Kilmersdon

An English Village
- Where Jack and Jill fell down that hill?

The village of Kilmersdon is a typical English Country village, which is more famous for a nursery rhyme than for anything else that may have occurred in its history. I think this is a pity, because the village has a great past which is often overlooked. More about that nursery rhyme later on this page!

Kilmersdon sits in a beautiful spot of rural Somerset countryside. The village itself is deep in a valley which is steeply bounded by green sloping hills on all sides; but the Parish of Kilmersdon extends far beyond the view you can see from the centre of the village.

Kilmersdon Parish is one of the largest in this area of Somerset - ironic because the neighbouring village of Holcombe has a marginally higher population density, but the Parish of Holcombe is approximately 30% the size of Kilmersdon Parish.

Today, the village of Kilmersdon is a naturally pretty and picturesque setting. It hasn't frozen in time like nearby Castle Combe, and to appreciate the weight of this statement we must look at the history of the village, its past industries, and its present place in the economy of Somerset. (There's also the matter of that nursery rhyme, but we'll look at that in a moment too).

The village of Kilmersdon is mentioned in the Domesday book. In itself it played no significant part in the turbulent times of the English Civil War - unlike its neighbouring village Mells, and historical statements about the village and parish are scant until the early 1600s.

This large parish was "lorded" over by the Goodman family who were "Lords of the Manor" in every sense of the phrase.

Parish records of that time show the primary industries to have been sheep farming and leather tanning. Although there were a few exploratory digs by early miners, they either found the ground too unyielding or they were actively discouraged by the Goodman family from establishing a hold. Whatever the reason for the failure of mining, the lack of "gruffy ground" is in itself a distinctive feature in the Parish.

Gabriel Goodman - the last male in the "ruling" family died in 1679. Gabriel was survived by two daughters who divided the Parish on a roughly North/South axis. One daughter continued to live in the Manor House of the parish which was set high upon the southern hill of Charlton, whilst the other had a similar but smaller house constructed in the midst of extensive farmland on the North-East hill of Ammerdown.

The village continued unchanged in this way until 1780, when the Jolliffe family became the new "title holders" of the Ammerdown side, by using the expedient of marrying the Goodman daughter who lived there!

Records show that in 1785, after extensive negotiations and a substantial financial settlement the Jolliffe family succeded in uniting the village. The Jolliffe family moved from the house on Ammerdown into the original (and significantly larger) Manor House on Charlton. But this was only temporary, and to allow a massive programme of major works on the side of the Ammerdown hill.

The architect James Wyatt was contracted by the Jolliffes to build a substantial residence and Manorial Estate on the side of the Ammerdown hill. To meet this commission Wyat had to re-route roads, and move the course of several streams and one small river. The forestry aspects of this work were enormous for this period in history!

In 1791 the Jolliffe family made the final move from Charlton to the new Ammerdown Manor House, which now sat in the midst of a splendid estate setting. Wyatt was warmly congratulated (and handsomely rewarded) for his efforts.

In 1843 Ammerdown Park (as it became known) was further enlarged - once again requiring the permanent diversion of several roads to skirt the boundary of the new park.
Ammerdown Park is today the home of Lord Hylton, who is a direct descendant of the Joliffes. The name is still so significant that the village pub bears the name "The Jolliffe Arms".
Sadly, the original Manor House which was set on Charlton is no longer standing, but you can still see very clearly where the entrance to the grounds of the house was as you drive through the hamlet of Charlton.

Lord Hylton continues the tradition of sympathetic management that was established by Gabriel Goodman. Farming is extensive - but only on a tennanted basis. Ammerdown Park is a joy to walk or ride your horse through, and there are examples of social housing which are owned and run by the Hylton Estate in the village.

Within the village, the central feature is the neat and well cared-for church. The body of the church dates from the 15th century, with some surviving Norman elements.

As mentioned earlier, the village of Kilmersdon sits in the bowl of a valley so steep that as you enter the village on the B3139 from Charlton, the first building you see is not the church - which is hidden by the steep angle of descent. The first building you see as you enter Kilmersdon is the most distinctive and architecturally pleasing Toll house which sits squarely at the foot of the Kilmersdon Hill approach.

This Toll house in itself reveals another chapter of the village's history, and the significant part it played in the setting up and funding of the Turnpikes of Somerset.
When you walk through the village, take a moment to examine the bus shelter, which is on the road opposite The Jolliffe Arms. It used to be the village lock-up!

Industries in the village were expanded to include a brewery at the turn of the 20th Century. By this time Agriculture was the main stay of income for the Manor, but it had been expanded from sheep to include a growing dairy and crop-growing industry. These last two are a testament to sympathetic management, because by those early standards the ground in Kilmersdon Parish was not as good quality as it could have been!

In neighbouring Parishes during the early 19th Century they discovered coal. Although surveys revealed that Kilmersdon was sitting on a rich vein of this mineral, only one pit was opened in the Parish.

By the post-Second World War period, the pit was most substantial, and as the British coal industry was nationalised, growth underground at the Kilmersdon pit became significant.
By the early 1970's the future for coal was waning. The Kilmersdon pit closed on 28th September 1973.

The industry in Kilmersdon once again has returned to rural farming. Fortunately none of the ugliness which usually accompanies coal mining remains.

But what about THAT nursery rhyme? We all know this bit:

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after

Everyone knows the beginning of the rhyme, but is that where it ends? Did you know that there is a second and a third verse?

There are, but neither is as widely known as the first verse.

Since I posted this page on the Internet in January 1997 I have received over 300 emails asking me what the second and third verses are.

I can't help smiling and wonder to myself if this willigness to cling to only the first verse of the nursery rhyme is in any way related to the almost dogged belief that the rhyme is based on truth - which it plainly isn't.

Well, if you think this rhyme is based on truth can you please tell me what you believe is meant in the later line in the rhyme when it makes reference to "vinegar and brown paper"?

I know what it means - but there's a surprising number of people out there who don't even know of its existence.

Let's now move on to examine aspects of the nursery rhyme, and contrast them with some facts about the village.

The nursery rhyme dates from the Fifteenth Century. Setting aside for a moment the continuing debate over who Jack and Jill were - and whether they actually existed at all, let's look at the village as it was in the Fifteenth Century, and ask ourselves the following questions:

Question: Why would a Fifteenth Century village create a Well so far outside the village?
Answer: They wouldn't!

In those days all roads were unmanaged, unmaintained, narrow single-lane dirt tracks which turned to deep mud in the slightest summer rain, and became all but impassable in the winter. The villagers would create their water supply inside the village, not a mile outside.

Question: Why would anyone create a Well at the top of a hill which (even today) a fit person can not easily walk up empty-handed, let alone walk down with a full pail of water?
Answer: They wouldn't place a well in this position.

No one would. It is quite ludicrous to put forward the notion that the Fifteenth Century villagers of Kilmersdon would create a Well so high above the village, and create a route to it that was dangerous beyond description. Incidentally, the earliest maps of the Mendip Hills also fail to show a Well at the top of the hill outside Kilmersdon!

Question: Was there a need for a Well outside the village?
Answer: No.

There was no need for a Well outside the village. In those days the village was adequately served with a free-flowing fresh-water spring. The spring continues to run clear and clean, even today!

Question: So why does the nursery rhyme say the things it does?
Answer: We have to remember what nursery rhymes were, and why they were created.

Do you know why nursery rhymes were created in medieval England?

This is an important piece of cultural history!

Nursery rhymes were devices which put important facts into a sing-song rhythm which could be easily set to music, and just as easily could be learned by a whole medieval village in a short span of time.

So in effect a nursery rhyme was an early form of "newspaper" or "jungle telegraph".
When something important happened, or if there was a "morality message" which someone felt needed to be broadcast, someone - usually a Cleric - would create a suitable nursery rhyme.

Unfortunately, when narrating true-life sagas, the people who composed the rhymes weren't always in full possession of all the facts - and sometimes what may have seemed like minor details were altered (or even shaved off altogether) to make the rhyme scan well.

There were also times when the rhymes suffered from the "Chinese Whispers" syndrome.

And finally, some details were significantly altered - or even censored out completely - if the allegiances or loyalties of the person re-telling the rhyme lay elsewhere!

Two well-known examples of today's nursery rhymes spring to mind.

Firstly, the village of Mells, which coincidentally is the next village to Kilmersdon, is the feature of a nursery rhyme - "Little Jack Horner".

This rhyme is a story about how local Royalist John Horner managed to save a Priory and its valuable possessions from being sacked during the English Civil war.

The historical deeds of John Horner are there, in today's nursery rhyme, for all to read/hear of the great acts of personal bravery he committed - at risk of losing his life.

But my point is that without the basic threads of knowledge of what the saga is all about, the true story is lost upon the modern day person.

Before we move on for a quick look at a third rhyme I have a question for you to ponder:
- Is it coincidental that two neighbouring villages (Kilmersdon and Mells) are the subject of such nursery rhymes?

I don't think it is, but that's another line of investigation.

The second - and very well-known - example of story-telling in a nursery rhyme is of course "Ring A Ring O' Roses", which as you probably know is a story about the Bubonic Plague. It also contains an accurate description of some of the symptoms of the Black Death. Gory stuff!

Incidentally, the local Inn in the neighbouring village of Holcombe is called "The Ring O' Roses". Another unconnected coincidence?

Written by Brennig Jones,

Reproduced with the kind permission of the author.