Stogursey

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.1807
longitude= -3.1413
official_name= Stogursey
population=
shire_district= West Somerset
shire_county = Somerset
region= South West England
constituency_westminster= Bridgwater
post_town= Williton
postcode_district = TA4
postcode_area= TA
dial_code= 01984
os_grid_reference=ST203430

Stogursey is the name of a small village and parish in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England.

It takes its name from the manor of Stoke. By 1086 it was in the possession of William de Falaise, who had recently married Geva, daughter of Serlo de Burci, and widow of Martin "de Wallis". Early in the 1100s, William and Geva's daughter, Emma, was betrothed to William Fitz Humphrey, and the couple received the manor of Stoke upon their wedding. The manor was renamed Stoke Courcy, and is now known as Stogursey.

The descendants of Emma and William took their name from the village, and became known as de Gursey, de Curci, or de Courcy. The most well-known member of the family was John de Courcy, who made himself virtual Prince of Ulster after conquering it in 1177. He died about 1219, his descendants (all illegitimate) today being the Baron Kingsale of Ireland.Within the village, at the bottom of the street, stands the church of St. Andrew, built early in the 1100s by William de Falaise, though believed to incorporate earlier features. [cite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=265206 |title=church of St. Andrew |accessdate=2008-03-11 |format= |work=Images of England ] However, some of this may be due to the workers being English, not Norman; and the fact that in the 1940s Reverend Basil Tucker removed much of the Victorian era work, giving the church its original, sparse yet pleasing shape.

Less than a quarter of a mile to the south are the restored remains of Stoke Courcy castle. [cite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=265202 |title=Stogursey Castle |accessdate=2008-03-11 |format= |work=Images of England ] During the reign of King John of England (1199-1216) it became the property of one of his favorites and closest advisors, Fulke de Breaute of Gascony. Fulke's sister, Avice de Breaute, was mother of Sir Nicholas FitzMartin (c.1210-1282), who, like the de Courcys, was a descendant of Geva de Burci, William de Falise's wife, via her son Robert fitz Martin. Said to be tyrannical, Fulke made the castle and village a stronghold and den of robbers; he was eventually expelled in the reign of Henry III, and is said to have died in poverty in Normandy after 1224.

A priory in the village was built by the Falaise family. To preserve the family's association with Normandy the priory was donated as a cell to the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary at Lonlay. This dwindled over the years and when all alien priories were appropriated by the crown in the 15th century Henry VI presented the endowments of Stogursey to "the College of the Blessed Mary of Eton beside Windsor" (Eton College) which he had founded a few years earlier.cite book |title=Portrait of the Quantocks |last=Waite |first=Vincent |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1964 |publisher=Robert Hale |location=London |isbn=0709111584 |pages= ]

In 1868, Stogursey was described as "a parish in the hundred of Cannington, county Somerset, 7 miles from Nether Stowey, its post town, and 8 W. of Bridgwater. The village is situated near the Bristol Channel, which bounds the parish on the N. The parish contains the hamlets of Burton, Knighton, Shurton, Stoford, Week, and Fairfield."

In 1863 Neville Howse was born in the village. He went on to join the Australian army and was the first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

Haile Selassie, the emperor of Abyssinia, visited Stogursey in 1938.

References

External links

* [http://www.stogursey.net Stogursey Community Website]
* [http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/cultureheritage/heritage/projects/eus/stogursey Stogursey The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey] , by Clare Gathercole
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18604 Stogursey - British History Online]