Otterhampton
| Otterhampton | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 All Saints Church, Otterhampton | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST246431 |
| Location: | 51°10’59"N, 3°4’48"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 831 (2011, with Combwich) |
| Post town: | Bridgwater |
| Postcode: | TA5 |
| Dialling code: | 01278 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Somerset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Bridgwater |
Otterhampton is a village in Somerset, found between Bridgwater and the Steart Peninsula. The ider civil parish includes the larger village of Combwich and the small village of Steart. It belongs to the county's Cannington Hundred.
History
The manor is recorded in the Domesday Book as Utramestone meaning 'Outermost farmstead' from the Old English yttramest tun.[1] An alternative derivation is from "Place of Ottrane", after a Saxon thane.[2]
The Steart peninsula has flooded many times during the last millennium. The most severe recent floods occurred in 1981. By 1997, a combination of coastal erosion and wave action had made some of the defences distinctly fragile and at risk from failure. As a result, in 2002 the Environment Agency produced the Stolford to Combwich Coastal Defence Strategy Study to examine options for the future.
Churches
The Church of St Peter was built in 1870 by J. Knowles for Susanna Lewes Jeffery. It is a Grade II listed building.[3]
All Saints church, dates from the 14th century, and is now a Grade II* listed building.[4] It overlooks the River Parrett. A church was established on the site in the 12th century, was valued at £5 in 1291,[5] although the current building largely dates from the 14th. The perpendicular west tower was added later and has an Elizabethan bell-frame with 4 bells, one of which dates from the 16th century and two others are dated 1617 and 1737.[4] The original dedication was to St Peter, however it was later renamed All Saints.[6]
The interior includes a Norman font with a Jacobean cover, a screen from the 16th century and 17th century communion rails.
All Saints is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[7]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Otterhampton) |
References
- ↑ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.
- ↑ Waite, Vincent (1964). Portrait of the Quantocks. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 0-7091-1158-4.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1237423: Church of St Peter (Grade II listing)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 National Heritage List 1344927: Church of All Saints (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ A History of the County of Somerset - Volume 6 pp 108-109: Otterhampton: Church (Victoria County History)
- ↑ "Historic Churches in Somerset". Britain Express. http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/somerset/churches/.
- ↑ "All Saints, Otterhampton". Churches Conservation Trust. http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/findachurch/all-saints-otterhampton/?region=Somerset&offset=1.