32 BERROW AND BIRTSMORTON.

son, Richard, Earl of Bellamont, succeeded her; and afterwards the estates fell in succession to various parties.

J. C. Thackwell, Esq., is now the principal landowner, but the parish is divided among many, owners. Not long ago there, was a Mr. Marian, a poor man, who claimed the estates, and had some old MSS. in his possession, but he is now dead. There is a romantic story connected with these Nanfans, a duel having been fought on account of one of the ladies by her brother and her supposed, lover, which ended so fatally that her lover was slain in a field now called "The Bloody Field." A sum of money was willed by the lady in question to be given annually for a sermon on duelling, which is accordingly still preached in Berrow church. It is said that the statesman Huskisson was born at Birtsmorton Court, in 1769, and his baptism appears in the register.

The Eev. R. Pilson is the rector; patron, C. Pilson, Esq.; living commuted at £330, with glebe of twenty-eight acres.

The church, which is cruciform, and has a low tower at the west end, is mainly Perpendicular work, with no points, of interest beyond the tombs of the Nanfans. There being no resident 'squire, the rector has had a great amount of work on his hands, and has caused the school-house of the old free school, founded by the Rev. J. S. Juice in 1703, to be rebuilt in handsome style, the endowment of which is about £20 a year.