Cricket St Thomas

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Cricket St Thomas
Cricket St Thomas shown within Somerset
Population	50^[1]
OS grid reference	ST375084
Parish	Cricket St Thomas
District	South Somerset
Shire county	Somerset
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHARD
Postcode district	TA20
Dialling code	01460
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
European Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Yeovil
List of places: UK • England • Somerset

Coordinates: 50°52′21″N 2°53′21″W / 50.872519, -2.88905

Cricket St Thomas is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated in a valley beside the A30 road between Chard and Crewkerne in the South Somerset district.

The village has a population of 50,^[1] and is noted for a nearby manor house and estate, home to a wildlife park.

The name Cricket St Thomas is not related to the game of cricket, but is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word "cruc," meaning a hill or ridge.^[2]

The estate is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is described as "Land of the Count of Martin" paying tax to the king for six hides, or about 720 acres (291.4 ha). It also had two slaves, six villagers, five smallholders and a variety of livestock — all valued at 100 shillings.^[3]

1 Church
2 Cricket House
3 Gallery
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Church

The parish church is dedicated to St Thomas. It has 14th century origins, but was almost totally rebuilt around 1868 for Samuel Hood, 2nd Baron Bridport. The church contains monuments to the families of Hood (Viscount Bridport) and their predecessors the Viscounts Nelson who gained the title through Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson. These include, on chancel south wall, a commemoration of Alexander Hood, who died in 1814, which was designed and signed by Sir John Soane, with a black marble base topped by a white marble monument on Ionic columns framing the memorial plaque. Mounted on the north nave wall is a fragment of the altar cloth used in the Coronation Service of Queen Elizabeth II. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.^[4]

In the churchyard is a white marble monument, dating from the early 20th century, showing a figure of St Michael. It commemorates Alexander Nelson Hood, 4th Duke of Bronté, who died in 1904. A note in the church states that for many years the statue was laid flat, as the white figure at night scared too many locals.^[5] There are also two 18th century chest tombs, made from Hamstone, one of which commemorates John Northcote who died in 1738.^[6]

[edit] Cricket House

The Cricket St Thomas manor house, known as Cricket House, has 14th century origins, but was rebuilt considerably modified at the beginning of the 19th century for Sir Alexander Hood under the direction of Sir John Soane.^[7] The 19th century orangery attached to the house was later turned into a parrot house but is now used for bowling by Warner holiday guests.^[8] In the grounds is a small garden house known as The Admirals Seat.^[9]

The house was used as "Grantleigh Manor", the setting for the television series To the Manor Born which aired from 1979 to 1981. The Manor House was then owned by the father-in-law of the writer Peter Spence. Despite the closeness depicted on screen, the Manor and Lodge are in fact about one mile apart.^[10] In addition, the lodge was given additional features such as gateposts to give the impression it was a gatehouse, following various previous alterations.^[11]

The grounds of the house, known as Cricket Park, were designed by Capability Brown,^[12] and later turned into a wildlife park and, for a short while, it also became home to Crinkley Bottom, a Noel Edmonds created theme park. The project was short-lived and was later abandoned. The grounds reverted back to their previous use and the wildlife park is still open to the public today, home to 600 rare and endangered species including lemurs, primates, camels, reptiles and wildfowl.^[13] The manor house was developed into a Warner resort hotel in 1999. It was again used as "Grantleigh Manor" in the recent 25th anniversary special of To The Manor Born.