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	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	North Somerset
List of places UK England Somerset

Coordinates: 51°21′42″N 2°45′38″W / 51.3617°N 2.7606°W / 51.3617; -2.7606

Wrington is a village and both a civil and an ecclesiastical 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 has a population of 2,633.^[1] Both parishes include 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]

Wrington cottage Hospital

Wrington cottage hospital opened in 1864 and had 24 patients admitted in its first year of operation.^[4] The first surgeon was Horace Swete who wrote the Habdy Book of Cottage Hositals.^[5] It was also referred to by Florence Nightingale in 1869.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8] Before 1974 the parish was part of the Axbridge Rural District.^[9]

An electoral ward exists with the same name. The ward includes Butcombe in addition to the area covered by the parish. The total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 2,851.^[10]

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

The old rectory with the church in the background

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.^[11] According to Freeman it is "one of the "highest achievements of architectural genius".^[12] Wickham it dates from the period 1420 to 1450.^[13] 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.^[14]

The 17th century rectory is Grade II listed.^[15]

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.^[16][17]

Primary school

Wrington Primary School

The village primary school was opened on 1 May 1857 ^[18] and is Grade II listed.^[19]

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,^[20] 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.^[21]

Notable residents

In birth order:

• Samuel Crooke (1575–1649), noted preacher and supporter of the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War, was vicar of Wrington for almost 50 years.^[22]
• Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset (c. 1585/6–1645), politician and courtier.^[23]
• Francis Roberts (1607–1675), Puritan, librarian, scholar, and rector of Wrington from 1650 until his death.^[24]
• John Locke (1632–1704), philosopher, was born in Wrington.^[25]
• John Rogers (1679–1729), controversialist and cleric, rector of Wrington.^[26]
• Samuel Wathen (c. 1720–1787), physician to Charlotte, wife of George III, died in Wrington.^[27]"
• Henry Walton Smith (1738–1792), bookseller and newsagent, founder of the business that became W. H. Smith, was brought up in Wrington.^[28]
• Hannah More (1745–1833), who worked to improve the conditions of miners and agricultural workers on the Mendip Hills, 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. She is buried at All Saints' church.^[29] The More family tomb is a Grade II listed building.^[30]
• Samuel Budgett (1794–1851), wholesale grocer, Wesleyan Methodist, philanthropist, and subject of a bestselling biography, was born in Wrington.^[31]
• William Talbot Aveline (1822–1903), geologist and archaeologist, was brought up in Wrington.^[32]
• George Howell (5 October 1833 – 16 September 1911), a prominent British trade unionist and reform campaigner in the 19th century, was born in Wrington.^[33]
• Dame Mary Wills (c. 1861–1931) resided at Wrington.^[34] She was knighted for her philanthropy.
• Walford Davies (1869–1941), composer, Master of the King's Musick, died at Wrington.^[35]
• John Pilkington Hudson (1910–2007), the horticultural scientist and bomb disposal expert, retired to the Spinney, Ladywell, Wrington, where he and his wife created a notable garden.^[36]

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wrington.

• Wrington C of E Primary School
• Wrington village website
• Wrington at DMOZ