North Petherton
| North Petherton | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Mary | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST290329 |
| Location: | 51°5’28"N, 3°-0’47"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 5,189 (2001) |
| Post town: | Bridgwater |
| Postcode: | TA6 |
| Dialling code: | 01278 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Sedgemoor |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Bridgwater & W. Somerset |
North Petherton is a small town in Somerset, on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks, and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels.[1]
The town had a population of 5,189 in 2001.
Dating from at least the 10th century and an important settlement in Anglo-Saxon times,[1] North Petherton became started calling itself a town only in the late 20th century.
A former market and administrative centre, North Petherton is now largely a dormitory town for workers in Bridgwater, 3 miles to the northeast, and Taunton, 8 miles to the southwest. The centre of the town is designated an Area of High Archaeological Potential, and a number of buildings have been given listed building status.
Contents
Name
The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Nortperet. The name derives from the area's location to the north side of the River Parrett.[2]
History
Long before the Norman Conquest, during Anglo-Saxon times North Petherton was at the centre of a large royal estate, located on one of the historic communication routes through Somerset, and was both an important centre and the meeting place for the North Petherton Hundred[1] although the Petherton limit tithing of North Petherton was in the Andersfield Hundred from the 1670s.[3]
At the time of the Norman invasion the Hundred covered a large area corresponding, today, roughly to a north–south corridor along the M5 motorway from Junction 25 near Taunton, to north of Junction 23 at Stretcholt, and east–west from Athelney to Goathurst. The Parish of North Petherton continues to be one of the largest in Somerset to this day.[1]
North Petherton Park
King Henry II expanded the royal estate into the Royal Forest (hunting ground) of North Petherton,[1] which continued to exist until the 17th century. Geoffrey Chaucer (~1343-1400), author of The Canterbury Tales was appointed Deputy Forester of the Royal Forest of North Petherton towards the end of his life.[4] The Royal Forest was probably similar in area to the Hundred of North Petherton.[5] According to the late 13th century Hundred Rolls, King Henry II of England (d. 1189) gave William of Wrotham lands at North Petherton.[6] Between 1513 and 1535 Sir William Courtenay (d.1535) of Powderham, Devon was the keeper of North Petherton Park.[7]
Other
The town itself it thought to have developed around the minster which, it is supposed, was on the same site as the current church.[1] There is archaeological evidence indicating that there were timber buildings to the west of the church in the late Saxon period, and it is suspected that the remains of the Saxon village may continue to lie beneath the town centre.[1] Excavations to the west of the church, on what is now the Community Centre site, revealed a 14th-century cemetery, which may have been used for victims of the plague, as well as indicting that the area was redeveloped in the late Middle Ages.[1] It is thought that there may have been a mint in the town during the 10th or 11th century, and a charter to hold a market was granted in 1318, although it is thought that the market predated this.[1] A shire hall, courthouse and guildhall are known to have exited and were probably located north of the church.[1]
A minor skirmish of the Civil War took place in August 1644 outside what was then the cornhill, now the area of Fore Street between the Community Centre and the former George Inn.
The Alfred Jewel, a mysterious object about 2.5 inches long, made of filigree gold, cloisonné-enamelled and with a rock crystal covering, was found in 1693 at Petherton Park, North Petherton.[8] Believed to have been owned by Alfred the Great[4] it is thought to have been the handle for a pointer that would have fit into the hole at its base and been used while reading a book. It is inscribed, "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN," ("Alfred had me made"). It may be one of the "æstels" Alfred had sent to each bishopric with a copy of his translation of Pope Gregory the Great's book Pastoral Care. A replica of the jewel can be found in the church of St Mary.
When the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal was opened in 1827 it joined the River Parrett by a lock at Huntworth, where a basin was constructed, but in 1841 the canal was extended to a floating harbour in Bridgwater, and the Huntworth link was filled in.[9] The canal and river were not re-connected at this point when the canal was restored, because the Parrett is by then a salt water river laden with silt, whereas the canal contains fresh water. Not only is there a risk of silt entering the canal,[10] but the salt water cannot be allowed to contaminate the fresh, as the canal is still used for the transport of drinking water for Bridgwater's population.[11] The Crossways Swing Bridge over the canal in the parish was built in 1827 by John Rennie. It is a wooden bridge which rotates on steel ball-bearings in a circular track. It is now the only bridge retaining its mechanism and is a very early example of the use of ball bearings in this way. It has been designated as a Grade II listed building.[12] The Higher and Lower Maunsel locks on the canal are either side of the Maunsel bridge which carries the A361.[13] The stone Coxhill road bridge dates from the same time.[14]
In 1906, North Petherton became the first town in Britain (and perhaps the only one)[1] to have street lights lit by piped acetylene gas, supplied by the North Petherton Gas and Carbide Company,[5] operating from a plant in Mill Lane. The plant was demolished towards the end of the 20th century to form a car park for the local doctor's surgery. Acetylene was replaced in 1931 by coal gas produced in Bridgwater, as well as by the provision of an electricity supply,[5] and the Gas and Carbide Company was wound up.[15] The North Petherton Rosco Acetylene Company (dating from at least 1898) may have supplied gas to the adjacent church prior to the Gas and Carbide Company.
In 1926 the Bridgwater Beam Wireless Station was opened north east of the town. It was the UK receiving station for Marconi's UK-to-Canada Beam Wireless Service, (part of the Imperial Wireless Chain,) the first transoceanic shortwave wireless telegraph service in the world and operated until 2002.
In 1984 North Petherton was provided with a small public library. As a result of a revitalised fund-raising campaign (originally begun decades earlier), this was followed a few years later by the construction of a Community Centre, opened in 1987, which was extended in 1991.[16]
Geography
North Petherton is situated on one of the historic communication routes through Somerset, and a turnpike through the town was opened between Bridgwater and Taunton in the 1730s.[17] The opening of the nearby M5 motorway in the 1970s which relieved major traffic jams on the A38 through the town, also added to the attraction of the town for commuters and has consequently led to the construction of several new housing estates. The town lies on the route of the Macmillan Way West long-distance footpath.
South east of the town near Lyng, on the opposite side of the M5 motorway but within the parish is North Moor, a 1,671 acres "biological Site of Special Scientific Interest". North Moor is a nationally important grazing marsh and ditch system on the Somerset Levels and Moors. A range of neutral grassland types supporting common and scarce plants has developed mainly due to variations in soils and management practices. Aquatic plant communities are exceptionally diverse with good populations of nationally scarce species. The site has special interest in its bird life.[18]
Churches
The town has the minster church of St Mary the Virgin, with a highly decorated tower which, at 120 feet high, is claimed to be one of the tallest towers in the West Country. The building is mainly dated from the 15th century, with a minstrel gallery from 1623, a peal of six bells, and a clock built in Bridgwater in 1807. It has been designated a Grade I listed building.[19]
The Church of St Peter has a tower which may be of Saxon origin which was altered in 1635. The rest of the church was completely rebuilt for Rev. Thomas Eaton in 1885. It is Grade II* listed.[20]
The Church of St Michael has Norman origins and has seen various restorations since. It was last restored and extended in 1868 for Slade family of Maunsel House.[21]
Culture
The annual North Petherton Carnival is part of the West Country Carnival circuit, and takes place in November, on the Saturday after the first Thursday in November. The date of the first Carnival at Bridgwater is the preceding Saturday, featuring most of the same participants.[22]
The Walnut Tree Hotel, (once the Duke of Clarence and before that the New Inn) now provides the only hotel accommodation in the town, though there used to be competition with the George Hotel (now closed), where the magistrates held their monthly petty sessions.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about North Petherton) |
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Gathercole, Clare. "North Petherton". The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey. Somerset County Council. http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_North_PethertonText.pdf. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ↑ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.
- ↑ North Petherton: Local government - A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 6: Andersfield, Cannington, and North Petherton Hundreds (Bridgwater and neighbouring parishes)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Local History". North Petherton. http://www.nthpetherton.co.uk/history.htm. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 R W Dunning, C R Elrington (Editors), A P Baggs, M C Siraut (1992). "North Petherton". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 6: Andersfield, Cannington, and North Petherton Hundreds (Bridgwater and neighbouring parishes). Institute of Historical Research. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18684. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ↑ Golding "Wrotham, William of (d. 1217/18)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ↑ "Bindoff, S.T. (Ed.)History of Parliament, House of Commons 1509-1558, 1982". http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/courtenay-sir-william-i-1485-1535.
- ↑ "Replicas of the Alfred Jewel". The Anglo Saxon Index, Trinity College, Cambridge. http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/sdk13/AlfJewel.html. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ↑ Charles Hadfield, (1967), The Canals of South West England, David and Charles, ISBN 0-7153-4176-6
- ↑ "Bridgwater & Taunton Canal". Moorings & Moor. http://www.mooringsandmoor.com/waterway/bridgwater-and-taunton-canal/. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- ↑ "Brdgwater Docks — photographic record". S G J Huddy. http://travel.trainsferriesbuses.co.uk/bwdocks.htm. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1398243: Crossways Swing Bridge
- ↑ National Heritage List 1060154: Higher Maunsell Lock No 4 and Higher Maunsell Bridge
- ↑ National Heritage List 1060153: Coxhill Bridge
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 33776, p. 7758, 1 December 1931.
- ↑ "History". North Petherton: North Petherton Community Centre. 2011. http://www.npcommunitycentre.org/history. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ↑ "Eighteenth-century Turnpike road, East Brent to Thurloxton". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=24587. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
- ↑ "SSSI citation sheet for North Moor". English Nature. http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1002395.pdf. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1058924: Church of St. Mary
- ↑ National Heritage List 1058917: Church of St Peter
- ↑ National Heritage List 1060173: Church of St Michael
- ↑ "North Petherton Carnival". North Petherton Carnival. http://www.northpethertoncarnival.co.uk/. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
