Baltonsborough

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Baltonsborough
Somerset
Baltonsborough church.jpg
Church of St Dunstan, Baltonsborough
Location
Grid reference: ST545345
Location: 51°6’28"N, 2°38’57"W
Data
Population: 864  (2011[1])
Post town: Glastonbury
Postcode: BA6
Local Government
Council: Mendip
Parliamentary
constituency:
Somerton and Frome

Baltonsborough is a village and parish in the hundred of Glaston Twelve Hides in Somerset.[2] According to the 2001 and 2011 census' it had a population of 864.[1] Apart from Baltonsborough village, the parish also contains the hamlets of Ham Street, Catsham and Southwood.

History

The ancient, and some would argue correct, name of the village is Ballsbury. In the 1980s there was some debate as to whether the village should rename itself Ballsbury in order to make the village name road signs shorter.

Landmarks

The Gatehouse is a thatched house dating from the 16th century.[3]

Church

Baltonsborough's Church of St Dunstan was built in the 15th century to honour the most famous son of the village. The church's simple Somerset tower is topped by an elaborate ironwork weather vane crafted by the local blacksmith in the 19th century.[4]

Festivals

Every year the Baltonsborough Flower Show takes place on the village playing fields. In 2015 comedian Russell Brand attended the Flower show while staying with his friend and local resident Stuart 'Stush' Bush.[5]

Notable residents

  • St Dunstan, born in Ballsbury in 909, eventually became Archbishop of Canterbury and an important monastic reformer of the Anglo-Saxon period. Legends attached to Dunstan portray him nailing a horseshoe onto the devil, earning him a place as a patron saint of blacksmiths in the Roman Catholic pantheon.
  • Robert Jacob, Canadian politician
  • Nicolas Cage, American film actor

References

Outside links

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("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Baltonsborough)