Tom Poole was born in 1765, the eldest son of a tanner, and one of a large respected local family. He had little formal education, but was no country bumpkin. Well-read, enquiring, and outspoken, Poole was regarded as a radical and was branded ‘the most dangerous person in the country’ by the government officials. Despite this he was a welcome guest at the houses of the country gentry. Poole’s leg
acy to Nether Stowey is profound. He worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor and employed many local people. He was a magistrate, supported the Sunday School movement, and in 1806 established the Stowey Female Friendly Society to aid women in times of sickness and distress. Every year members processed through the village for a church service, a custom that continues today. Poole funded and built the village school in 1812-13 on land in his tanyard. It was one of the first free schools in the country, offering vital education for up to 200 children and is now part of the library building. Poole was devoted to Samuel Coleridge who was an English poet of the Romantic Movement and possibly best known for his allegorical sea-faring poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Coleridge lived for a time in Nether Stowey and continually escaped from the domestic chaos of his Lime Street cottage to the peaceful sanctuary of Poole’s Castle Street book room. Here the Wordsworths, Charles Lamb and other literary men of the day met to talk and exchange ideas. Faithful and constant, Poole wrote ‘By you, Coleridge, I will always stand, in sickness and health’.
