A LITTLE HISTORY

Why Monks Yard?

Since the 1960’s our old site was home to a dairy herd, farmed by Andrew Osborne and his father Arthur (pictured below) before him. So that’s the Yard bit, why Monks?

You can see our old site as it was many years ago!

And the farm as it was in the early nineties.

Before diversifying into the lovely venue you see now we researched the history of the site and surrounding area and found that it was home to a monastery and a small chapel building, the chapel once being described as “a picturesque ruin standing on elevated ground”. The exact whereabouts of these on the site is unclear although it is believed that one wall of the farm house could have been part of the monastery.

There is mention of the existence of the monastery as far back as the 13th century and was home at one time to eight monks, an abbot and a prior.

MY Eating Place is now part of the Development Centre – an 8000sqft building opened in 1993 by Paddy Ashdown MP. You can see that the building was modelled on a tithe barn, as hinted at by its long shape, hamstone frontage and large windows.

The Osborne & Holling family are proud to have created a beautiful venue in a stunning part of Somerset which we hope you will come and enjoy with us!