Kingston Seymour

Last updated

Kingston Seymour
The Triangle Kingston Seymour.jpg
The Triangle
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Kingston Seymour
Location within Somerset
Population388 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference ST402670
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CLEVEDON
Postcode district BS21
Dialling code 01934
Police Avon and Somerset
Fire Avon
Ambulance South Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Somerset
51°23′53″N2°51′40″W / 51.398°N 2.861°W / 51.398; -2.861

Kingston Seymour is a small village and civil parish with royal status in Somerset, England. It is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset, between Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare on the North Somerset Levels. The parish has a population of 388. [1]

Contents

History

The late medieval village cross stands on "The Triangle". [2]

The parish was part of the hundred of Chewton. [3]

The village suffered serious flooding in the Bristol Channel floods of 1607 when the sea walls were breached and the church in Kingston Seymour was said to have 5 feet (2 m) of water in it for ten days. [4] The parish, which extends to the Severn Estuary coast, saw flooding on a regular basis as late as the 1800s. After flooding, the land was considered unsuitable for dairy cattle for some time and the resulting bad air was said to cause "attacks of the ague" in local people. [5]

Kingston Seymour school opened its doors in 1858. Closing in 1968, the building was then used as an office for the local drainage board and later as a spinning and weaving centre. It has now been converted into a private house. [6]

The village used to be on the route of the Clevedon branch line a 3.5 miles (5.6 km) railway line that ran from Yatton railway station to Clevedon. It was opened in 1847 and passenger services ceased in 1966. The last original bits of track, around Kingston Bridge, were lifted in the late 1980s.

A motorway service area for the adjacent M5 motorway was planned to be built near the village, although there is no evidence on the ground of this. Land was purchased by the department for the Environment but plans were shelved in the 1990s, with the Department for Transport announced that the existing service areas would be suitable and that there was no need to develop another one at Kingston Seymour. The land was still owned by the Highways Agency as recently as 2006.[ citation needed ]

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, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, 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 of interest to the council.

The parish falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. It is also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the South Western Ambulance Service.

North Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Woodspring district of the county of Avon. [7] Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Long Ashton Rural District. [8]

The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the Wells and Mendip Hills constituency. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Geography

The village is close to Blake's Pools a nature reserve owned by Environment Agency and leased by the Avon Wildlife Trust, on the banks of the Congresbury Yeo close to its mouth. The three freshwater and brackish pools were dug between 1983 and 1987 to attract wildlife. It forms part of the Severn Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Area and Ramsar site. [9]

Religious sites

Plaque, in All Saints Church, recording the flood of 1606-07 Kingston Seamore Church Flood Plaque.jpg
Plaque, in All Saints Church, recording the flood of 1606–07

The Anglican parish Church of All Saints dates from the late 14th or early 15th century and is in the Perpendicular Gothic style. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. [10] The porch contains a plaque which describes the Bristol Channel floods which affected this area of coastal Somerset in 1607. During that event the floodwaters rose over the top of the church's pews and filled the font. The plaque records the date as occurring in 1606 using the old style dating system in use at the time however the flood occurred during 1607 on the current (new style) dating system.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avon (county)</span> Former non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in England

Avon was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in the west of England that existed between 1974 and 1996. The county was named after the River Avon, which flows through the area. It was formed from the county boroughs of Bristol and Bath, together with parts of the administrative counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Somerset</span> District in England

North Somerset is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The council is based in Weston-super-Mare, the area's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead, along with a number of villages and surrounding rural areas. Some southern parts of the district fall within the Mendip Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

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

Clevedon is a seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, England. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 in 2019. It lies along the Severn Estuary, among small hills that include Church Hill, Wain's Hill, Dial Hill, Strawberry Hill, Castle Hill, Hangstone Hill and Court Hill, a Site of Special Scientific Interest with overlaid Pleistocene deposits. It features in the Domesday Book of 1086. Clevedon grew in the Victorian period as a seaside resort.

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

Portishead is a town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary authority area, in the county of Somerset, England. With a population of 26,366 at the 2021 Census, the town is located on the Severn Estuary opposite Cardiff and Newport in Wales. The town is 8 miles (13 km) to the west of Bristol and 18 miles northeast of Weston-super-Mare.

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

Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Claverham, a small village which was originally a farming hamlet.

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

Backwell is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset and in 2011 had a population of 4,589. The village lies about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Bristol, south of the A370 to Weston-super-Mare. The parish includes the hamlets of Backwell Common, Backwell Green, and Backwell Farleigh, and the districts of Backwell West Town and Downside.

<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">Easton in Gordano</span> Village in Somerset, England

Easton in Gordano is a village in Somerset, England, about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) northwest of Bristol city centre. It is part of the civil parish of Pill and Easton-in-Gordano and within the unitary authority of North Somerset. In 2011 the population of the parish was 4,828.

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

Winscombe is a large village in the North Somerset unitary district of Somerset, South West England, close to the settlements of Axbridge and Cheddar, on the western edge of the Mendip Hills, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Weston-super-Mare and 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Bristol. The Parish of Winscombe and Sandford, centred on the Parish Church of Church of St James the Great, includes the villages/hamlets of Barton, Hale, Oakridge, Nye, Sidcot and Woodborough.

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

Clapton in Gordano is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset on the southern side of the Gordano Valley, immediately adjacent to the M5 motorway. The parish has a population of 348. There is a village football club, Clapton in Gordano FC. They currently run two sides with a view to continue progressing throughout the leagues. Their home ground is currently Clapton Lane, Portishead.

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

Weston in Gordano is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated in the middle of the Gordano valley on the north side, and in the Unitary Authority of North Somerset, on the road between Clevedon and Portishead. The parish has a population of 301.

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

Walton in Gordano is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England. It is situated in a small valley at the side of the south-western end of the Gordano Valley, about a mile from Clevedon. The parish has a population of 273.

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

Kewstoke is a civil parish and village in Somerset, England, within the unitary authority of North Somerset, located next to the strip of coast called Sand Bay. Its population in the 2011 census was 1,690.

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

Brockley is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish is within the unitary authority of North Somerset, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Nailsea, and includes the village of Chelvey. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 277.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Somerset Levels</span>

The North Somerset Levels is a coastal plain, an expanse of low-lying flat ground, which occupies an area between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol in North Somerset, England. The River Banwell, River Kenn, River Yeo and Land Yeo are the three principal rivers draining the area.

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

The River Yeo is a river which flows through North Somerset, England.

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

Kenn is a small village and civil parish in the county of Somerset, England. It falls within the area of the North Somerset unitary authority. It lies on the B3133 road near Clevedon in the North Somerset Levels. The parish has a population of 431.

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

Hutton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish, which has a population of 2,582, is within the unitary authority of North Somerset and located on the western edge of the Mendip Hills, close to Weston-super-Mare.

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

Loxton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to the M5 motorway in the unitary authority of North Somerset. The parish includes the village of Christon and has a population of 214.

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

Cleeve is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset, 9 miles (14 km) south west of Bristol and has a population of 902.

References

  1. 1 2 "2011 Census Profile". North Somerset Council. Archived from the original (Excel) on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Village Cross". historicengland.org.uk. English Heritage. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  3. ↑ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Havinden, Michael (1982). The Somerset Landscape. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 159. ISBN   0-340-20116-9.
  5. ↑ Rutter, John (1829). Delineations of the North Western Division of the County of Somerset. author ... London: Longman, Rees, and Company and J. and A. Arch, Cornhill. pp.  64. kingston seymour.
  6. ↑ Pudner, Marion; Sue Thomas (2008). Kingston Seymour School: The Root of Village Life 1858-1968. J.R. Marketing. ISBN   978-0-9540430-2-5.
  7. ↑ "The Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995". HMSO. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  8. ↑ "Long Ashton RD". A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Blake's Pools". Reserves. Avon Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  10. ↑ "Church of All Saints". historicengland.org.uk. English Heritage. 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.