Baltonsborough
Baltonsborough | |
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Avon and Somerset | |
Fire | Devon and Somerset |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Baltonsborough Parish Council |
Baltonsborough is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 864 at the 2011 Census.[1] As well as Baltonsborough village, the parish contains the hamlets of Ham Street, Catsham and Southwood.
History
The parish was part of the
The first clue as to the origins of Baltonsborough lies in the name. The village stands on a slight rise beyond what would have been a sea of water between it and Glastonbury. The highest point, now known as Windmill Hill, would have been the site of the settlement, ringed round with ditches and palisades. One authority gives the possible translation of Baltonsborough as Bealdhas Hill, another as Baldurs Stockade. Legend has it that men of Baltonsborough joined King Arthur in his wars against the Saxons in the 6th century, although the earliest written evidence is from a deed dated 744AD, in which ten hides of land in Baltunesberghe was given to the Abbot of Glastonbury. Other variations of the name include Baltenesbergh (c1250) and Balsborowe (1536), The abbreviated Balsbury appears at intervals in later records, mostly of a more casual nature. In 1989 there was an attempt to adopt this, mostly in order to shorten the length of the village nameplates, a movement which attracted the attention of the national press but very little enthusiasm from the villagers.
Baltonsborough is a sprawling village with five small centres, the main part nestling around the Church, an early 15th-century
Not far from the Church along the Mill Stream is the site of the old tannery, also used later as a cider mill, a waste paper reclamation works and now a modern housing estate. Next door is the old water grist mill, converted to a private house in the late 1960s, and the ancient Gatehouse, a fine 14th-century stone-built house, named after a family of linen weavers. On Ham Street a commercial business was built on the legendary site of the birthplace of
Governance
The
For local government purposes, the village falls within the Somerset Council unitary authority area, which was created on 1 April 2023. From 1894 to 31 March 1974, the village was part of Wells Rural District,[3] and from 1 April 1974 to 31 March 2023, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of Mendip.
It is also part of the
Landmarks
Church
Baltonsborough's
Notable residents
- St Dunstan, born in Baltonsborough in 909, eventually became Archbishop of Canterbury and an important monastic reformer of the Anglo-Saxonperiod. Legends attached to Dunstan portray him nailing a horseshoe onto the devil, earning him a place as a patron saint of blacksmiths in the Roman Catholic pantheon.
- Thomas Austin, held responsible for introducing Rabbits in Australia, was born in Baltonsborough
- Robert Jacob, Canadian politician
- Nicolas Cage, American film actor
- Edward Noel Mellish, VC Medal winner WW1
References
- ^ a b "Baltonsborough Parish". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Wells RD". A Vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ Historic England. "The Gatehouse (1345035)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- ISBN 0-300-09644-5.
6. History of Baltonsborough https://www.baltonsboroughpc.com/history---lclapp