Ilton

Coordinates: 50°57′12″N 2°55′11″W / 50.953305°N 2.919634°W / 50.953305; -2.919634

Ilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 8 miles (12.9 km) south-east of Taunton, and 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Ilminster in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 854. The parish includes the hamlets of Ilford and Cad Green with its 16th-century almshouses.

History

"The settlement on the River Isle" was one of the possessions of Athelney Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries.

The current hamstone Ilford Bridge probably dates from the early 18th century when it was on the Curry Rivel to Chard turnpike road. The current A303 is just south of the village.

Historic estates

Merryfield

About 1 mile west-north-west of the parish church, situated between the disused railway line and the disused Chard Canal, is a moated site which is all that remains of the medieval fortified manor house of Merryfield (or Muryfield), which was the seat of the ancient Wadham family. The last of the family in the male line was Nicholas Wadham (died 1609), who with his widow Dorothy Petre, founded Wadham College, Oxford in 1610. Monuments to the Wadham family survive in St Peter's Church, Ilton and also in nearby St Mary's Church, Ilminster. The three sisters of Nicholas Wadham were (in their issue) his heirs, one of whom was Florence Wadham (died 1596), wife of Sir John Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, and mother of Sir John Wyndham (1558-1645). The Wyndham family, which later commonly used the first name "Wadham", inherited the estate of Merryfield and the "Wyndham Estate" is still today the largest employer in the village of Ilton. It bears no relation to the present large 19th-century grade II listed mansion known as Merryfield House, immediately south of the parish church.