Watts Monument In The Churchyard About 22 Metres South Of Anglican Church Of St Thomas À Becket

PUCKLECHURCH

1096/4/215 WESTERLEIGH ROAD 15-AUG-85 (East side) WATTS MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABOUT 22 METRES SOUTH OF ANGLICAN CHURCH OF ST THOMAS À BECKET (Formerly listed as: WESTERLEIGH ROAD WATTS MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABOUT 22 METRES SOUTH OF CHURCH OF ST THOMAS OF CANTERBURY)

GV II Chest tomb of 1812. It is of sandstone and has a flat top with cable-moulded edge, moulded plinth and reeded corner pilasters. There are inscription panels to all four sides of the tomb and these have foliage at the corners. The tomb commemorates John Watts, who died in 1812, and other members of his family.

HISTORY: Pucklechurch, which appears from the archaeological evidence to have Roman origins, was an important settlement from the later Anglo-Saxon period, when it became the administrative, military and judicial centre of the Hundred which bears its name. The settlement, once forming parts of the ancient Forest of Kingswood, may have been a royal burh in the later Saxon period. Certainly it was the site of Edmund, King of Wessex's hunting lodge; he was murdered in Pucklechurch in AD946, and his body taken to Glastonbury Abbey for burial. The manor of Pucklechurch was formally granted to Glastonbury Abbey in AD950, and was subsequently transferred to Bath Abbey in the C13. After the Dissolution in the C16, the village underwent a phase of rebuilding and gentrification, with a number of large houses erected in the C16, C17 and C18, indicating that the settlement was relatively wealthy in this period. A further phase of expansion and prosperity occurred from the mid-C19, when a number of collieries opened in the parish.

The parish church was founded in the Norman period, and was perhaps a royal foundation, but the current building dates largely from the C13; a north aisle and south porch were built in the C14, together with parts of the tower. A chantry, now the site of the Lady Chapel, was set up by William de Cheltenham in 1337. There were further alterations in the C17, coinciding with the increased prosperity of the settlement after the Dissolution, and there were two major phases of work in the C19.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Watts tomb is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Architectural interest: as a good example of an early-C19 chest tomb; for its design and commemoration of members of a local family * Group value: for its relationship with the Grade I listed church of St Thomas à Becket, and with other listed tombs