Nether Compton

Approached by turning off the Sherborne toYeovil road Nether Compton is a picture postcard village sitting on the county border with Somerset. A narrow lane, edged by thick hedgerows that shield large houses from prying eyes, leads to the centre of the village widening, as it becomes the main thoroughfare bordered by houses in a variety of designs. Some of these homes are not quite as old as they appear, and many built from the local stone, which on a sunny day glows golden, as does the church.

The Saturday afternoon I visited the village was the day of the fete: blue skies and a minor heat wave blessed the event and the older gentlemen, seen making their way to the fete, had used this opportunity to don shorts and straw hats. Not many women about but I think they were all occupied putting the final touches to the arrangements for the fete.

I had come to see the church, dedicated to St. Nicholas it has stood here for seven-hundred-years. Approaching the 13th century south porch you can see dials cut into the stone on each side of the entrance; add a peg and you have a basic sundial, used in times past to tell the time for services. As you enter the church you will see on your right (east) the stoup.

Entering the 15th century nave through the south porch before you on the opposite wall is a cross in sunken relief enclosed by a circle, it is one of several about the place; “They are the crosses cut where the stone was splashed with holy water during the church’s consecration,” I am told. The seating consists of some twenty pews dating from the 17th century. There is an oak pulpit moulded and carved probably 16th century.

The stone screen is of the 15th century and a feature of the church. Including the doorway to the chancel, it has five bays; the wide bay to the south allows priest and congregation to see each other. The chancel’s east window is 15th century and I am told the stained glass is modern.

The west end of the north chapel is 15th century but the rest is later. In the chapel is a beautifully carved statue of St. Nicholas date unknown but probably 15th century.

The 14th century font is at the base of the west tower and has an octagonal bowl, moulded under edge with an octagonal to square stem and chamfered base. The bell chamber above is home to five bells; one from the 15th century, one-dated 1585, two dated 1658 and one modern. The tower houses the mechanism of a clock erected in 1770 about which the church guide tells us “It works well except for its tendency to lose five minutes a week” – the guide was written some years ago so that has probably been put right by now.

Hutchins tells us that in the 18th century a third of the inhabitants of Nether Compton were employed making coarse linen cloth from flax grown locally. A century later according to the 1851 census, no one in the village was employed in this trade but some of the women were glovers; probably out-workers for factories in Yeovil and Sherborne, which we have discussed elsewhere on Dorset Ancestors. The 2001 census counted a population of 303 of whom about 170 were of working-age: most of them would commute to Sherborne or Yeovil.

It occurred to me as I was leaving that Nether Compton could be the backdrop for many of my favourite television dramas – Jane Marple would have been very much at home here.