Evershot was ecclesiastically, a chapelry, in the parish of Frome St Quintin although there seems to have been some doubt as to it’s exact status. As a chapelry it was included in the commutation of the main parish, Frome St Quintin but in the apportionment Martin refers to both as parishes and, as we will see when we come to discuss his work as churchwarden, Evershot was, de facto, a parish in it’s own right. Nevertheless for the commutation it was a part of Frome St Quintin and perhaps, as evidence of the confusion St Osmund’s in Evershot is not depicted in any way. Instead the ground occupied is denoted as ‘Church yard’.

As a consequence there is one instrument of apportionment, but written in two parts and two maps. Hutchins reported that there had been a dispute over the modus for milk in the 1790’s but this had been resolved by the time of the commutation. A modus of 1s per cow was paid in lieu of the tithe of milk and hay on some 837 acres of meadow and pasture when, in the rather quaint phrase of the time, the land was “fed with cattle” but became payable if the hay was mown. This was a fairly standard condition in many parishes. Luckily for the principal landowner in the parishes – the Earl of Ilchester- ninety eight acres of the parish paid a mere three shillings and four pence customary payment whilst a further ninety four acres were exempt from tithe by prescription although no reason for the exemption is given.

The Frome St Quintin map is labelled no 1 and Evershot no 2 although in the instrument of apportionment Evershot takes lead position. Both maps bear the same title, “Map of the Parish of xxxxx in the County of Dorset” but in addition the Frome Map has inscribed within it “For the purposes of the Act 6^th & 7^th William IV c 71”. Both maps were adopted at the same meeting in the still extant Acorn Inn [handily next door to John Martin’s house and offices] in Evershot, although as will see he did not attend. Both the original and copy maps of both Frome, and the copy map of Evershot have a stamp in the upper left corner dated 11^th November 1840 but the original of the Evershot map has been cropped here.

Both the original, and copy, Frome maps are endorsed:

At a Parochial meeting of us the undersigned Landowners held at the Acorn Inn in the Town of Evershot in the County of Dorset on Monday the Twenty-seventh day of August 1838 pursuant to Public notice for that purpose given for the Commutation of Tithe within the Parish of Frome St Quintin: this map or plan having been produced was adopted agreeably to the provisions of the Act of 6^th and 7^th William IV. Intitled “An Act for the Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales”

Thomas Bridges William Jennings by the Earl of Ilchester his agent duly authorised. Henry [possibly John] Petty William George Cowdry

The original Evershot map is endorsed in the same way but with only two signatures albeit by the same person:

The Earl of Ilchester by Wm Jennings his Agent duly authorised

Wm Jennings” under which is,

Wm Jennings

In other words Jennings was signing for himself as a major land owner, as well as in his role as agent to the Earl of Ilchester. The maps are of no great interest apart from the Evershot map which shows St John’s Well, a local landmark. It also shows the layout of Martin’s own house in the village [plot no 16] and the land that he owned.

There are several diary entries referring to this commutation.

Return List of Commutations under the Tithe Commutation Act