Farmborough, Priston and Englishcombe

Well, it serves me right not writing this straight after the trip.

Now I can't remember what photo is what. So we'll just have to make use of what I can positively identify. My apologies to the residents of Farmborough, Priston and Englishcombe if I've got this wrong.
Right, on we go. First stop was Farmborough. This is the church of All Saints and it dates from the fifteenth  century.

Per Arthur Mee (The Kings England- Somerset), four fine gargoyles guard the pinnacles on the tower. You can make them out in the picture, if you look carefully. Unusually the church has or had a plaster font.
The parish was part of the Keynsham Hundreds, and, historically the village was connected to the Somerset coalfield. The author Dick King-Smith (Babe) once taught at the school.
 It has a couple of pubs- the New Inn, which appears to serve food. And the Butchers Arms, which looks like it might serve food, and is a CAMRA member.

Next, we went on to Priston, which is a lovely village with very friendly inhabitants.

Per Mee, "Nature made it lovely and man has made it irresistible....It is one of the far-off corners, easily lost yet much too good to lose, with a church standing where the Normans left it."
On the tower "struts" an "impudent" cockerel.
There was a Roman villa here around 100 AD and Priston Manor is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. The manor was held by Bath Abbey from 925 until the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century.
 The tower dates from the fifteenth century and the nave from the twelfth century. It was rebuilt in 1859 and restored ten years later.

The local watering hole is the Ring o' Bells, which serves food, along with real ales, cider and fine wines. Ingredients sourced locally.


Priston mill is nearby, but it was shut when we drove by.

This is a seventeenth century granary, which is also in Priston.

And finally onto Englishcombe. Like Priston, Englishcombe is mentioned in the Doomsday book. It's church, St Peter's, dates from the twelfth century. It features Norman arches and leper holes, which allowed lepers to listen to the sermon.

Both Saxons and Normans have left their mark on Englishcombe. The Saxons carried Wansdyke through it- it marches past the church.
I'd like to tell you about the local pub, because I know that's important to you, but I can't find anything recent to confirm there's a local that is still open. Anyone it the area who knows better, can let me know and I'll update if needed.
That's all til next time!