Stoke-sub-Hamdon

Stoke-sub-Hamdon (or Stoke sub Hamdon) is a village and civil parish in South Somerset, situated 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Yeovil, England. The parish is located near the River Parrett, and includes the village of East Stoke.

History

The village stretches around Ham Hill which is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Iron Age hill fort, Roman site, and country park. The hill has given its name to the distinctive quarried hamstone which is quarried from a ridge of sandy limestone rock that is elevated above the lower lying clay vales and nearby Somerset Levels. It is of particular importance to geologists because of the assemblages of fossils which it contains, the sedimentary features which it displays and the way it relates to other rocks of equivalent age in the close vicinity. The Bronze Age and Iron Age hill fort was occupied by the Durotriges tribe. A Roman milestone was found at Venn Bridge in 1930: apparently it was made as an element in a colonnade and afterwards converted to a milestone inscribed with the name of the emperor Flavius Severus who ruled in 305-306 AD.

In the 10th century the estate passed to Glastonbury Abbey, but after the Norman Conquest was held by the Robert, Count of Mortain and granted to Robert FitzIvo. It then passed down through the Beauchamps of Hatch, becoming known as Stoke Beauchamp. It was acquired by the Duchy of Cornwall in 1443 and is still held by the Duchy. The parish of Stoke was part of the Tintinhull Hundred.

The village is the site of the 14th century Stoke sub Hamdon Priory which is a former priest's house of the chantry chapel of St Nicholas, which was destryoed after the dissolution of the monasteries. The priory has been owned by the National Trust since 1946, and designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.

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 South Somerset, which was formed on April 1, 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Yeovil Rural District. 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 Yeovil 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.

Religious sites

The church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, dates from the 12th century, and has a tower and five bells. It shows various medieval carving including abstract corbels, an astrological tympanum, and St Michael slaying the dragon. Two of the carvings are thought to be Sheela na Gigs.

Education

Secondary education for pupils between 11 and 18 is provided at Stanchester Community School, and Norton Sub Hamdon primary school for reception to year 6, and Castle Primary School in Stoke sub Hamdon itself, for reception to year 6.

Stoke St Michael

Stoke St Michael is a village and civil parish on the Mendip Hills 4 miles (6.4 km) north east of Shepton Mallet, and 8 miles (12.9 km) west of Frome, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England.

History

Since the 14th century the village has also been known as Stoke Lane, although the origin of the alternative name is unclear, but may be connected to John de Lison who gave lands in the village to Glastonbury Abbey in 1253. The parish of Stoke Lane was part of the Whitstone Hundred.
The village became a centre for cloth manufacture with fulling mills being established on the River Frome to the north of the village. Henry Fussell established paper mills in 1803, and his family, who came from the village, including James Fussell established their iron works and edge-tool business in Mells.
The Knatchbull Arms was built in the late 17th century, and is named after the Knatchbulls of Babington who held the manor in the late 18th century.
The manor house on Tower Hill, which was previously known as the old vicarage, was built around 1700.

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 Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Shepton Mallet Rural District, who are 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 are 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 seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Geography

Several significant caves of the Mendip Hills are close to the village including Stoke Lane Slocker, many falling within the St. Dunstan's Well Catchment and those at the disused Fairy Cave Quarry.
Moon's Hill Quarry is a basalt quarry.
Cook's Wood Quarry is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Geological Conservation Review Site. The main exposures are cut in very steeply-dipping Carboniferous Limestone. This was the original locality for the type section of the proposed ‘Cookswoodian Stage’. 9 species of Bat, Dormice and 4 species of Newts including the rare Great Crested Newt reside in Cooks Wood Quarry.
Edford Woods and Meadows is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, which is important for the occurrence of a wide range of types of semi-natural ancient woodland and for unimproved meadows and pastures of a type which is now uncommon in Britain.

Religious sites

The Church of St Michael has a western tower of c. 1400, the remainder being built in 1838 by Jesse Gane. It is a Grade II* listed building. The church was a chapelry of Doulting.

Stoke St Mary

Stoke St Mary is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 2 miles (3.2 km) south east of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district.

History

The earliest recorded mention of Stoke St Mary is in a Saxon charter dated 854 AD, when a West Saxon king gave the clearly defined lands at ‘Stoc’ to the minster church at Taunton.

The parish of Stoke St Mary was part of the Taunton Deane Hundred.

The church in Stoke St Mary was built in the 13th century and is a simple stone building with battlemented tower. It remains largely unchanged today and the tower is one of the few remaining 13th-century towers in the county. Agriculture has always been the main occupation in Stoke St Mary but in the 17th century the cloth industry became important in the village and limeburners were common, most working quarries on Stoke Hill. The parish of Stoke St Mary also became famous for its cider and although it is no longer produced in the village, Taunton remains well known for it. Over the last 20 years the village has changed dramatically with the decline of agriculture and it has become mostly a dormitory village. The village has also grown with the building of new houses, which continues.

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 Taunton Deane, which was formed on April 1, 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Taunton Rural District. The district council are 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 are 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 Taunton Deane 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.

Transport

Despite its rural setting, Stoke St Mary is very well-connected. It is about a mile from the A358 which heads east and only two miles from the M5. The nearest railway station is two miles away in Taunton, which is on the mainline between Exeter and Bristol and has a line going directly to Reading.

Politics

The village is part of the Taunton parliamentary constituency, for which Jeremy Browne (Liberal Democrats) has been MP since 2005.

Stoke St Gregory

Stoke St Gregory is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 7 miles (11.3 km) east of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The parish has a population of 920, and includes the hamlet of Stathe.

History

The parish of Stoke St Gregory was part of the North Curry Hundred. The manor was held, with North Curry, from 1190 by the dean and chapter of Wells Cathedral.

The village is home to the Willows and Wetlands visitor centre which offers tours of over 80 acres (0.12 sq mi) of withies, willow yards and basket workshops and explains the place of willow in the history of the Somerset Levels. A Withy boiler which was built in 1906 can still be seen at Lovell's Farm.

Slough Farmhouse, which was formerly known as Slough Court was built in the late medieval period as a fortified manor house.

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 Taunton Deane, which was formed on April 1, 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Taunton Rural District. 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 Taunton Deane 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.

Religious sites

The Church of St Gregory dates originally from the 14th century, although it has been renovated several times. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. There a set of 17th century stocks in the churchyard.

The Baptist Church which dates from 1895 includes stables at the rear.