East Somerton / Somerton East / Somertuna

There are six entries for East and West Somerton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/XX0000/east-and-west-somerton/] [accessed 27 May 2014], one of which reports a church in it. There are nine entries for Winterton [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TG4919/winterton/] [accessed 28 May 2014], one of which reports a church and churchlands in it. In his entry for Wintretuna, in which a church is noted, Blomefield (1805-1810) writes: "The church here mentioned was that of East Somerton, and at that time was a distint parish, and had its own rector" [the "here" in Blomefield's text is his transcription of the Domesday entry: "In Wintretuna viii lib. ho'es Almari comd. tantu. xiiii ac. terre. semp. dim. car. tc. val. viiid. mo. xxiiii. In Somertuna iii lib. ho'es T. R. E. sed. postq. Tostius exiit de Anglia Bernard. fuit i ecc'lia S. Bened. de Hulmo. tenuit cvi ac. terre ix ac. p'ti. sep. ix bord. sep. i car. et dim. semp. val. iiii sol, et viiid." By contrat the Blomefield entry for East Somerton does not mention the Domesday-time church, and the earliest reference to a church in it is in relation to an agreement on presentation of the priests here: "in the 4th of Edward I [i.e., 1276] Alexander, son of Richard Fastolf, and Bartholomew de Somerton agreed by fine to present alternately to the church of East Somerton, and the church of Winterton. In 1310, Sir Bartholomew de Somerton presented to the church of Winterton, and chapel of East Somerton." There are several erefences in Blomefield (ibid.) to the "chapel" and the "church" of East Somerton, including one that reads: "There was formerly a chapel in East Somerset [sic] into which the rectors of Winterton are instituted, but has been in ruins many years; it was dedicated to St. Mary." [cf. Index entry for Winterton]. Knott (2006) writes: "St Mary survived the Reformation, but the parish was subsumed into that of neighbouring Winterton, and it operated as a chapel of ease to the Hall until the 17th century Commonwealth, before falling into disuse. It is likely that the chancel was lost and in ruins even before that, and probably this accelerated its demise. There really is no trace left of the chancel at all".