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Links to other Museums and Sites of interest South West Museums, Libraries and Archives Council |
The History
of Seaton
Situated at the mouth of the Axe estuary, Seaton was an important port for
several centuries and it supplied ships and mariners in the time of Edward I,
for his wars against Scotland and France. It was certainly known to the
Phoenicians and the Romans. Shipbuilding became an important trade until the
1800's, and Henry Akerman was an Admiralty shipwright in 1804. An important salt
industry existed in the tidal estuary for many centuries and dated from the iron
age.
The Head. family were also prominent in Seaton, the first one being a
blacksmith who commenced building the family fortune by dealing in property and
being appointed as the Reeve by the Trevelyans. The Heads lived at Wessiters
House which was built in 1843. They became landed gentry, with their own coat of
arms, until the estate was sold up in 1959. The Parish Church of St. Gregory the Martyr is an ancient building standing
on the site of an earlier wooden church which served the old town of Fleet. For
many years it was also the parish church for Beer, and there are memorials to
the Willoughby, Walrond. and Starre families. On the list of vicars is an entry
for the Rev. Francis Drake, killed by smugglers on Bosshill in 1769. Jack
Rattenbury, the famous smuggler, was buried in the churchyard.
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The
first mention of Seaton was in a Papal Bull by Pope Eugenius in 1146. Before
that date it was the medieval town of Fleet, founded by a Saxon Charter of AD
1005. At the time of the Domesday Book both Fleet and Beer belonged to the
Priory of Horton, which later became a part of Sherborne Abbey.
After Sherborne Abbey
surrendered to the Crown in 1539 the manor was granted to John Fry of Grays Inn
and Yarty in Membury. He soon resold it to John Willoughby of Payhembury, whose
grand-daughter and heiress married. Sir George Trevelyan of Nettlecombe in 1656.
The manor of Seaton has remained, with this family up to the present day. It was
the Trevelyans who developed the town from a pretty fishing village into a
Victorian seaside resort.
There was a substantial
Fort on the seafront which was completed in 1544 and inspected by Henry VIII.
Nearby was a large earth mound surmounted by a lighthouse, known as The Burrow,
which was later replaced by a Martello Tower in the Napoleonic Wars. Today,
nothing remains, all having been demolished to make way for The Esplanade.
