Hambridge, a village equidistant from Langport and Ilminster (5 m.). The church is modern.
Hamdon Hill. See Stoke, East.
Hardington, a hamlet 5 m. N.W. of Frome. The church is a small building with a W. tower. In the neighbourhood is Hardington Park.
Hardington-Mandeville, a village 4½ m. S.W. of Yeovil. The church was rebuilt in 1864, but retains some ancient features, including a good Norm. arch and font, and a Jacobean pulpit.
Harptree, East, a village on a spur of the Mendips, 6 m. N. from Wells. It possesses the attractions of a castle, a cavern, and a combe. The last is a thickly wooded glen near the top end of the village. On an inaccessible tongue of land at the far end of the gorge are the remains of [ Richmont Castle], one of those lawless strongholds which in the days of Stephen were a terror to the country side. In 1138 it was strongly garrisoned by its owner, William de Harptree, on behalf of the Empress Matilda, but was taken by Stephen by the ruse of a feigned repulse. Now, only a fragment of the keep overlooks the glen. Half a mile beyond is a remarkable cavern, the [ Lamb's Lair], entered by a vertical shaft of some 70 fathoms. The chamber is of very considerable dimensions, and is said by those who have seen it to be quite the finest cave in the Mendips. The church is not particularly noteworthy except for the odd device of avoiding a squint by an extension of the arcading. The walls, font, and S. doorway are Norm. The S. porch is of unusual size and contains a monument which must be a standing reproach to a declining birthrate. Under a large Elizabethan canopy is an effigy of Sir J. Newton (1568), attended by twenty children. At the other end of the village are two mansions, Harptree Court and Eastwood.
Harptree, West, about 1 m. N. of East Harptree. The church has a Norman tower with an ugly slated spire. The rest of the building has been reconstructed, but contains a Norman chancel arch, a large Norman font, and a good piscina. In the churchyard are seven large conical yew trees. Opposite the church is Gournay Manor, a fine Jacobean house, and near it is Tilley Manor, a 17th-cent. building, deprived of its top storey. They are now farmhouses.
Haselbury Plucknett, a village 2½ m. N.E. of Crewkerne. It has a Perp. church with an E.E. N. chapel, which is associated with the memory of St Wulfric, who, born at Compton Martin, resided here, and died in 1154. The body of the Church has an old font. A priory of Austin canons, dating from the 12th cent., once existed here.
Hatch Beauchamp, 6 m. S.E. from Taunton, is a village (with station) situated in very picturesque surroundings. The church (best reached through the deer park) has a good tower, crowned with numerous pinnacles. Note (1) the foliaged bands round the pillars of the arcade; (2) the excellent bench-ends; (3) the fragments of old glass in the windows of the N. aisle; (4) the large picture, a "Descent from the Cross," by Perriss; (5) the window in the chancel to the memory of Colonel J.R.M. Chard, of Rorke's Drift fame, with a wreath preserved beneath it sent by Queen Victoria. The obelisk near the S. door is said to have once been the churchyard cross.
Hatch, West, a village 1½ m. W. of Hatch Beauchamp. The church has been entirely rebuilt (1861).
Hawkridge, a parish 5 m. N.W. of Dulverton Station, consisting merely of a cluster of cottages and a tiny church. It is perched on the top of a ridge of high ground separating the Barle from its tributary stream the Danes Brook. The valleys on either side are beautifully wooded, and exhibit some of the most romantic scenery in Somerset. The church has a plain Norm. doorway.