Berrow, Somerset

Last updated

Berrow
Berrow church.jpg
St Mary's church
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Berrow
Location within Somerset
Population1,534  [1]
OS grid reference ST295525
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BURNHAM-ON-SEA
Postcode district TA8
Dialling code 01278
Police Avon and Somerset
Fire Devon and Somerset
Ambulance South Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Somerset
51°16′01″N3°00′43″W / 51.267°N 3.012°W / 51.267; -3.012

Berrow is a small residential coastal village and holiday area, a civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in between Burnham-on-Sea and Brean.

Contents

According to the 2011 census it had a population of 1,534. [1]

History

Berrow was part of the hundred of Brent-cum-Wrington. [2]

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.

For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the village comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of Sedgemoor, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Axbridge Rural District. [3]

An electoral ward of the same name exists. Although Berrow is the most populous area the ward stretches north along the coast to Brean. The total population of this ward taken from the 2011 census was 2,169. [4]

It is also part of the a 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. It was part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament prior to Britain leaving the European Union in January 2020, which elected seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Church

The Church of St Mary dates from the 13th century and was restored in the 19th. The tower contains a bell dating from 1801 and made by Thomas and James Bilbie of the Bilbie family. [5] It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building. [6]

Beach and dunes

The wreck of the barque Nornen in 2006 Berrow Wreck June 2006.jpg
The wreck of the barque Nornen in 2006

Berrow beach was awarded the Blue flag rural beach award in 2005. The beach is home to the shipwreck of the Norwegian barque Nornen, which ran aground on 3 March 1897. [7] The ship was built in 1876 as the Maipu in Bordeaux, before being sold to S. C. Larson in Norway and renamed. She ran aground in a storm and most of the structure was removed for scrap. [8] In July 2003, Sedgemoor District Council threatened to remove the wreck from the beach fearing it could be held liable if any jet-skiers were to hit the wreck while submerged at high tide. [9]

Berrow Dunes, west of the village, has a golf course, and is a noted site for various unusual plants, including a strong colony of lizard orchids. A 200 hectare (494 acre) area was designated in 1952 as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. [10]

Berrow Marsh, contained within the dunes between the village and the beach, is a mixture of reedbed and salt marsh. Birds found here include many wetland species such as reed and sedge warbler and in winter occasional jack snipe amongst large numbers of common snipe.

Notable people

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedgemoor</span> Former non-metropolitan district in England

Sedgemoor is a low-lying area of land in Somerset, England. It lies close to sea level south of the Polden Hills, historically largely marsh. The eastern part is known as King's Sedgemoor, and the western part West Sedgemoor. Sedgemoor is part of the area now known as the Somerset Levels and Moors. Historically the area was known as the site of the Battle of Sedgemoor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axbridge</span> Human settlement in England

Axbridge is a town in Somerset, England, on the River Axe, near the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. Its population according to the 2011 census was 2,057.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnham-on-Sea</span> Town in Somerset, England

Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston-super-Mare (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918 onwards

Weston-super-Mare is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Dan Aldridge from the Labour Party since 2024. Before then it was held since 2005 by John Penrose, a Conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–2024

Wells was a constituency in Somerset in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Apart from between 2010–2015, Wells was represented by members of the Conservative Party since 1924.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrington</span> Village in the Mendips of Somerset, England

Wrington is a village and a civil and ecclesiastical parish on the north slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England. Both include nearby Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river, about 9 miles (14 km) east of Weston-super-Mare and 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Yatton. Its population of 2,633 at the 2011 Census was estimated in 2019 to be 2,759.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badgworth</span> Human settlement in England

Badgworth is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) south west of Axbridge. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 525.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bleadon</span> Human settlement in England

Bleadon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Weston-super-Mare and, according to the 2021 census, has a population of 1,149.

Axbridge was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974. It was named after the town of Axbridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Knoll (village)</span> Human settlement in England

Brent Knoll, formerly known as South Brent, is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, which lies on the southern edge of Brent Knoll – a hill with a height of 137 metres (450 ft) that dominates the low surrounding landscape of the Somerset Levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burrington, Somerset</span> Human settlement in England

Burrington is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated in the unitary authority of North Somerset, 5 miles (8.0 km) north east of Axbridge and about 10 miles (16 km) east of Weston-super-Mare. The parish includes the hamlets of Bourne and Rickford and has a population of 464.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weare, Somerset</span> Human settlement in England

Weare is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Axe, south of the Mendip Hills. Other settlements in the parish are the village of Lower Weare, the hamlets of Alston Sutton, Brinscombe, and Sparrow Hill, and part of the hamlet of Stone Allerton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapel Allerton, Somerset</span> Human settlement in England

Chapel Allerton is a village and civil parish, south of Cheddar in the English county of Somerset. The parish includes the hamlets of Ashton and Stone Allerton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Brent</span> Human settlement in England

East Brent is a village and civil parish, on the eastern edge of a hill that dominates the surrounding level countryside—Brent Knoll—close to the M5 motorway, 5 miles (8 km) west of Axbridge, in the county of Somerset, in the south-west of England. The parish includes the hamlets of Rooksbridge, where the A38 road crosses the Mark Yeo and Edingworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bilbie family</span>

The Bilbie family were bell founders and clockmakers based initially in Chew Stoke, Somerset and later at Cullompton, Devon in south-west England from the late 17th century to the early 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lympsham</span> Human settlement in England

Lympsham is a village and civil parish six miles west of Axbridge and six miles south-east of Weston-super-Mare, close to the River Axe in Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Wick where Wick Farmhouse dates from the mid 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brean</span> Village and civil parish in Somerset, England

Brean is a village and civil parish between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, England. The name is derived from "Bryn"; Brythonic and Modern Welsh for a hill and it has a population of 635.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnham Without</span>

Burnham Without is a civil parish in the main located to the east of Burnham-on-Sea and to the north and northeast of Highbridge in Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Berrow</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Church of St Mary in Berrow, Somerset, England dates from the 13th century and was restored in the 19th. It has been designated as a grade I listed building.

The Hundred of Brent-cum-Wrington is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was responsible for the maintenance of the frankpledge system. They also formed a unit for the collection of taxes. The role of the hundred court was described in the Dooms (laws) of King Edgar. The name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place.

References

  1. 1 2 "Statistics for Wards, LSOAs and Parishes — SUMMARY Profiles" (Excel). Somerset Intelligence. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Militia in the Brent-cum-Wrington Hundred". Wrington Somerset. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "Axbridge RD". A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "ward population 2011" . Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Moore, James; Rice, Roy; Hucker, Ernest (1995). Bilbie and the Chew Valley clock makers. The authors. ISBN   0-9526702-0-8.
  6. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1262961)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  7. ↑ "The Berrow Ship Wreck". Burnham-on-Sea website. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
  8. ↑ Head, Viv (2017). Sailing Ships of the Bristol Channel. Amberley. pp. 27–28. ISBN   978-1445664002.
  9. ↑ "Shipwreck could stay on beach". BBC News . 8 October 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
  10. ↑ "Berrow Dunes" . Retrieved 22 October 2021.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Berrow, Somerset at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.