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Bruton

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For other uses, see Bruton (disambiguation).
Bruton
multiple buildings including a square church tower amongst fields and trees.
Bruton taken from the Dovecote
Population2,945 [1]
OS grid referenceST684350
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBruton
Postcode districtBA10
PoliceAvon and Somerset
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Somerset

Bruton is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Brue seven miles south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, ten miles north-west of Gillingham and twelve miles south-west of Frome in the South Somerset district. The town has a population of 2,945.[1] The parish includes the hamlet of Wyke Champflower.

Bruton is served by Bruton station on the Bristol to Weymouth railway line. Work to build the line at Bruton Railway Cutting exposed geology of the epoch of the Middle Jurassic. It is one of the best places in England to demonstrate the stratigraphic distinction of ammonites in the subcontractus zone and the morrisi zone.[2]

Bruton has a museum dedicated to the display of items from Bruton's past from the Jurassic geology right up to the present day. The museum also houses a table used by the author John Steinbeck to write on during his six-month stay in Bruton.

The River Brue has a long history of flooding in Bruton. In 1768 the river rose very rapidly and destroyed a stone bridge.[3] On the 28 June 1917, 242.8 mm of rain fell in 24 hours at Bruton,[4] leaving a water mark on one pub twenty feet above the normal level of the river.[5] In 1984 a protective dam was built 1 km upstream from the town.[6]

History

Bruton was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Briuuetone, meaning 'Vigorously flowing river' from the Old English tor and Celtic briw meaning vigour.[7] The river has been the site of several watermills and in 2003 the South Somerset Hydropower Group installed their first hydroelectric turbine at Gants Mill at nearby Pitcombe.[8][9]

It was the site of Bruton Abbey, a medieval Augustinian priory from which a wall remains in the Plox close to Bow Bridge. The priory was sold after the dissolution of the monasteries to the Berkley family and converted into a mansion which was demolished in the 18th century.[10]

Bruton is referenced in a well-known English folk song, Bruton Town. A very rare copy of an Inspeximus of Magna Carta was discovered in Bruton in the 1950s and claimed by King's School, Bruton. The sale of the school's copy to the Australian National Museum paid for a great deal of the building work at the school.

Much of the towns history is exhibited at the Bruton Museum. The museum is housed in the Dovecote Building, in the towns High Street. The building also contains a tourist information office.[11] The Bruton Museum Society was formed in 1989 and involved the community and local schools in the development of the collection of local artefacts. It was initially housed in the basement of the Co-Op and then in a disused Coach House owned by the National Westminster Bank. The museum moved to its current location in 1999 after it was jointly purchased by South Somerset District Council and Bruton Town Council.[12][13] The time spent in the town by John Steinbeck is commemorated in the museum. They have also organised exhibitions at King's School including one in 2008 of the work of Ernst Blensdorf.[14] In 2010 an anonymous donor agreed to pay the rent on the building, removing earlier doubts about the future viability of the museum.[15]

Governance

The town 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 town falls within the Non-metropolitan district of South Somerset, which was formed on April 1, 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Wincanton Rural District.[16] 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 Somerton and Frome 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 six MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Churches

Church of St Mary, Bruton

Both the 14th-century Church of St Mary,[17] and the Church of the Holy Trinity, in Wyke Champflower,[18] which is dated at 1623, are Grade I listed buildings.

John Wesley preached in Bruton in 1776 and a Methodist chapel at West End was opened in 1848.[19] The congregation is served by the Somerset Mission Circuit, expected to become part of the expanded Somerset Mendip Circuit in September 2009.

Schools

Bruton is known for its three popular secondary schools - King's School, Bruton (founded 1519); Sexey's School (founded 1889); and Bruton School for Girls (Sunny Hill) (founded 1900). Each school has a sixth form, and a tradition of boarding.

One of Bruton's notable historic characters was Hugh Sexey (1556–1619), who was born in the local area, and attended Bruton Grammar School. By the age of 43 he had been appointed as Royal auditor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I and later King James I. After his death the trustees of his will established Sexey's Hospital in Bruton as an institution to care for the elderly. Sexey's trust was mainly involved with educational causes. The politician behind the Education Act 1902, Henry Hobhouse, MP (1854–1937), was involved in the founding of Sexey's School and Sunny Hill.

References

  1. ^ a b "South Somerset population estimates for 2002". Somerset County Council. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  2. ^ English Nature citation sheet for the site (accessed 7 August 2006)
  3. ^ Singh, Vijay P. (December 15–18, 2003). Watershed Hydrology: Proceedings of the International Conference on Water and Environment. Bhopal, India: Allied Publishers. pp. 426, 485–488. ISBN 9788177645477.
  4. ^ "The Boscastle storm of August 2004 and other heavy rainfall events of the last century in the area". wiseweather.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  5. ^ Simons, Paul (June 27, 2007). "June's freak downpours have historical precedent". The Times. London. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  6. ^ Clark, Colin (2004). "Real-time flood forecasting". International Water Power and Dam Construction website. Progressive Media Markets Ltd. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  7. ^ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1874336032. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Mirage and oasis: Energy choices in an age of global warming, New Economics Foundation, ISBN 1 904882 01 3, published June 2005, accessed 2007-06-11
  9. ^ Case Study - Gants Mill, British Hydropower Association, published 2004, accessed (sic) 2007-06-11
  10. ^ Adkins, Lesley and Roy (1992). A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology. Wimborne, Dorset: Dovecote Press. ISBN 0946159947. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ "Bruton Museum". South Somerset Council. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  12. ^ "Revenue Grant Requests – Bruton Museum and Wincanton Museum and History Society" (PDF). South Somerset Council. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  13. ^ "Museum". Bruton Town. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  14. ^ "BRUTON MUSEUM AT KINGS SCHOOL Blensdorf Retrospective". Galleries UK. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  15. ^ "Anonymous donor ends museum's woes". Somerset Guardian. 2010-03-16. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  16. ^ A Vision of Britain Through Time : Wincanton Rural District
  17. ^ "Church of St Mary". Images of England. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  18. ^ "Church of the Holy Trinity". Images of England. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  19. ^ "British history online". Retrieved 2008-10-23.
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