Goathurst
Goathurst is a small village in the
English county of
Somerset, around 3miles from the town of
Bridgwater.
Originally part of the
Royal Forest of North Petherton, its first squire owner battled with
Richard the Lionheart on the
Crusades [
1]Goathurst's St Edward's church includes a 19th century monument to three-year-old Isabella Kemeys, which shows the child lying on a pillow holding a broken flower [
2]
It was the location of a 300person Prisioner of War camp during
World War II, initially housing
Italian prisoners from the
Western Desert Campaign, and later German prisoners post the
Battle of Normandy.
Purchased by the Tynte family, they were united with the Kemeys family of
Cefn Mably when Jane Kemeys married the Rev. John Tynte (d. 1710), 2nd baronet of Halswell, and rector of Goathurst. They were succeeded in turn by their three sons, Halsewell Tynte (1705-30), 3rd baronet, of Halswell and Cefnmabli, whose two daughters died young, the Rev. John Tynte (1707-1740, d. unm.), 4th baronet and rector of Goathurst, and Charles Kemeys Tynte (1710-1785, dsp.), 5th baronet. Cefn Mably remained in the hands of the Kemeys Tynte family until
1923 [
3]
Halswell Park was developed between
1745 and
1785 as a setting for
Halswell House. The 17 acre pleasure garden was created by Sir Charles Kemeys Tynte, the transformation of the landscape on a grand scale to rank in scope and importance with some of the finest landscape gardens in Europe.
The grounds contain many fanciful buildings, fish ponds, cascades and bridges, including the
Temple of Harmony which stands in Mill Wood. Completed in
1767, it is Grade II listed and has been fully restored. It is open to the public on Sundays from May until September [
4]
The contents of the house were sold in
1948, and the house in
1950 when the rest of the estate was auctioned. Part of the house was converted into flats. In
1985 it was again sold and restoration work was carried out, it is now owned by Dunster Investments and being converted into an exclusive holiday house.The Halswell Park Trust was established with the aim of acquiring the buildings and surrounding land of Halswell Park, restoring them and opening them to the public. In
1998, the Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust restored
Robin Hoods Hut (Grade II), which commands views over Somerset, the
Bristol Channel and
South Wales. The Hut is now owned by the
Landmark Trust, who let the building on short holiday lets.
*Location: ST2534
*
List of POW camps in Britain*
Entry at Quantock online*
British History online comprehensive background on Goathurst and Haswell House
*
Vision of Britian entry lots of statistics
*
Entry at GeniUK*
History of the Poulett family*
Archives Wales information on the Kemeys-Tynte family
*
Halswell House being developed by Dunster Properties
*
John Salvatore Zuncheddu story of the PoW camp*
Map of Goathurst from Sedgemoor online
*
Huntstile Organic farm also has a farm shop, plus local caravan/camping site
