(Image of Montacute from the south, copyright R. Bosson 2021).
Montacute is a small village in South Somerset, notable for the golden-coloured hamstone construction of many of its houses, including the National Trust-owned Montacute House.
Below: Photograph of Yeovil Road, Montacute, showing the Tower on St Michael's Hill dominating the village (Photo copyright R. Bosson 2023).
In 2009, a study found that Montacute residents had the longest life expectancy in England. The total population in 2021 was just 865 inhabitants, not far off the 827 inhabitants recorded in 1800, and less than a ten-fold increase since 1377 when the village had a 'taxable population' (over age 14) of 87.
The deep history of the village is fascinating as there is continuity of family surnames in the village from the present day back to the early 1800's as seen in censuses, and even back to the 17th century as recorded in the estate documents of the Phelips family of Montacute House. And there may be records going even further back than that; if anyone has early sources of surnames in the village I would love to hear about them!
In 1995 Montacute Borough had a makeover for its appearance in Ang Lee's film of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin. Some of the locals were lucky enough to be cast as extras and, last time I looked, there were some photos of the set on display in The Phelips Arms. The photo below shows Ang Lee's vision of how the Borough might have looked in the late 1700s:
In 2015 the BBC drama Wolf Hall used Montacute House as Henry VIII's Greenwich Palace, with the Royal Tent and jousting in the grounds of the house.
And I understand a Jacobean 4-poster bed in Montacute House may have had a supporting role for Johnny Depp in the 2004 movie 'The Libertine'.