Chilton Polden

Last updated

Chilton Polden
Chilton Priory.jpg
Chilton Priory
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Chilton Polden
Location within Somerset
Population698 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference ST374396
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
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
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Somerset
51°09′11″N2°53′46″W / 51.153°N 2.896°W / 51.153; -2.896 Coordinates: 51°09′11″N2°53′46″W / 51.153°N 2.896°W / 51.153; -2.896

Chilton Polden is a rural village and civil parish, situated close to Edington on the Somerset Levels to the north of the Polden Hills in Somerset, England.

Contents

History

The name of the village is thought to derive from its position on limestone and from the hill on which part of the parish lies. The form Chelton upon Poledowne is found in 1664. [2] The Polden estate was given to Glastonbury Abbey by Æthelheard of Wessex in 729.

Chilton Priory (also known as Stradling's Folly) was originally built as a folly, and subsequently enlarged to become a country house. The tower and wing at the rear were built in 1838, for William Stradling. [3] Stradling also incorporated various pieces of buildings and archaeological relics from around the county, especially materials from a Roman Villa at Chedzoy. The upper windows, battlements and grotesque heads came from a demolished castle at Enmore and the pinnacles from an old church tower at Langport. The staircase turret came from a church in Shepton Mallet and three of the windows in the nave from a chapel at Slapeland. [4] The Priory has more recently been home to Katherine Maltwood who was an artist and became known as the discoverer of the Glastonbury Zodiac (otherwise known as the Temple of the Stars), an enormous geomantic creation surrounding the Tor at Glastonbury. The Temple was another folly tower, built by Stradling in the early 19th incorporating re-used 15th features. [5]

The village gives its name to the ambling piano piece The Way to Polden (Op. 76) [6] by British composer York Bowen. [7] [8]

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 Bridgwater Rural District. [9]

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 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.

Geography

Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors SSSI is a 1,083-hectare (2,680-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest consisting of land south of the River Brue managed by Somerset Wildlife Trust and is known for the variety of the bird life. The site consists of low-lying land south of the River Brue, which floods on a regular basis; land north is included in the Tealham and Tadham Moors SSSI. The site is managed by Somerset Wildlife Trust and includes the Catcott Lows National Nature Reserve, of grassland in the summer, but flood during the winter, creating a perfect habitat for wintering waterfowl and Bewick's swans, [10] Roe deer and several invertebrate species of scientific interest also inhabit the area, [11] [12] Catcott Heath [13] and Catcott North. [14]

Religious sites

St Edwards' church Church of St Edward, Chilton Polden (geograph 4908119).jpg
St Edwards' church

The Anglican parish church of St Edward has 15th-century origins and was rebuilt in 1889 by Henry Edwards. [15] The Parish Room in the churchyard dates from the 14th century. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Parrett</span> River in Dorset and Somerset, England

The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea, into the Bridgwater Bay nature reserve on the Bristol Channel, the Parrett and its tributaries drain an area of 660 square miles (1,700 km2) – about 50 per cent of Somerset's land area, with a population of 300,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street, Somerset</span> Village in Somerset, England

Street is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, with a population of 11,805 in 2011. On a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, it is two miles southwest of Glastonbury. There is evidence of Roman occupation. Much of the history of the village is dominated by Glastonbury Abbey, and a 12th-century causeway from Glastonbury built to transport local Blue Lias stone to it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Huntspill</span> River in Somerset, England

The River Huntspill is an artificial river, in the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It was built in 1940 to supply process water to ROF Bridgwater, and has resulted in reduced flooding of the lower Brue Valley. Huntspill Sluice at the river's western end, also known as West Huntspill Sluice, separates it from the River Parrett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polden Hills</span>

Polden Hills in Somerset, England are a long, low ridge, extending for 10 miles (16 km), and separated from the Mendip Hills, to which they are nearly parallel, by a marshy tract, known as the Somerset Levels. They are now bisected at their western end by the M5 motorway and a railway, the Bristol and Exeter Railway, part of the Great Western Main Line.

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

Shapwick is a village on the Polden Hills overlooking the Somerset Moors, in Somerset, England. It is situated to the west of Glastonbury.

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

Edington is a rural village, situated on the north side of the Polden Hills in Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Brue</span> River in Somerset, England

The River Brue originates in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, England, and reaches the sea some 50 kilometres (31 mi) west at Burnham-on-Sea. It originally took a different route from Glastonbury to the sea, but this was changed by Glastonbury Abbey in the twelfth century. The river provides an important drainage route for water from a low-lying area which is prone to flooding which man has tried to manage through rhynes, canals, artificial rivers and sluices for centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors</span>

Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors SSSI is a 1083 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, England notified in 1967. It is close to the villages of Edington and Catcott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntspill</span> Village in Somerset, England

Huntspill is a village on the Huntspill Level in Somerset, England. It lies on the A38 road, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Highbridge. The village is the principal settlement in the civil parish of West Huntspill. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 1102.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westhay Moor</span> Site of Special Scientific Interest

Westhay Moor is a 513.7-hectare (1,269-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north-east of Westhay village and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Wedmore in Somerset, England, notified in 1971. Westhay Moor is also notified as part of the Somerset Levels and Moors Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive and as a Ramsar site, and a National Nature Reserve.

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

Burtle is a village and civil parish on the Somerset Levels in Somerset, England.

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

Catcott is a rural village and civil parish, situated close to Edington 7 miles (11.3 km) to the east of Bridgwater on the Somerset Levels to the north of the Polden Hills in Somerset, England.

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

Cossington is a village and civil parish close to Woolavington and 5 miles (8 km) north of Bridgwater, in Somerset, England. The village lies on the north side of the Polden Hills.

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

Moorlinch is a village and civil parish where the Polden Hills meet the Somerset Levels in Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grade I listed buildings in Somerset</span> Buildings of exceptional interest in Somerset

The Grade I listed buildings in Somerset, England, demonstrate the history and diversity of its architecture. The ceremonial county of Somerset consists of a non-metropolitan county, administered by Somerset County Council, which is divided into five districts, and two unitary authorities. The districts of Somerset are West Somerset, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, Mendip and Sedgemoor. The two administratively independent unitary authorities, which were established on 1 April 1996 following the breakup of the county of Avon, are North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. These unitary authorities include areas that were once part of Somerset before the creation of Avon in 1974.

Bridgwater was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974.

The Somerset Victoria County History is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Somerset in England, forming part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria. With ten volumes published in the series A History of the County of Somerset, the Somerset VCH is among the most substantial of the Victoria County Histories.

The Avalon Marshes Partnership is a group of conservation organisations working together in the Somerset Levels. The members are Natural England,, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Somerset Wildlife Trust the Hawk and Owl Trust, Historic England, South West Heritage Trust and the Environment Agency. Between 2012 and 2016 the scheme was supported by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1,772,500 with additional investment of £920,080 from other sources. The Avalon Marshes Centre, run by Natural England, is near the Shapwick Heath reserve. The network of reserves and private land managed for conservation in the Avalon marshes means that wetland management can be carried out on a landscape scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilton Priory</span> Folly tower and mansion in Somerset, England

Chilton Priory (ST373389) is a Grade 2 listed folly, later extended to become a country house prominently located on Polden Hill, overlooking Bath Road, close to Chilton Polden, Parish of Polden Wheel, Somerset. The tower was erected in 1838 for William Stradling, deputy lieutenant of Somerset and a descendent of the local Stradling family who date back to the fourteenth century. The building commands extensive views over Somerset, including Glastonbury Tor. The first Ordnance Survey of 1886 records the tower and pleasure ground as 'Chilton Priory (Museum)'.

References

  1. ↑ "Statistics for Wards, LSOAs and Parishes — SUMMARY Profiles" (Excel). Somerset Intelligence. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Chilton Polden". British History Online. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Chilton Priory (1173090)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  4. ↑ Holt, Jonathan. Somerset Follies. Bath: Akeman Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN   978-0-9546138-7-7.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "The Temple (1060166)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  6. ↑ The Way to Polden, op. 76 "An Ambling Tune", played by York Bowen, APR6007, originally recorded in 1925
  7. ↑ "The way to Polden : an ambling tune, op. 76. [music]". nla.gov.au. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "The Way to Polden 'An ambling tune', Op 76". hyperion-records.co.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Bridgwater RD". A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "Catcott Lows". Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 3 December 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. ↑ English Nature citation sheet for the site Archived 10 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 6 August 2006.
  12. ↑ Brown, Alan. "Catcott Lows NNR". Avalon Marshes Reserve Guides. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
  13. ↑ "Catcott Heath". Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 18 October 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ "Catcott North". Somerset Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 18 October 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  15. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Edward (1060126)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  16. ↑ Historic England. "Parish Room in the churchyard (1344697)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 December 2008.
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.