Monksilver
Coordinates: 51°07′56″N 3°19′37″W / 51.1322°N 3.3270°W
| Monksilver | |
 Church of All Saints |
|
 Monksilver
Monksilver shown within Somerset |
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| Population | 107 [1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | ST072378 |
| District | West Somerset |
| Shire county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WILLITON |
| Postcode district | TA4 |
| Dialling code | 01984 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Bridgwater and West Somerset |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Monksilver is a village 3 miles (5 km) west of the town of Williton in Somerset, England, on the eastern flank of the Brendon Hills and the border of the Exmoor National Park. It is on the Coleridge Way footpath.
The village has a pub, the Notley Arms, a village hall (shared with the parishes of Nettlecombe and Elworthy), a telephone box and a newspaper hut. It is served twice a week with a bus service connecting it to Taunton. The mobile library visits every 3 weeks.
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[edit] History
The name of the village means monk's wood. In the Domesday Book it was simply Selvre, from the Latin silva for a wood,[2] having been Sulfhere in 897 referring to the silvery stream below the village.[3]
In 1113 the manor was given by Robert de Chandos to endow his new Goldcliff Priory, near Newport in Monmouthshire. In 1441 it passed, with the priory, to Tewkesbury Abbey and then in 1474 to the canons of Windsor.[3] In the 14th century the name changed to "Monksilver".[4]
The parish of Monksilver was part of the Williton and Freemanners Hundred.[5] The parish was a centre for cloth making in the 16th and 17th centuries[3] and field names such as "Rack", close at Woodford, suggest cloth making in the parish.[4]
[edit] Governance
The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.
The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of West Somerset, which was formed on April 1, 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Williton Rural District.[6] The district council is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.
Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.
It is also part of the Bridgwater and West Somerset county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, and part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
[edit] Religious sites
The church, dedicated to All Saints, has a square tower containing five bells. Inside is an Easter sepulchre. The pulpit is 16th-century, the screen is Jacobean and the lectern is possibly older. The wagon roof is thought to be 13th-century and an alms box by the door is from 1634.[7] It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.[8] In 1583 Sir Francis Drake married his second wife Elizabeth Sydenham of nearby Combe Sydenham in the parish of Stogumber.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ "Parish Population Statistics". ONS Census 2001. Somerset County Council. http://www.webcitation.org/5lRyCc5hq. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
- ^ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: Dovecote Press. ISBN 1874336032.
- ^ a b c d Bush, Robin (1994). Somerset: The complete guide. Wimborne: The Dovecote Press Ltd. pp. 148–149. ISBN 1874336261.
- ^ a b "A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 5". British History Online. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=117140. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ^ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- ^ A Vision of Britain Through Time : Williton Rural District
- ^ "All Saints' church in Monksilver". UK attractions. http://www.ukattraction.com/west-country/all-saints-church-monksilver.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
- ^ "Church of All Saints". Images of England. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=264774. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
[edit] External links
Media related to Monksilver at Wikimedia Commons
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