Remains Of Chantry, Abutting East Side Of Chantry Cottage

The remains of a chantry, located on the east side of Chantry Cottage, date back to the early 14th century with later medieval additions. This collegiate dwelling for chantry priests is now in ruins, having been gutted by fire in the mid-19th century. The structure is built of blue lias random rubble and consists of a gabled block oriented north-south, which abuts the Priory and Chantry Cottage. The building features a solar wing that is contemporary with the hall and a chapel wing, gabled at the southeast corner, along with a larger later medieval gabled addition at the northeast corner. It has large stepped angle buttresses on the wings, with the northeast wing displaying a chamfered plinth and an altered square-headed window on the east front, as well as a square-headed opening in the gable end. At the time of the survey in August 1983, the building was largely obscured by ivy and undergrowth. The college of chantry priests was founded under license in 1329 and was dissolved in the late 14th century. The site is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument (Somerset County No 480). There are several early 19th-century watercolours of the building before the fire available in the Local History Library in Taunton, along with a photograph in the National Monuments Record and references in the forthcoming volume of the Victoria County History for Somerset, Volume 5.