Yeovil's Virtual Museum

The Charity Boards

Kept in the tower

 

From very early times many townspeople left lands or monies in their wills for the benefit of others. Such charities were usually administered by the churchwardens who often invested the monies and employed the rents from donated lands and properties for the charities. The details of some of the later charities are inscribed on boards in the tower of St John’s church and the Churchwarden's Accounts make very frequent mention of the distribution of the charity gifts.

For details of the main charity bequests, click here.

  

 

The four charity boards hanging on the north wall of the tower, photographed from the nave in 2023. (Sorry about the poor quality).

 

One of the four Charity Boards, dated 1837, outlining some of Yeovil's benefactors. The board hangs on the wall of the tower of St John's church.

 

A detail from another Charity Board. As a guide, £100 in 1714 would be around £17,000 at today's value.