Puriton
Coordinates: 51°10′12″N 2°58′23″W / 51.170°N 2.973°W
| Puriton | |
 Puriton Parish Church, constructed from local Blue Lias stone |
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 Puriton
Puriton shown within Somerset |
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| Population | 2,124 [1] |
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| OS grid reference | ST321415 |
| District | Sedgemoor |
| Shire county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRIDGWATER |
| Postcode district | TA7 |
| Dialling code | 01278 |
| 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 | |
Puriton is a village and a parish, at the westerly end of the Polden Hills, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, UK. The parish has a population of 2,124.[1] The local parish church is named after St Michael. At one time there was also a chapel on Woolavington Road, but it was converted to a private house some 20 years ago.
In 1996, Puriton was described as "now becoming a rural commuter village".[2] The built-up area of the village lies mostly between 5 and 50 metres above sea level.
The village has a full range of facilities such as a primary school, parish church, pub, post office, shop (general store and newsagent), butcher and hairdresser. It started to expand considerably in the 1960s and 1970s when new houses were built on former farm land, a former infilled stone Blue Lias quarry, Puriton Park, and on fields in between the existing houses. The old Victorian school near the church was converted into homes and a new school built elsewhere. The Manor house was also sold off in 1960 and four houses were built on its former tennis courts. The Manor House itself is still there and lived in, but is now in multiple occupancy.
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[edit] History
Puriton was mentioned in the Domesday Book, as growing pears, and was held by the Church of St Peter's, Rome. Its parish church, "St Michael's".
Just north of Dunball is Down End which is the site of Down End Castle a motte-and-bailey castle,[3] which has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[4]
The parish of Puriton was part of the Huntspill and Puriton Hundred,[5]
A cement and lime works was located at the western end of the Polden Hills, at Dunball. It used Blue Lias stone quarried at several locations in the village; and transported to the works on narrow gauge railways. This area of the Polden Hills was in use for quarrying of stone and lime burning from 1888 until 1973.[6] However, quarrying may have taken place on the hillside as early as the 15th century.[6]
Until just after World War II the village still had orchards; some grew apples and some grew pears. Puriton is mentioned in the Domesday Book as growing pears (1086 - Peritone 'a Pear Orchard or farmstead where Pear trees grow') and this is one possible reason for the village name. A German pilot was captured in one of the orchards after his airplane was shot down and he landed by parachute.[7] The orchards have now all gone, houses having been built on them. The last was Culverhay, which at one time had housed both a dairy and a cider press. One working farm is still in existence.
In 1941, a Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Bridgwater, an explosives production unit, was opened mid-way between Puriton and the adjacent village of Woolavington.[8] The factory lies mostly within the Puriton parish boundary, with a small portion in Woolavington parish. Several million gallons of water per day were extracted from the nearby artificial River Huntspill.[8] Now the extraction rate is probably very much lower; and most, if not all, of the water is returned after use, after clean-up through a reedbed sewage treatment plant. A large explosion occurred at the factory in the early 1950s, which resulted in a number of workers dying or being injured. Its current owners, BAE Systems Land and Armaments, closed it completely in Spring 2008.
The village's stone quarries began to go out of use during World War II. The cement and lime works, which was adjacent to both the King's Sedgemoor Drain and the Bristol and Exeter Railway line, became run-down by the early 1960s and was demolished when the M5 motorway was built through part of the site.[9] The church, and the boundary walls, in the old part of the village, are built out of Blue Lias blocks. Puriton Park was built over part of the site of an in-filled blue lias quarry, at the eastern end of the village.
The charity, the British Institute for Brain Injured Children, or BIBIC, is based in Puriton in a former 19th century house, Knowle Hall. The BIBIC opened its headquarters at Knowle Hall in 1983.
[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 Sedgemoor, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Bridgwater Rural District,[10] which 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] Transport links
The northern end of King's Sedgemoor Drain, where it discharges into the River Parrett, lies just outside the Puriton Parish boundary; it runs parallel, at this point, between the Polden Hills (to the east) and the M5 motorway (to the west). In Roman times the course of the River Parrett near Puriton was very much different from that of today. The river had an almost complete great loop which followed the southern flank of the Polden Hills, along the course of the present-day King's Sedgemoor Drain.[11] Roman ships were able to dock in the lee of the Polden Hills.
Until the mid-19th century, the main road from Exeter to Bristol, via Crandon Bridge, passed through the village in front (east) of the Puriton Inn and continued along what is now Pawlett Road / Puriton Road to Pawlett and beyond. The Exeter — Bristol road is now part of the A38; and the arrow-straight section of the A38 leading north from Bridgwater to Pawlett is a relatively new section of highway, being built in the 1820s.[12] It also bypassed Pawlett; the old road through Pawlett remains and is now known as the Old Main Road.
Puriton and the surrounding villages were served by a railway station at Dunball; opened in 1873 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway as '"Dunball station" and renamed Dunball Halt by the British Transport Commission in 1961.[13] The station closed in November 1964;[13] and has been completely removed, although the line remains open, with Bridgwater as the nearest station.
With the building of the 19th century section of the A38, the old main road from Crandon Bridge, through Puriton, to Pawlett was retained. The southern section from Crandon Bridge up the Polden Hill still forms part of the route of the current A39 link road to the M5 motorway. Part of the northern section of the road was realigned in 1973, when the M5 motorway was extended through Somerset; and it was diverted to the west of the Puriton Inn, to the new M5 motorway roundabout, at junction 23. Parts of the original route still exist as two sections of Puriton Hill and most of Puriton Road. Hall Road, Puriton, was built at the same time to link the A39 to Riverton Road, Puriton. The road-link between Riverton Road / Puriton Hill and Puriton Road / Downend Road was severed by the M5 motorway, being replaced by a pedestrian footbridge to the hamlet of Downend. Church Field Lane was also severed by the M5 motorway; it remains severed. A new section of road, a dual carriageway, was built between the M5 roundabout and a new roundabout on the A38 at Dunball. A link road was provided between it and Downend.
The village is located immediately east of Junction 23 of the M5 motorway, (Dunball is immediately to the west) and can be accessed directly from the A39. The A38, Bristol road, lies just over one mile away beyond the M5 roundabout.
[edit] Religious sites
The Anglican parish Church of St Michael and All Angels was constructed from local Blue Lias stone. It has an early 13th century tower, with the remainder of the building dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[14]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Puriton |
- The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey: Down End, by Miranda Richardson
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b "Parish Population Statistics for Sedgemoor". ONS Census 2001. Somerset County Council. http://www.webcitation.org/5lRyCSu4c. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
- ^ Hollingrake, Charles and Nancy (1996). A Desk Top Survey on Land Proposed for Roadside Services on the A39 Puriton Hill, Puriton, Bridgwater. Glastonbury: Charles and Nancy Hollingrake (Report No. 78), on behalf of Lyndon Brett Partnership, page 11.
- ^ Gathercole, Clare. "An archaeological assessment of Down End" (PDF). Somerset Extensive Urban Survey. Somerset County Council. p. 5. http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_DownEndText.pdf. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ^ "Motte with two baileys immediately east of Bristol Road, Down End". English Heritage. http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1019291. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ^ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ^ a b Dunning, Victoria History, Volume VI, p.183.
- ^ Brown (1999). P. 179.
- ^ a b Williams (1970), pp 238-239.
- ^ "Metal Manufacture". Industrial Somerset. Somerset County Council. http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/cultureheritage/heritage/info/periodsummaries/industrialsomerset/industrialsomersetpage2.cfm. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
- ^ A Vision of Britain Through Time : Bridgwater Rural District
- ^ Short, Boldero & Luckman (1980).
- ^ Lawrence (2005), P.142.
- ^ a b Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 84. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
- ^ "Church of St Michael and All Angels". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=269495. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
[edit] Sources
- Brown, Donald (1999). Somerset V Hitler: Secret Operations in the Mendips 1939-1945. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-590-0.
- Dunning, R.W. (1992). History of the County of Somerset, Volume VI, Andersfield, Cannington, and North Petherton Hundreds (Bridgwater and Neighbouring Parishes). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-722780-5.
- Dunning, R.W. (2004). History of the County of Somerset, Volume VIII, The Poldens and the Levels. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 1-90-435633-8. Link to online copy.
- Lawrence J.F. (2005) (revised and completed by Lawrence, J.C.). A History of Bridgwater. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN 1-86077-363-X.
- Short, Audrey, Boldero, Joy and Luckman, Ian (1980). Puriton Patchwork: Parish of Puriton through the ages. Puriton: published privately.
- Williams, Michael (1970). The Draining of the Somerset Levels. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-07486-X.
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