Crewkerne
| Crewkerne | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Bartholomew, Crewkerne | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST441093 |
| Location: | 50°52’49"N, 2°47’38"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 6,728 (2001) |
| Post town: | Crewkerne |
| Postcode: | TA18 |
| Dialling code: | 01460 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Somerset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Yeovil |
Crewkerne is a town in Somerset, in the very south of the county 9 miles southwest of Yeovil and 7 miles east of Chard, close to the border with Dorset. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Woolminstone and Henley. The town gives its name to the Crewkerne Hundred.
The town is on the River Parrett, the A30 trunk road and the West of England Main Line railway.
The earliest written record of Crewkerne is in the 899 will of Alfred the Great. After the Norman Conquest it was held by The King and in the Domesday Survey of 1086 was described as a royal manor. Crewkerne Castle was possibly a Norman motte castle. The town grew up in the late mediæval period around the textile industry, its wealth preserved in the fifteenth century Church of St Bartholomew. During the 18th and 19th centuries the main industry was cloth making, including webbing, and sails for the Royal Navy.
Local ecological sites include the Bincombe Beeches Local Nature Reserve and the Millwater biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. As with many a Somerset small town, it is a place of shop, national and local, and of some industry.
Geography
The town lies west of the River Parrett. The main residential areas are around the town centre with Kithill and Park View to the South and Wadham Park to the North.
In the northern outskirts of the town is the Bincombe Beeches encompassing 12 acres as a Local Nature Reserve.[1] which is managed by the town council and includes a line of beech trees, some of which are between 150 and 200 years old.[2]
The Millwater biological Site of Special Scientific Interest consists of a complex mosaic of pasture, wet grassland, tall-herb fen, standing and running water, Alder and Willow carr.[3]
The Monarch's Way a 615-miles long-distance footpath runs through the town. (The Monarch's Way approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester.[4])
Churches
Parish Church
St Bartholomew's Parish Church stands on high ground to the west of the town. The first Saxon church was founded before the end of the 9th century as a "minster", or main church of a Saxon royal estate that included an area which later became the parishes of Seaborough, Wayford and Misterton. This church was replaced after the Norman Conquest with a larger stone cruciform building, with a central tower. This was almost completely rebuilt and enlarged in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. This is, for the most part, the church building visible today. It is an excellent example of the Perpendicular style with many unusual and individual features. These include the west front, the nave, the six-light aisle windows and the Tudor-style chapels and windows in the north east corner. The building material is golden-coloured Ham Hill stone, quarried nearby. There is a notable pair of 'green man' carvings within the church.
No major alterations have been made since the Reformation in the 1530s and 1540s, but there have been many changes to the interior to accommodate various phases of Church of England worship. Among these are an oven used for baking communion bread in the south east corner of the north chapel.[5]
During the Civil War, considerable damage was done including the destruction of nearly all of the mediæval stained glass.
William of Orange, soon to be King William III, worshipped in the church following his landing in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.[5] By the early 19th century, all the mediæval furnishings, except the Norman font had disappeared. New pews were made and the west galleries were added in 1808-11. The latest restoration that has left the church interior visible today, took place in the late 19th century; it was more sympathetic to the church's architectural character than many Victorian restorations. At this time, the central section of the west gallery was removed to reveal the great west window and the organ was relocated to the south transept.
The pews date from around 1900 and have attractive carved bench-ends.
The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.[6]
Others
Crewkerne also contains one of very few Unitarian chapels left in the West Country, Crewkerne Unitarian Church, a tiny chapel tucked away on Hermitage Street.[7]
The Methodist church stands on South Street, and a Roman Catholic congregation worships here too.
History
The name Crewkerne is thought to be derived from Cruc ærn; from the British language cruc - a spur of a hill, and the Old English ærn - a cottage or barn. The town was known as Crocern, or Cruaern in the 899 will of Alfred the Great when he left it to his younger son Æthelweard, and by 1066 the manor was held by Edith Swanneck mistress of King Harold II.[8]
After the Norman Conquest the manor was held by The King and the church estate was given to the Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Caen, Normandy.[8] In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is described as a royal manor.[9]
In 1499, John de Combe, a precentor of Exeter Cathedral and former vicar of Crewkerne, founded Crewkerne Grammar School. The school survived until 1904.[10]
Crewkerne Castle was possibly a Norman motte castle on a mound to the north-west of the town, which is known as Castle Hill.[11] The town grew up in the late mediæval period around the textile industry,[12] its wealth preserved in its fifteenth century parish church. It later prospered as a coaching stop in the Georgian period.[12]
The Manor Farmhouse in Henley was built from hamstone in the early 17th century, but possibly incorporates mediæval fragments. The building is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[13] During the 18th and 19th centuries the main industry was cloth making, including webbing,[12] and sails for the Royal Navy.[5]
Economy
Crewkerne is a small market town centre with many cafes, shops and supermarkets. Crewkerne also has a wide selection of public houses. All of the large supermarkets are situated around the South Street multi-storey car park.
Ariel Motor Company is based in Crewkerne, and is one of the UK's smallest automobile companies, with just seven employees, producing fewer than 100 cars a year. It was founded in 1991 and changed its name from Solocrest Ltd in 2001. The company's flagship car is the Ariel Atom, an extremely light, high performance car.[14]
Culture
The Henhayes Centre provides conference facilities and has also featured exhibitions.[15]
Crewkerne and District Museum is part of a wider heritage centre which includes local archives and a meeting room.[16] The museum opened in 2000 in an old house with an 18th-century frontage. It was restored with the help of vast amounts of ratepayers' money. The development of Crewkerne during the 18th and 19th centuries, with particular emphasis on the flax and linen industry is illustrated with a permanent display.[17] Other collections relate to local archaeology, Coins and Medals, Costume and Textiles, Fine Art, Music, Personalities, Science and Technology, Social History, Weapons and War.[18]
Sport
- Cricket: Crewkerne Cricket Club
- Football:
- Crewkerne Town FC
- Crewkerne Rangers FC
- Sports centres:
- The Crewkerne Aqua Centre (swimming pool and fitness gym facilities)
- Crewkerne Sports Centre on the Wadham School campus
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Crewkerne) |
References
- ↑ "Bincombe Beeches". Natural England. http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?themeid=1009446. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ↑ "Bincombe Leaflet". Crewkerne Town Council. http://www.crewkernetown.org/files/982/bincombe1.pdf. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ↑ "Millwater". English Nature. http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000030.pdf. Retrieved 9 September 2006.
- ↑ "The Monarch's Way". The Quinton Oracle. 2005. http://www.qlhs.org.uk/oracle/monarchs-way/monarchs-way.htm. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Leete-Hodge, Lornie (1985). Curiosities of Somerset. Bodmin: Bossiney Books. p. 96. ISBN 0-906456-98-3.
- ↑ National Heritage List 11561684: Church of St Bartholomew
- ↑ "West Unitarians". Western Unitarians Congregations. http://www.westunitarians.org.uk/. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Richardson, Miranda. "Crewkerne". Somerset Extensive Urban Survey. Somerset County Council. http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_CrewkerneText.pdf. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ↑ Information on Crewkerne from GENUKI
- ↑ "Crewkerne Grammar School". The National Archives. Government of the United Kingdom. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=168-ddcgs&cid=-1#-1. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
- ↑ Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Dunning, Robert (1980). Somerset and Avon. Edinburgh: John Bartholomew and Son. p. 70. ISBN 0-7028-8380-8.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1175987: Henley Manor Farmhouse
- ↑ "Ariel Motor Co". Ariel Motor Co. http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/full_screen_v2.html. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ↑ "Henhayes Centre". Henhayes Centre. http://www.henhayes.org.uk/. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ↑ "Crewkerne Heritage Centre". Communigate. http://www.communigate.co.uk/twc/crewkerneheritagecentre/index.phtml. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
- ↑ "Crewkerne Heritage Centre". South Somerset Council. http://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/museums-and-heritage/our-museums. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
- ↑ "Crewkerne Museum". Culture 24. http://www.culture24.org.uk/sw000033. Retrieved 27 May 2010.