Nestling in a valley approximately half way between Taunton and Minehead, STOGUMBER lies close to the Quantock and Brendon Hills and within two miles of the eastern boundary of the Exmoor National Park. The nearest coastline being 5 miles to the north at Watchet. It is the ideal location for beachcombers and country walkers alike. Most of the village has been designated a conservation area.

Long before one enters Stogumber, a focal point to catch the eye in the centre of the village is the fourteenth century red sandstone Church of Our Lady St.Mary.

Across the square, facing the church, the White Horse Inn provides a warm and friendly welcome, home cooked food and an excellent selection of locally brewed ales.

The Central Stores and Post Office conveniently located next to the Inn offers a wide range of groceries, fresh and frozen produce (bread, milk and vegetables are supplied to the shop fresh each day by local tradespeople). Newspapers, postcards and stationery can be purchased here, and Post Office facilities are available.

This hub of village life is all within a 10 minute walk of the cottage.

More information about Stogumber can be found on the village website www.stogumber.org.uk

A Brief History of Stogumber

The name "Stogumber" is believed to be a corruption either of Stoke Warner, Warver or Gomer. Different ways of spelling Stogumber in the past have led to argument over its derivation. The Domesday Book called it 'Waverdine Stoke' and King Harold, a former landowner, called it 'Royal Walver de Stoke.' After the conquest came the de Gomers who tagged their title onto Stoke, hence Stoke de Gomer, which when slurred by the murky vowels of Somerset emerges as Stogummer or Stogumber.

Standing in the centre of the village the fourteenth century red sandstone Church of Our Lady St.Mary is a focal point to catch the eye long before one enters Stogumber.

Across the village square is the former market place. Markets continued to be held until the 19th century and in 1784 was the location for an unusual transaction, when miller William Bacon sold his wife and four children to labourer Robert Jones for 5s (25p). The market hall with assembly room over (c 1800) is now incorporated in the White Horse Inn (recorded in 1748). During the 15th and 16th c, Stogumber prospered as a collecting place for wool.

In 1923 George Bernard Shaw, author of Pygmalion (My Fair Lady) contacted the then rector of Stogumber to discover whether the place was named after a family, and if so, whether there was anyone of that name still living. GBS was always careful to ensure that the names of characters in his plays were not those of people still alive. On being told the history of the village name and that there certainly was no one of that name living so far as the rector was aware, Shaw proceeded to name the character, Bishop Stogumber in his play Saint Joan.

Always a village of great character and 'characters', Stogumber was once well blessed with a brewery and no less than three public houses. Stogumber was once famous for its ale, made with the help of a mineral spring in the village and advertised as 'good for the clergy and others with weak lungs.' The iron-ore miners from the Brendon hills satisfied their enthusiasm for Stogumber ale in the village inns on Saturday nights. In 1901, ale was priced at 10d a gallon. What remains of the former brewery is now a private dwelling. Amongst numerous other trades and business the village also housed a butcher, a baker, two grocers shops, a grain merchant, a garage, a blacksmith, a resident doctor and in the late twenties a resident policeman, it was almost totally self contained. At the garage repairs and hire cars were available. The owner, Mr J Sully, was also the undertaker. The maximum number of cars in the village was about six. Today a population of approximately 600 supports just one public house and the village store.

The school had about 110 pupils on the roll and the number was posted in the porch every morning. Some of the pupils had to walk from as far away as Capton and Deans Lane and in bad weather were often soaked to the skin on arrival. The only heating available was from 2 tortoise stoves. Staff at the school consisted of three, the headmaster Mr G P Fevre and Misses G Hill and B Calloway. The Vicar, Reverend Couch, visited the school on Thursdays each week.

Electricity came to the village in the twenties, and was available to all who wanted it. Supplied by Mr Sully it consisted of 100 volts D.C.current, supplied by 52 large capacity 2 volt batteries which were charged every day by a large "Petter" engine, housed by the stream close to Wick House.

An annual fete was held in Lings Meadow, the meadow was also used almost every evening of the year by the "young bloods" - cricket in summer, football in winter.