North Petherton

North Petherton is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks, and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels.
The town has a population of 5,189 ( estimate). The parish includes Woolmersdon.

Dating from at least the 10th century and an important settlement in Saxon times,
North Petherton became a town only in the late 20th century, until then claiming to be the largest village in England.

A former market and administrative centre, North Petherton is now largely a dormitory town for workers in Bridgwater, 3 miles (5 km) to the north east, and Taunton, 8 miles (13 km) to the south west. The centre of the town is designated an Area of High Archaeological Potential (AHAP), and a number of buildings have been given listed building status.

Toponymy

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, from the Latin Paradæ 'barge' and from the Old English nor tun.

History

The former Royal Forest (hunting ground) of North Petherton dated from long before the Norman Conquest until the 17th century, and was expanded by Henry II. 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. The Royal Forest was probably similar in area to the Saxon Hundred of North Petherton. 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.

According to the late 13th-century Hundred Rolls, King Henry II of England (d. 1189) gave William of Wrotham lands at North Petherton.

A minor skirmish of the English 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, an object about 2.5 inch long, made of filigree gold, cloisonné-enamelled and with a rock crystal covering, was found in 1693 at Petherton Park, North Petherton.
Believed to have been owned by Alfred the Great 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 "aestels" 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.

North Petherton was the first town in England (and one of the few ever) to be lit by acetylene gas lighting, supplied by the North Petherton Rosco Acetylene Company (dating from at least 1898), operating from a plant in Mill Lane which has since been demolished to form a car park for the local doctor's surgery. The adjacent church was the first building supplied, no doubt acting as a useful advert. Street lights were provided in 1906. Acetylene was replaced in 1931 by coal gas produced in Bridgwater, as well as by the provision of an electricity supply.
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 which has since been extended.

Governance

The Civil parish of North Petherton includes the villages of North Newton (on the route of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal) and Northmoor Green (also known as Moorland) in the Somerset Levels, as well as a number of other smaller settlements. Despite several reductions in size, with land redesignated to neighbouring parishes, North Petherton remains one of the largest parishes in Somerset at , and the largest in Sedgemoor.
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, 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 the responsibility of the council.

The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Sedgemoor, which was formed on April 1, 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Bridgwater Rural District, who are responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, the library, roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the South Western Ambulance Service.

It is also part of the Bridgwater and West Somerset county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, and 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.

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. 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 lead 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 676.3 hectare 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.

Along with the rest of South West England, North Petherton has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately and shows a seasonal and a diurnal variation, but due to the modifying effect of the sea the range is less than in most other parts of the UK. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between and . July and August are the warmest months in the region with mean daily maxima around .
The south-west of England has a favoured location with respect to the Azores high pressure when it extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer. Convective cloud often forms inland however, especially near hills, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. The average annual sunshine totals around 1,600 hours.
Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of the rain which falls in those seasons in the south-west is from this source. Average rainfall is around 31–35 inches (787–889 mm). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.

Trade and Industry

North Petherton used to be a market town, with the right to hold a market having been granted in 1318, along with the right to an annual fair.

In the past the town hosted a Starkey Knight and Ford brewery on Fore Street (demolished in the late 1960s), several maltings, a light engineering works (Trig Engineering, since moved to the Huntworth Business Park adjacent to the nearby Junction 24 of the M5 motorway), and in earlier times at least 7 watermills.
Basket making and the manufacture of associated products including wicker furniture, was also a significant industry, at one time employing over 100 people in small factories and homes, until its decline in the second half of the 20th century. The products were distributed nationally via the railway station at Bridgwater. Nearby King's Cliff formerly provided a source of building stone for the town dating from at least Medieval times. The production of cloth and leather goods also used to take place in the town, the former being commemorated in the name of the road known as Dyer's Green.

The extensive cider orchards that used to surround much of the town in the 19th century had largely disappeared by the end of the 20th, by which time local employment was largely restricted to service businesses and farming.

A new £100 m Regional Agricultural Business Centre, including an extensive Cattle Market and Dairy opened just beyond the outskirts of the town in 2007, following construction which began in 2006. This replaced the cattle markets in both Taunton and Bridgwater.

Education

North Petherton has two schools, North Petherton juniors and North Petherton infants, however they have been joined together to form one school, North Petherton Primary School. The overall head teacher is Louise Chamberlain, but there is a deputy head in both schools.

Religious sites

The town has the minster church of St Mary the Virgin, with a highly decorated tower which, at 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 by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.

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.

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 Friday, featuring most of the same participants.

The Walnut Tree (rebranded in the 1970s from the Clarence Hotel, and before that as the New Inn) which now provides the only hotel accommodation in the town, was formerly in competition with the George Hotel (now closed), where monthly petty sessions (court hearings) were formerly held.