Stockland Bristol
| Stockland Bristol | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 St Mary Magdalene, Stockland Bristol | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST243436 |
| Location: | 51°11’13"N, 3°5’2"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 165 (2011) |
| Post town: | Bridgwater |
| Postcode: | TA5 |
| Dialling code: | 01278 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Somerset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Bridgwater |
Stockland Bristol (formerly Stockland Gaunts[1]) is a village in Somerset, sitting on the Bristol Channel coast of the county between Bridgwater and the Steart Peninsula. It is within the county's Cannington Hundred.
History
The village is recorded in the Domesday Book as Stocheland meaning 'stockade with land' from the Old English stoc land. The name Bristol was added later from its mediæval owner, the Corporation of Bristol.[2]
In the early 13th century the manor of Stockland was held by Maurice de Gaunt (d.1230), who left it in his will to St Mark's Hospital, Bristol, later known as Gaunts Hospital. In 1541 the manor was granted to Bristol Corporation, which held it until 1839.[3]
The village stands beside the River Parrett as it flows to the sea (this stretch of the river being known as the Combwich Reach). Here the final stretch of the west bank of the Parrett forms the Steart Peninsula, which floods frequently. By 1997, a combination of coastal erosion, sea level rise 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.
In the early part of Second World War Stockland Bristol was chosen by the Radio Security Service[4] (RSS) as the site for two wireless Direction Finding (D/F) stations known as Y-stations.[5] They were located in the fields alongside Steart Road. These installations would have been used to locate the source of enemy radio transmissions. They were demolished after 1945.
Church
The parish church is St Mary Magdalene.
The original church was demolished in 1865 with only the font and chancel screen preserved in the new church.[1]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Stockland Bristol) |
- A History of the County of Somerset - Volume 6 : pp125-126 (Victoria County History)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Waite, Vincent (1964). Portrait of the Quantocks. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 0-7091-1158-4.
- ↑ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.
- ↑ A History of the County of Somerset - Volume 6 pp 126-127: Stockland Bristol: Manor and other estates (Victoria County History)
- ↑ "Development of the Radio Security Service". WW2 UK Wireless Intercept Stations. http://ystations.webs.com/radiosecurityservice.htm.
- ↑ "Box 25". The RSS from 1939 to 1946. http://www.zamboodle.demon.co.uk/rss_old/box25his.pdf.