Monkton, West, a parish 4 m. N.E. of Taunton, which gets its name from the fact that the monks of Glastonbury owned property in it. Its church, mainly Perp., but containing in the chancel arch work of earlier date (perhaps 13th cent.), is noteworthy for its lofty tower. The nave has a clerestory, and a good oak cornice. Note (1) stoup in S. porch; (2) piscinas; (3) mural tablet in chancel to the memory of William Kinglake, a physician (d. 1660), with its curious inscription. In the churchyard are the parish stocks. The old leper hospital in Taunton (q.v.) really belongs to this parish.
Montacute, 4 m. W. of Yeovil, is an attractive village (with station) which derives its name from two neighbouring pyramidal eminences, one of which, crowned by St Michael's Tower, is the site of a former castle. There are several places of interest in or near it. Its church preserves work of various periods, Norm. (chancel arch and moulding on N. wall of nave), E.E. and Dec. (windows in chancel and transepts), and Perp. (tower and nave). The tower is good, with its stages divided by rows of quatrefoils. Note (1) groining of N. porch (the ribs are inaccurately centred), (2) brackets beneath organ (the eastern alone is ancient), (3) elaborate niches in chancel arch, (4) squint and piscina, (5) texts round reredos, dated 1543, (6) effigies of the Phelipses, the earliest dating from the 15th cent. In the churchyard is the carved shaft of a cross. Near the W. end of the church is a beautiful 15th-cent. gateway, once belonging to a Cluniac Priory (founded in the time of Henry I.), with oriel windows N. and S., the latter flanked by two turrets of unequal height. Note over N. window a portcullis, and over the S. the letters T.C., the initials of Thomas Chard, the last prior but two. In the village square is a picturesque house with the initials R.S. (Robert Sherborne, the last prior) between two figures with fools' caps. Montacute House, the seat of the Phelipses, is built in the form of the letter H, and dates from the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1580-1601). The E. and W. fronts are handsome, the former being decorated with nine large statues, supposed to represent various martial characters, historical, legendary, and biblical. The two large upper-storey windows that project from the N. and S. sides, light a gallery running the whole length of the house. The building was designed by John Thorpe, the architect of Longleat. Note the "gazébos" in the garden (cp. Nether Stowey).
Montacute House
Moorlynch, a village on the S. edge of the Poldens, 4 m. S. of Shapwick Station. The churchyard commands a good view of Sedgemoor, with the towers of Othery, Middlezoy, and Weston Zoyland rising conspicuously from it. The church (said to be E.E., but altered in Perp. times) has some features of interest: (1) pillar piscina, (2) carved bench-ends, (3) Norm. font, (4) effigy of lady (preserved under the tower), (5) bits of old glass in chancel windows, (6) consecration crosses on exterior chancel wall. There are some carved bench-ends and old oak seats.
Muchelney, 2 m. S.E. of Langport, is a small village rich in antiquities. Like Athelney, it was once a marsh-girt "island "—the largest, or muckleey, amongst its peers. Its church has a fair tower (double windows in the belfry), though much inferior to those of Huish and Kingsbury. At the W. door there is a fine stoup. There are N. and S. porches with parvises or chambers, and the vault of the S. porch is groined. Within should be noticed (1) quaint paintings on the nave roof, (2) piscina and sedilia with fine canopies, (3) group of canopied niches E. of the S. aisle, (4) fine carved Perp. font. In the churchyard, E. of the church, is a fine panelled tomb. S. of the parish church are the foundations of the Abbey Church. The Abbey was founded by the Saxon Athelstan, about 939. The remains may be traced of (1) an apsidal Norm. Lady Chapel, (2) a square-ended Lady Chapel of later date. A few tiles are preserved in the adjoining church. S. of the churchyard is the Abbot's House, which exhibits much of interest (especially a room with a settle of Henry VIII.'s time), if admission can be obtained. A panelled (interior) wall may be seen from the road: behind it is a cloister (now a cider cellar). N. of the parish church is another interesting building, the old Vicarage House, dating from the 14th or 15th cent. In another house hard by is a fragment of Norm. carving. Note, too, the village cross (restored.)
Mudford is a village on the Yeo, 3 m. N. of Yeovil. The church has a good tower, but contains little of interest. The pulpit appears to be Jacobean, and there is a curious bracket near one of the S. windows.
Mudgeley. See Wedmore.
Nailsea, a village (with station) 9 m. W.S.W. of Bristol. Its church preserves some features of interest, among them being (1) stone pulpit, entered through the wall by a staircase which formerly led to the rood-loft, (2) curious carving on the capitals of the arcade, (3) piscina, (4) monument to Richard Cole and his family, with its punning Latin epitaph and free translation. Some way from the village is Nailsea Court, a manor house of partly Tudor, partly Elizabethan construction.
Nempnett Thrubwell, a small village 7 m. S.W. from Pensford Station, and 10 S.S.W. of Bristol. It stands on high ground overlooking a deep valley. In the neighbourhood some very fine views may be obtained of the Mendip Hills, the Blagdon Reservoir, and the Wrington valley. The church is a small building with a Perp. W. tower, from the W. face of which project two curious and uncanny carved heads of a man and beast. The walls of the nave still bear the original 13th cent. consecration crosses. The chancel is modern, and contains a rich modern screen and a good E. window of Munich glass. Note (1) rude Norm. S. doorway filled with Perp. tracery; (2) Norm. font carved with a curious device by some later craftsman. Near the porch in the churchyard is (1) base of ancient cross; (2) tomb of first rector—Robert—bearing an incised cross. The parish once contained a remarkably fine tumulus of masonry, said to have been one of the finest in Britain, in the chambers of which skeletons have been discovered. A few vestiges of it now only remain, the rest has been used as a lime-kiln.