East Harptree, Somerset

Description
Harptree, East, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands near the source of the river Yeo, under the Mendip Hills, 5 miles from Glutton station on the G.W.R. There is a post, money order, and telegraph office under Blag-don. The parish also includes the hamlet of Coley, and comprises 2595 acres; population of the civil parish, 604; of the-ecclesiastical, 571. Harptree Court is a pleasant mansion. The Lamb cavern is in mountain limestone W of the village, and the source of the Yeo is a copious stream gushing from the rock further W. The rocks include manganese and zinc 1/2 and the subsoil consista largely of a kind of breccia. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £260 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The church is ancient but good, consists of nave, aisle, and chancel, with a tower, and contains a figured altar-tomb of Sir John Newton, who died in 1568. The remains of Richmond Castle, the ancient fortress of the Harptreefr and Goumays, lie about half a mile SW of the church. There are a Roman Catholic church and Free Methodist chapel.