Rural England

I found a bit of forgotten England when I officiated one Sunday morning at Pendomer, in Somerset. A tiny hamlet, set in open fields, nestlng not that far from the A30, it can't have changed much in hundreds of years. The 14th century church sits next to the former manor house and inside, as I waited for the small congregation to arrive, I had a look around. There's a handsome stone effigy to a knight of the fourteenth century, thought to be Sir John de Domer, positioned ostentatiously near the chancel in the way that the great and the good thought was due to them. The church notice board gave more information about the history of the church and hamlet, saying that Sir John had made his home here and bequeathed his name to the parish, making it known as Pen/Domer. He apparently came from Domer in north Hampshire, now called Dummer. I passed by Dummer when heading to Guildford the other week and made a detour through the village, noting an unremarkable metal name plate for the village. In a small way, I felt connected with Sir John, moving from Hampshire to the west country (but that's probably as far as that comparison will stretch).