Mosterton

Mosterton is a small Dorset village on the border with Somerset, situated along the busy A3066 road linking Beaminster and Crewkerne, and nestling in beautiful countryside. Not to be confused with the Somerset village of Misterton, only two miles north (whose name derives from the Anglo-Saxon term for “mast-tree farm”), Mosterton appears in Domesday as Mortestorne, meaning “thorn of death”, a name which no doubt commemorates some grisly deed that took place here in the long forgotten past.

Held by Richard de Redvers at Domesday, the land passed to the Blount or Blunt family until the end of the fourteenth century, and was later counted amongst the possessions of the family of Sir Thomas More, passing by the marriage of one of his daughters to the Paulett family, who eventually sold it to the Henley family. After that it passed through many hands, including the wealthy Hussey family.

St. Mary’s Chapel, a chapel of ease to the mother parish of South Perrott, originally stood at Chapel Court, but was demolished in 1832 and rebuilt in 1833, to a design by Edmund Pearce, in the centre of the village. Bygone commentators, including Hutchins and Pulman, have written of both the former and the present chapel in rather dismissive terms, considering it unworthy of note.

Modern commentators might find the unusual corbels which decorate the porch and exterior of the altar window, as well as the brightly coloured 1975 altar window itself, featuring a tractor, worthy of note. Inside the chapel there is a large gallery at the west end, bearing the democratic inscription:

“This chapel was rebuilt and enlarged in the Year 1833, it contains 359 sittings and in consequence of a grant from the Incorporated Society for promoting the enlargement, building and repairing of Churches and Chapels, 259 of that number are hereby declared to be free and unappropriated for ever. John Wills, Minister, William Dawbney and Abraham Hull, Chapel Wardens.”  

Opposite the chapel is Mosterton’s public house, formerly known as the New Inn, and now called Admiral Hood - after Samuel, Admiral Viscount Hood (1724-1816), one of the distinguished naval family, after whom several battleships and public houses elsewhere have been named. Hoods are recorded at Mosterton from the 16th century and occupied a Georgian house on the site of the pub, built in 1748.

The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Mosterton is Kim Parker