Nether Stowey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nether Stowey | |
  Nether Stowey shown within Somerset |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| District | Sedgemoor |
| Shire county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRIDGWATER |
| Postcode district | TA5 |
| Dialling code | 01278 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Bridgwater |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Nether Stowey is a small village in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills (England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), just below Over Stowey. The parish of Nether Stowey covers approximately 4 km², with a population of 1430 (1998).[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] History
The iron age fort of Dowsborough lies about one and a half miles west of the village. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Stawei. The name coming from the Old English stan weg, or paved road.[1]
Stowey Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, built in the 11th century. The blue lias rubble walling is the only visible structural remains of the castle which stand on a conical earthwork with a ditch approximately 250 metres (820 ft) in circumference.[2] The castle was destroyed in the 15th century, which may have been as a penalty for the local Lord Audley's involvement in the Second Cornish Uprising of 1497 led by Perkin Warbeck.[3]
Nether Stowey may have been a borough by 1157–1158 and certainly was by 1225. The economy of the medieval town was based on textiles and pottery, and it had both a weekly market and a yearly fair after 1304.[1]
[edit] Church
The Church of St Mary the Virgin has a 15th century tower, with the remainder of the church being rebuilt in 1851 by Richard Carver and Charles Edmund Giles. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.[4]
[edit] Stowey Court
Stowey court may contain part of Lord Audley's original house which was left unfinished after his execution in 1497 until his descendents rebuilt the half finished dwelling.[5] Most of the current building is 19th and 20th century.[6]
[edit] Coleridge Cottage
Coleridge Cottage was, between 1797 and 1799, the home of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in poetry (along with William Wordsworth, who himself lived three miles away). It was here he wrote the poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan.
The Coleridge Way celebrates his walks in the area.
[edit] Clock Tower
The Clock Tower in St Mary street was built in 1897.[7]
[edit] Current facilities
In the last 50 years, the building of Hinkley Point A nuclear power station, a nuclear power station, nearby has produced small growth, including the building of a second new (last 20 years) housing development.
Local amenities include three pubs ( The Ancient Mariner, The George Inn and The Rose and Crown), a doctor's surgery, a volunteer fire station, local shops and a primary school. There is also a tourist information centre in the library, which is built on the site of the old primary school.
[edit] Notable residents
The village is the birthplace of jesuit priest Robert Parsons.
The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived in the village between 1979 and 1799, as noted above.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Nether Stowey by Clare Gathercole. The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ Remains of Keep to Stowey Castle. Images of England. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ Nether Stowey. Quantock Online. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ Church of St Mary the Virgin. Images of England. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ Waite, Vincent (1964). Portrait of the Quantocks. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 0709111584.
- ^ Stowey Court. Images of England. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ Clock Tower. Images of England. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
