| THE ORCHARD, STOKE ST. MARY |
 Photograph by Alan Prime, April 2001 |
It is likely that a house has stood on the site of The Orchard from medieval times, held through many centuries by tenants of the Bishop of Winchester. The tithing of Stoke was one small part of his great manor of Taunton, and it is among the records of the manor that the history of this house must be sought. |
| These records, though they contain detailed information of property tenure, do not normally indicate when one house succeeded another on a site, and in most cases the building itself must provide dating evidence. Of The Orchard it can at least be said that the present house was probably standing in 1672, the year in which an inventory of its contents appears to have been made. The descent of the property has been traced from the 16th century, its stereotyped description as 'one messuage and three farthingland of bondland' attaching to it from the first. Fixed descriptions such as this were given to all the properties of the manor to aid their identification. |  From a painting by Rosemary Burgess |
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In about 1538, Christopher Durston was admitted tenant to the property in succession
to John Shelton. Durston was again recorded as tenant in 1543/44 and in 1566, the property
subsequently descending to Thomas Durston (presumably his son or grandson).
It then passed to George Lavor and by 1647 was held by Robert Lavor of Stoke, yeoman.
By a happy accident, one of the very few surviving probate inventories for Stoke St. Mary
is that of Robert Lavor, drawn up in 1672 following his death. The inventory lists the
contents of his house room by room, a house, which, exceptionally for its time, appears
to have been 2 rather than 3 rooms wide: the inventory mentions the hall (i.e. the main
living room) and kitchen, but no parlour, and this makes more likely the identification
of Robert Lavor's house with the building which stands today. the ladders, cider press
and vats recorded in the inventory suggest the major part of his farming activities. In 1671, Hunphrey Pittard had entered on a dormant surrender of the property, on condition that Robert Lavor's wife, Susannah, be allowed to hold it for her life, and that an annuity be granted to Robert junior of Martock. The latter disclaimed all right to the property and the annuity in 1676, and soon after (presumably on the death of Humphrey Pittard in 1680) the property was in the hands of John Dyer and John Edwards. Then it passed to Humphrey Upham of Stoke and on his death in 1695 to his widow Katherine. In the same year she surrendered it to the use of John Kevell senior of Stoke. John Kevell already held the property now called Woodforde's which had come to him on his marriage to Agnes Waters in 1666, and it may be that The Orchard was intended for his son John junior, who subsequently held the proprty. The Kevells, father and sons, produced so many children at this period that they must certainly have occupied more than one house in the village. In 1710, Arthur Parsons of Bishop's Hull, M.D., made an entry on the mortgage surrender of John Kevell junior and his wife Joan - a mortgage which was never paid off - and in 1720, Elizabeth Parsons, widow of Arthur, entered the property following her husbands death. The house was presumably let during the Parsons tenure, perhaps to the Kevells themselves. In 1722, Elizabeth Parsons surrendered the property to her brother Henry Gale of The Inner Temple, London, gent and Anthony Ellesdon of Charmouth, Dorset, gent. They in their turn surrendered it soon after to Nathaniel Sweet of Stoke, yeoman, and on his death in 1730, it passed to his son, Nathaniel junior. Two years later, Robert Dashwood of Stoke, butcher, became owner of the house, and a long chapter in its history was begun. Dashwood had held the house now called The Half Moon since about 1723, and must have possessed ample means to consider acquiring a second house nearby. Though apparently a newcomer to the village, he seems to have gained a respected position in the community: with William Burridge of Stoke Court, he was churchwarden in 1727/28 and 1728/29 and in several subsequent years. He died in 1750 and was buried at Stoke, all his property in the village descending to his widow, Hannah. Hannah Dashwood may have been a Cannicott by birth, a family established in Stoke from about the beginning of the 18th century. At all events, her nephew was Robert Cannicott of Pitminster, carpenter, and it was to him that she surrendered the house in 1751, on condition to fulfil the provisions of her will, surrendering The Half Moon to his brother Henry on the same condition. Robert later held both properties and moved from Pitminster to Stoke, still being described as a carpenter. Perhaps he lived in one house and his son John in another. John, described as of Stoke, gent, succeeded to both properties in 1780, after his father's death. Four years later he himself was dead and his two houses were in the hands of of Elizabeth Cannicott, his widow. In 1789, Elizabeth was married for a second time, to William Brown of Henlade, malster, and by him had three children, Robert, Edward and Eliza Brown. To Edward and Eliza descended The Half Moon, which was Eliza's home, while The Orchard passed to Robert, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy: a deed of 1831 names Bernard Murless as his tenant, calling the house Cannicott's House and the orchard adjoining (now the tennis court) Cannicott's Orchard. By 1837, Sarah Murless was Robert Brown's tenant. In the following year, both the Half Moon and Cannicott's House were sold to Ralph Horsey of Taunton, gent, and in 1842, following his death, they passed to Ralph, John and Samuel Horsey, his heirs. The history of The Orchard has not been traced beyond this point, although this could be done with relative ease by reference to the parish rates. In the 1880's, the house was called Rose Cottage, a name which it retained into the 20th century; Cannicott's House is however, its historic name. It was probably built in the 17th century by George or Robert Lavor. Source: Tom Mayberry, 1981. |
| Subsequent reference to a later conveyance of The Orchard in 1953 includes in its
description of the conveyed property "the messuage or dwellinghouse and other buildings erected
thereon and formerly known as 'The Laurels' but now known as 'The Orchard'. The schedule shows
that the property was conveyed in 1892 to (1) George Jemmett, (2)William Adams and (3) Wareham
Hull. In 1902 their was a re-conveyance to Charles Peard Clarke and Wareham Hull and a further
conveyance in 1942 is shown to The Personal Representitive of Wareham Hull and The Vendor.
By 1952 the title of the property had passed to Dollphie Vincent. Source: Conveyance dated 1953. Courtesy of Mrs Mary Hyde of The Orchard, Stoke St. Mary. 2001. |
