 1890s, appears almost opposite the original East Brent Post Office along Burton Row. His family residence was in Cheltenham.
He loved the area and he and his family spent much of their time in East Brent. His son Capt. John Leslie Derrick was killed in action in 1918 and is commemorated on the East Brent war memorial.

A keen photographer, he took many photographs of places in East Brent and the surrounding villages. A collection of over 350 glass negative plates taken by the Rev. Derrick have recently been discovered and are undergoing research at the Somerset Rural Life Museum at Glastonbury and these are to be the subject of an exhibition See note below

I hope some of your readers will be able to get to the exhibition of the Rev.John Derrick photographs, IN A GOOD LIGHT, which has now moved form Glastonbury to the County Museum at Taunton Castle. It will be there until 17th March 2007. Some of the 50 Photographs on display will be familiar to those living in your area, and even more in the accompanying book, which contains over 90 photographs. As he had a house in East Brent, and also stayed in Lympsham, they will also find part of the text interesting as it frequently mentions that area.

Best wishes, Louise
I am indebted to Louise Clapp of the Research Team, Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury for the above information.

Where is this?

Among the many photographs was this unidentifiable one, showing houses near a pond?

It's believed to have been taken somewhere locally.

If you have any suggestions as to where this photograph might have been taken, do please contact myself or Louise Clapp at the:
Rural Life Museum.