Of Shearston, SOM684
North Petherton
Manors and other estates
Sponsor: Victoria County History
Publication: A History of the County of Somerset: Volume VI
Year published:
“SHEARSTON CHANTRY manor originated in the land of Shearston chapel given to Buckland priory in 1189.(Footnote 98) In 1548 the estate, including a mill and nine tenements, was granted to John Aylworth and William Lacey. (Footnote 99) In 1584 the manor was held by John Bluet and descended with North Petherton manor. (Footnote 1) In 1615 Shearston Chantry manor was said to be held both of Humphrey Sydenham's manor of Dulverton and of the king. (Footnote 2) By the late 18th century the manor had lost its separate identity and most of the land, called Shearston farm or Woolcott's, was sold in 1772 to James Woolcott, whose family had been tenants since the 17th century. (Footnote 3) By 1838 a small farm known as Shearston remained in North Petherton manor. (Footnote 4) In 1777 Woolcott sold Shearston to Thomas Pyke. The Jolliffe family bought the estate in 1818 and sold it in 1858 to Edward Portman, Lord Portman. (Footnote 5)”685