Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Best, Rev Samuel

2 December 1802 – 20 January 1873

Samuel Best was Rector of Abbotts Ann, near Andover, from 1831 to 1873, and instrumental in founding a (non-denominational) village school, long before such institutions were required by law.  He also created the Abbotts Ann Provident Society, believing that labouring families should not be denied the benefits of Victorian progress.

He was born into an ‘establishment’ family, as the third son of lawyer and judge William Best (Baron Wynford), and was schooled at Eton and Kings College, Cambridge, gaining a BA in 1825 and an MA five years later.  In 1827 he married Charlotte Burrough. Following Charlotte’s early death he married Emma Duke in 1835.  On his move to Abbotts Ann, he collaborated with local blacksmith Robert Tasker to create the school, serving as its headmaster until 1849.

Best was a well-educated clergyman who believed that the Bible was infallible, and he wrote pamphlets and preached sermons criticising William Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise.  Although his faith in the Scriptures remained unshaken, his views changed subtly during his lifetime.  His main contribution to local history was through the excavation of the Dunkirt Barn Roman villa in 1854, a site re-explored by Professor Barry Cunliffe in 2005/6.  Mosaics from Best’s investigation ended up in the British Museum, but some of his interest may have been more prosaic, as flints robbed from the wall footings were apparently used to build latrines at the school!

Best’s good works for the community were brought to the attention of the Prime Minister and he might well have had promotion but declined to leave his ‘beloved country parish’.

Sources

• Cunliffe B & Poole C, 2008 The Danebury Environs Roman Programme, Vol 2/7 Excavations at Dunkirt Barn, Abbotts Ann.

• Geddes, A. 1981, Samuel Best & The Hampshire Labourer, Andover History Society.

• Women’s Institute Scrapbook, HRO A03/2/2 n.d.

Portrait

Contribution to county’s history

Excavation of Dunkirt Barn, Roman villa, with records that have survived by being copied by the Tasker family and the WI.

Relevant published works

Critical Comments

A confirmed Christian and churchman, Best nevertheless contributed to advancing the picture of local history and origins by excavating and recording a Romano-British villa within his purview.

Other Comments

Contributor

Dave Allen July 2022

Key Words

Abbots Ann, Dunkirt Barn Roman Villa

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