Possible Burial Site?
Recorded on the 1887 Ordinance Survey Map is the location of the discovery of a stone coffin by what is now part of Orchard Lane in Wembdon. What happened to this coffin is a mystery, although it may be still unnoticed somewhere nearby. Its location on the below maps is today the top of Vicars Lane (which comes off of Orchard Lane) and this spot is now occupied by houses.
The context for it being here is interesting. A Roman settlement has been suggested in the area nearer the Wembdon Road Cemetery, or we might just assume it was dragged from Bridgwater after the middle ages for use as a horse trough. However, perhaps more relevant, the field on the other side of the Kidsbury Rhyne to Orchard Lane is noted in the Tithe Apportionment Map for Wembdon as called ‘Gallows’. This might just be because it belonged to a man called Gallow (or Galloway?), although it might hint towards the site being a place of execution. For now though this remains a mystery.
MKP May 2020. Additional notes supplied by Jon White 29 July 2020.