Among all the names connected to Somerton, one stands above the rest. The Fermor family is not simply part of the village's history — it is central to it. Their influence reaches across centuries: through the land, through the church, through visible monuments, and through stories that have persisted long after direct memory has faded.
William Fermor — The First of Somerton
William was the second son of Thomas Fermor, a wealthy merchant from Witney. He held several positions of authority: in 1509 he was coroner and attorney in the King's Bench Greenwich; he was a Justice of the Peace both for Oxfordshire and the City of Oxford; and he served as High Sheriff for Oxfordshire in 1533 and 1543. He held onto these positions despite the fact that he was a staunch Roman Catholic.
On completing his acquisition of the manor, William built himself a new manor house in contemporary style on higher ground to the south-east of the village. It was a substantial building whose outline can still be traced east of Jersey Manor Farm. In 1665 it was returned for the hearth tax as having 22 hearths. It had a central dining-hall with mullioned windows and a "great" parlour above, flanking wings, and — in all likelihood — a chapel of some form.
One local historian observed that "Mr Fermor showed no marked opposition to the King's measures" when Henry VIII broke from Rome — unlike his older brother Sir Richard Fermor at Easton Neston, who being "a very zealous Romanist, fell under the King's heavy displeasure." The Fermors of Somerton, by contrast, managed to keep their heads down but did not disguise their faith. Interestingly, William appointed as Rector one Robert King, a distinguished conservative reformer who opposed those who "want to pull down the images of saints and who denied that the Virgin and Saints are mediators."
William Fermor died in 1552, having been married four times but with no issue. He was buried according to his will "under the new arch, between the aisle of the south side and the choir wherein I used to kneel" — described as "a great raised monument of gray marble — thereon ye picture of a man and a woman in brass." This was the first monument in what became the Fermor family mausoleum.
Thomas Fermor and the Free School
William's heir was Thomas, the younger son of Richard of Easton Neston, who lived quietly at Somerton for twenty-eight years and quietly resisted the changes of the Reformation period. There is evidence to suggest that the medieval chapel in the castle yard still existed at this time and was used by Thomas and his recusant followers for Catholic services during Mary's reign.
When he died in 1580, Thomas endowed a free school at Somerton for boys to be instructed in "virtue and learning." The castle yard chapel was converted into a school building, and the schoolmaster's house was built around 1750. The school which was thus established forms the centrepiece of the present Old School House — now a residence and believed to be the oldest home in Somerton.
Thomas Fermor (b. circa 1523, d. 1580) was a wealthy wool merchant who had served as a Knight for Shropshire in Queen Mary's first Parliament. The Fermors were leading Roman Catholics, "Lords of the Manor of Somerton from 1512 to 1815" and played an influential role in the strong Roman Catholic tradition in the village.
Michaela Rees Jones — The School House
Local historians have speculated on Fermor's intentions in bequeathing the school. Bindoff's History of Parliament notes the importance of Fermor's will as an example of "seigneurial Catholicism" at work. The will stipulates "that the schoolmaster should be nominated by one or other of the ecclesiastical, secular or academic dignitaries of Oxfordshire or by the lord of Somerton." In this respect, Fermor could have envisaged his school as a means by which the Catholic influence upon Somerton could be covenanted for generations to come.
Thomas's fine tomb in the Fermor Chapel is well documented. Richard and Gabriel Roiley of Burton were to be paid "the full somme of Forty poundes of lawful mony of England" for their work. Under the contract the creature at his feet is supposed to be a lion, but is normally described as a dog — a small but telling detail that has become part of how the tomb is remembered.
William Juxon — From Somerton to the Scaffold
Early in the following century, the Fermors appointed another distinguished cleric as Rector of Somerton. William Juxon subsequently became President of St John's College Oxford, then Archbishop of Canterbury. In that capacity, he prayed with Charles I on the scaffold before the King's execution in 1649. His connection to Somerton links the village directly to one of the most dramatic moments in English history. Juxon was of the "high church" persuasion and would have been comfortable with the Fermors' continued role in the church locally.
The Recusant Tradition
The history of Catholicism in Somerton through the turmoils of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is intertwined with that of the Fermors as lords of the manor. Their support for Catholics in Somerton lasted from the time of the Reformation until their sale of the manor to the Earl of Jersey in 1815, and made Somerton a centre of Catholicism in Oxfordshire during that period.
Throughout their estates the Fermors gave quiet protection to recusants — those who refused to attend Protestant services. The numbers are strikingly consistent. Records from around 1600 show some 50 Catholic names in the village, excluding the Fermors themselves. In 1620 Somerton was named as a centre in Oxfordshire for the Roman Catholic Province in England. In 1676 there were 51 recorded papists; in 1706, 45; and in 1738, 47 (as against 48 Anglicans).
Replying to a questionnaire from the Bishop in 1738, the Rector wrote: "Our Parish has always been remarkable for a great many Papists, which I suppose proceeds from most of the Inhabitants being Tennants to Mr. Fermour a Roman Cathk. gentlm. who lives at Tusmore about three miles from us... The Protestants and Papists by long living together in ye same Parrish are so blended and united together, having for several years married one among another, that shou'd we put ye laws in execution against ye Papists, I am afraid that instead of bringing them over to the Church, it would be a certain means of driving some of our own people away."
After the departure of the Fermors the decline set in sharply: by 1854 only 20 Catholics remained, and by 1888 just two — a Sarah Jennings and Widow Plumb. The Fermors can therefore be credited with the maintenance of the Catholic faith in the village. But it must be remembered that the atmosphere of toleration, which they deliberately fostered and encouraged, also ultimately depended on the goodwill of each inhabitant.
Research into the Fermors and Somerton’s Catholic history has continued since the original website was compiled. Tim Guile, who gave a talk at St James’s in February 2020 and has published a study of the family, has identified the surviving stone wall on the hillside east of the Heyford Road as the remains of the private Catholic chapel built by the Fermors — the structure used for Catholic worship after the castle chapel fell into disuse, and which continued to serve as a centre of the faith in the village until it became a ruin in the mid-eighteenth century. The arch that still stands in a field to the east of the Heyford Road is the most tangible surviving trace of three centuries of Catholic life in Somerton.
The Fermor Hatchments
Among the most visually striking objects in the Fermor Chapel are the three hatchments — painted heraldic boards displayed at the time of a death. These recently underwent careful conservation work by Sally Woodcock, picture conservator, as part of a wider project that also included the restoration of the reredos and the Fermor monuments by Matthew Beesley.
Hatchment 1
commemorates Henry Fermor of Tusmore, who died in 1747. He had married Frances, daughter of Edward Sheldon, who survived him until 1790. The dexter background is black (indicating the deceased), with the Fermor arms — silver background, red lions' heads — placed beside the Sheldon arms of silver bar and ducks on black. The crest is a ducal coronet with a red cock's head.
Hatchment 2
commemorates Frances Fermor, who died in 1787, the eldest daughter of John Errington of Beaufront, Northumberland, and wife of William Fermor of Tusmore. The sinister background is black. It bears the motto RESURGAM ("I shall rise again") and two gold cherubs above the shield.
Hatchment 3
commemorates William Fermor of Tusmore, who died in 1806. The entire background is black — indicating that his wife was also dead, or that this was the last of the line. The motto reads HORA E SEMPRE ("Now and for Ever").
The hatchment to Frances Fermor is the least damaged of the three, although the change in its appearance is the most dramatic as a result of its very dirty condition. Cleaning made a significant alteration to the appearance of the painting, but the damage caused by bat urine was afterwards more visible. This damage is permanent and cannot be improved by cleaning, but can be retouched to minimise its visual impact.
Sally Woodcock — The Somerton Hatchments: work in progress