Maxfield Adventures - Living life to the Max: Bath - family history, cathedrals, and cheese

Family History * Glastonbury Abbey Ruins * Wells Cathedral

We had quite the driving tour of Somerset County today in southern England. The scenery was amazing. In many ways it reminded me of Normandy France. The homes are all made of a light brick with tall hedge rows lining the streets. Sometimes the trees and hedges are so tall along the street that they grow together and form a tunnel. The woods are so thick on either side it's easy to imagine Robin Hood in there ready to jump out and rob the rich. The hillsides are dotted with farms, cows and sheep.

Today was our family history day as many of my Rex ancestors came from and joined the church in this area. We had fun driving around this area and trying to find land marks that related to them and trying to imagine what their life might have been like in the 1700 and 1800s. Our first stop was actually a site Eric wanted to visited called Downside Abbey (not to be confused with Downton Abbey) that he read might contain a relic of one of his ancestors who was a martyr in the 1500s (more on Thomas Maxfield later - when we get to London). Sadly, no such relic was at the Abbey.

Our first successfully stop was Upton Noble where we located the home of Jon Rex and Ann Oseland, my G-G-G-G grandparents, who did not join the church in their lifetime, but their son William Rex did. We wandered the church yard near their home in hopes of finding a gravesite with the name Rex, but no such luck.

Second stop was Milton Clevedon - we didn't get out of the car, but just drove around as there wasn't a land mark for us to visit - buts Jon Rex was born in Milton Clevendon along with with Grandfather.

Our third stop was Charlton Horethorn where Mary Meade was born. Mary Mead was the wife of William Rex. We also visited the church with graveyard and looked for any sign of Meades or Mary's family there, but no luck - the gravestones were hard to read and some were scattered in the back of the church with weeds growing all around them.

Our fourth family history stop was Sherborne where Mary Meade and William Rex married and lived with their 5 children until they left for the States 2 years after joining the church. We were able to find the corner of Cheap Street and Half Moon street where they lived and tried to image the Mormon Missionaries arriving in town and preaching the gospel from the town square. Sherborne was a pretty town and my favorite stop this morning.

In the afternoon we made 3 stops, our first in Glastonbury to visit the ruins of an Abbey built in the 1100s and destroyed under King Henry VIII. The city itself was full of new age people and shops as this Abbey is a stop for those who like King Arthur and Guinevere - supposedly buried at the Abbey. It was the annual Goddess Festival and a bunch of hippie women were running around in purple from head to toe festivizing.

Our second stop was the Wells Cathedral where we attended the Evensong - a prayer service. There was a visiting choir accompanied by the church's organ that was lovely to listen to.

Our final stop (which was not on the itinerary - but when the kids saw the sign wanted to go) was Cheddar England - home of Cheddar Cheese. We actually drove though an amazing gorge to get there - the steepest gorge in England - and saw several rams climbing on the rocks on the sides of the freeway. It was a worthwhile detour and while we were there we bought Cheddar Cheese - in the grocery story - just because.