who died 1508. There are canopied effigies of Thomas, died 1588, and Elizabeth, died 1598. On the west wall is a marble monument to Edward, who died in 1690. An Anglo-Saxon Hamstone font lay unidentified in the churchyard for many years, but has now been reinstated replacing its Tudor successor. Little now remains of the Cluniac Montacute Priory, which fell during the Reformation, except the inaccurately named "Abbey Gatehouse" (a private dwelling) and its attached stew pond and pigeon cote. The former infirmary for the Priory — the Grade II thatched "Monk's House" dating from the 15th century — is also a private dwelling. St Michael's Hill is named for a similarly dedicated chapel which stood at its summit. No remains of the chapel are now visible. Notable residents The dissolved Priory of Montacute was obtained from King Henry VIII by the poet Thomas Wyatt in 1542 and after his death was passed in 1544 by his son, Thomas Wyatt the Younger, to Elizabeth Darrell, the poet's mistress, and their young son Francis, and they soon took up residence there. The vicar of Montacute between 1885 and 1918 was the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923), father of the writers John Cowper Powys, Llewelyn Powys and Theodore Francis Powys. Philippa Powys, their sister and another author, was born in Montacute. Llewelyn Powys, in his "Somerset Essays", devoted a chapter to Thomas Shoel (1759-1823), a native of the village who wrote poetry and composed music including many hymn tunes, some of them still well known In John Cowper Powys's novel first Wood and Stone (1915) the fictional village of Nevilton is based on Montacute. References External links Villages in South Somerset Civil parishes in Somerset