Wrington
| Wrington | |
 Wrington High Street |
|
  Wrington Wrington shown within Somerset | |
| Population | 2,633 [1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | ST470628 |
| Unitary authority | North Somerset |
| Ceremonial county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRISTOL |
| Postcode district | BS40 |
| Dialling code | 01934 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | North Somerset |
Wrington is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England. It lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river about 9 miles (14 km) east of Weston-super-Mare and 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Yatton. It is both a civil parish, with a population of 2,633,[1] and an ecclesiastical parish. Both parishes contain the nearby village of Redhill.
History
The village dates back to Roman times and there is strong evidence of Saxon occupation.[2]
Wrington was part of the hundred of Brent-cum-Wrington.[3]
Governance
The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.
The parish falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. It is also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, Trading Standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service.
North Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Woodspring district of the county of Avon.[4] Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Axbridge Rural District.[5]
The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the Woodspring county constituency which is to become North Somerset at next general election. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is also part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
Church
The church of All Saints has 13th-century foundations, and was remodelled with the addition of a west tower around 1450; it was restored in 1859 with further restoration to the tower in 1948. It includes stone busts to John Locke and Hannah More dating from the early 19th century on either side of the door. The chancel has Gothic reredos by Charles Barry dating from 1832. The rood screen is from the 16th century. It has a tall four-stage tower with set-back buttresses which develop into crocketted pinnacles at the top stage. The top displays moulded string courses and a trefoil pierced triangular parapet with gargoyles and corner pinnacles. It is Grade I listed.[6] According to Freeman it is "one of the "highest achievements of architectural genius".[7] Wickham it dates from the period 1420 to 1450.[8] The belfry stair is in the south-east turret. The height of the tower is 113.5 feet (35 m) to the top of the pinnacles.[9]
The 17th century rectory is Grade II listed.[10]
The church's bells ring automatically. Until 2012, this took place every 15 minutes, including throughout the night. However, following the serving of a noise abatement order, the church has now had to reduce the frequency, and the bells now chime hourly during the night instead.[11][12]
Primary school
The village primary school dates from the late 19th century and is Grade II listed.[13]
Butcombe Brewery
A major institution in the local economy is the Butcombe Brewery, a microbrewery set up in the nearby village of Butcombe in 1978 by Simon Whitmore, the managing director of Courage Western, made redundant in a restructuring, and his wife Maureen. In 2003 the business was sold to Guy Newell and Paul Horsley, and moved to an industrial estate at Wrington,[14] to be housed in a purpose-built brewery completed in March 2005; in the same year the brewery set up a joint venture with Thatcher's, the Long Ashton Cider Company, producing a keg cider. In 2008 production was 24,000 barrels a year and direct outlet numbers were about 450.[15]
Notable residents
- Samuel Crooke, noted preacher and strong supporter of the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War, was vicar of Wrington for almost 50 years.[16]
- John Locke, British philosopher, was born in Wrington.[17]
- George Howell (5 October 1833 – 16 September 1911) who was a prominent British trade unionist and reform campaigner in the 19th century was born in Wrington.[18]
- John Pilkington Hudson, the horticultural scientist and bomb disposal expert, retired to the Spinney, Ladywell, Wrington, where he and his wife created a notable garden.[19]
- Hannah More, who worked to improve the conditions of miners and agricultural workers on the Mendip Hills. In 1785 she bought a house, in the hamlet of Paradise, near Cowslip Green, where she lived with her sister, Martha, until 1828. She spent the last five years of her life in Clifton, and died on 7 September 1833. She is buried at All Saints' church.[20] The More family tomb is a Grade II listed building.[21]
- Dame Mary Wills resided at Wrington.[22] She was knighted for her philanthropy.
Football Club
Wrington Redhill AFC play at the recreation ground in Wrington. The club operate a 1st team and a reserve team. The 1st team play in the Erra Somerset County League in Division 1. The reserve team play in Weston super Mare and District League Division 3. Club badge is a gold rampant Dragon(wyvern)the same as the emblem on the unofficial Flag of Somerset. Club colours are yellow and black.
Wrington Cricket Club
Wrington currently has 2 senior teams. The 1st XI, is currently in the North Somerset Cricket League Saturday Division 1. The 2nd XI, is in Saturday Division 3. The club's limited overs team also finished as runners-up in the league's Butcombe Brewery KO Cup. The club also has a youth system, running teams in the North Somerset Youth Cricket Leagues at Under 17, 15, 13 and 11 levels. The clubs facilities have been improved in the last few years, and alongside an improved pitch, the club now has 2 nets, used for training sessions for all ages and levels.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "2011 Census Profile" (Excel). North Somerset Council. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ↑ "Roman Wrington". Wrington Website. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
- ↑ "Militia in the Brent-cum-Wrington Hundred". Wrington Somerset. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ↑ "The Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995". HMSO. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
- ↑ "Axbridge RD". A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ↑ "Church of All Saints". Images of England. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
- ↑ Brereton, R. P (1904). "Somerset Church Towers". The Archaeological Journal (Somersetshire Archaeological Society at Gillingham). lxii. 60 collotypes prepared for a planned monograph are in the British Museum, Add. MSS. 37260-3, were published by the Society.
- ↑ Wickham, Archdale Kenneth (1965). Churches of Somerset. London: David & Charles.
- ↑ "Description of the church". All Saints Wrington. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
- ↑ "The Old Rectory". Images of England. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
- ↑ Wrington All Saints Church clock silenced in noise row, BBC News, 25 April 2012
- ↑ Somerset church bell to ring again after agreement reached, BBC News, 2 December 2012
- ↑ "Wrington Primary School". Images of England. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
- ↑ "Timeline". Butcombe Brewery. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
- ↑ Pints West, No. 79. Autumn 2008, Campaign for Real Ale, Bristol, p. 12
- ↑ Hunt, William Samuel Crooke Dictionary of National Biography 1885–1900 Vol. 13 p.205
- ↑ "John Locke". Encyclopedia of Philosophy. UC San Diego. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ↑ "Howell, George (1833–1910) politician and writer". Bisopsgate Institute. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ↑ ODNB entry Retrieved 24 July 2011. Subscription required.
- ↑ Toulson, Shirley (1984). The Mendip Hills: A Threatened Landscape. London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-03453-X.
- ↑ "More Family Monument in churchyard". Images of England. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
- ↑ "Henry Herbert Wills". The Thompsons, Shipbuilders of Sunderland. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wrington. |