Details
PUCKLECHURCH
1096/4/214 WESTERLEIGH ROAD
15-AUG-85 (East side)
FRANCIS MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABO
UT 21 METRES SOUTH OF NAVE OF ANGLICAN
CHURCH OF ST THOMAS À BECKET
(Formerly listed as:
WESTERLEIGH ROAD
FRANCIS MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABO
UT 21 METRES SOUTH OF NAVE OF CHURCH O
F ST THOMAS OF CANTERBURY)
GV II
DESCRIPTION
The Francis monument lies in the churchyard of St Thomas à Becket, Pucklechurch, about 21 metres S of the nave. An early-C19 chest tomb, commemorating a William Francis (d. 1803) and other members of the Francis family. The limestone monument has a flat top with a moulded edge, a moulded plinth, and quarter baluster corners with incised detail. To S, paired octagonal panels with central twined ribbons; to N, paired circular panels surrounded by palm leaves, with 3 putti, the lowest of which has largely been lost through deterioration of the stone. The eastern face of the tomb has an oval panel, and the western face a shield panel with ribbon above and flambeaux below.
HISTORY
Pucklechurch, which appears from the archaeological evidence to have largely developed in the Roman period, was an important settlement from the later Anglo-Saxon period, when it became the administrative, military and judicial centre of the Hundred which bears its name. The settlement, once forming parts of the ancient Forest of Kingswood, may have been a royal burh in the later Saxon period. Certainly it was the site of Edmund, King of Wessex's hunting lodge; he was murdered in Pucklechurch in AD946, and his body taken to Glastonbury Abbey for burial. The manor of Pucklechurch was formally granted to Glastonbury Abbey in AD950, and was subsequently transferred to Bath Abbey in the C13. After the Dissolution in the C16, the village underwent a phase of rebuilding and gentrification, with a number of large houses erected in the C16, C17 and C18, indicating that the settlement was relatively wealthy in this period. A further phase of expansion and prosperity occurred from the mid-C19, when a number of collieries opened in the parish.
The parish church was founded in the Norman period, and was perhaps a royal foundation, but the current building dates largely from the C13; a north aisle and south porch were built in the C14, together with parts of the tower. A chantry, now the site of the Lady Chapel, was set up by William de Cheltenham in 1337. There were further alterations in the C17, coinciding with the increased prosperity of the settlement after the Dissolution, and there were two major phases of work in the C19, the first, by R C Carpenter, in 1846-56, and the second, by J D Sedding, in 1889. These included some reordering, and the replacement of some windows, the introduction of new fittings, and some stained glass. There has been some further, minor refitting in the C20.
The churchyard contains a number of noteworthy tombs.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
The Francis tomb is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Design interest: as a good example of an early-C19 chest tomb, of striking design
* Group value: for its relationship with the Grade I-listed church of St Thomas à Becket, and with other listed tombs
