Haslebury-Plucknett (St. Michael)

HASLEBURY-PLUCKNETT (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Yeovil, hundred of Houndsborough, Berwick, and Coker, W. division of Somerset, 1½ mile (N. E. by E.) from Crewkerne; containing 809 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from London to Exeter, and comprises 2069a. 2r. 32p. There are quarries of rough freestone and limestone; and facility of conveyance is afforded by the river Parret. The manufacture of sailcloth, and of webs for girths, is carried on, affording employment to about 200 persons. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7; patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The rectorial tithes have been commuted for £214. 18., and the vicarial for £120; the rectorial glebe comprises 59, and the vicarial 6, acres. The church was enlarged by rebuilding the aisle, and beautified, in 1839, at an expense of £1400; on which occasion, Thomas Hoskins, Esq., presented an ornamented roof, a painted window, and a fine-toned organ. A petrifying spring has been discovered. St. Walfric, a hermit, had a cell here, and, dying in 1154, was interred in the parish church, where his tomb became the resort of pilgrims: a few years prior to his death, a monastery for Canons regular was founded, but it was destroyed during the war between John and the barons.