Bruton

Coordinates: 51°06′48″N 2°27′10″W / 51.113411°N 2.452801°W / 51.113411; -2.452801
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This article is about the town in Somerset, England. For other uses, see Bruton (disambiguation).
"Plox" redirects here. For the slang word, see Please.

Bruton
Avon and Somerset
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UK
England
Somerset
51°06′48″N 2°27′10″W / 51.113411°N 2.452801°W / 51.113411; -2.452801

Bruton (

Jurassic era
onwards.

It includes a table used by the author John Steinbeck on a six-month stay. The Brue is flood-prone – in 1768 it wrecked a stone bridge. The 242.8 mm of rain that fell on 28 June 1917 left a river watermark on a pub wall 20 feet above the mean.[4][5][6] In 1984 a protective dam was built upstream.[7]

History

The

Church of St Mary, Bruton was founded by Ine of Wessex in the 7th century,[8]

Bruton was listed in the

watermills and in 2003 the South Somerset Hydropower Group installed their first hydroelectric turbine at Gants Mill at nearby Pitcombe.[10][11]

Bruton branch of the Berkeley family converted it into a mansion, which was demolished in the late 18th century.[12]

The

listed building,[13] and an ancient monument,[14][15] and is managed by the National Trust. The building was once within the deerpark of the Abbey. It was adapted by the monks from a gabled Tudor tower.[16] The conversion to a dovecote took place around 1780.[17] It has over 200 pigeonholes.[18]

Bruton was part of the

Bruton.[19]

Bruton is referenced in a folk song, The Bramble Briar. A rare copy of an inspeximus of Magna Carta was found in Bruton in the 1950s and claimed by King's School. The sale of the copy to the Australian National Museum paid for much building work at the school.[citation needed]

Much of the town's history appears in the Bruton Museum's Dovecote Building in the High Street. It includes a tourist information office.[20] Bruton Museum Society, formed in 1989, involves the community and local schools in developing the collection of local artefacts. It moved in 1999 to its current location, which was jointly purchased by South Somerset District Council and Bruton Town Council.[21][22] The museum also marks the time spent in the town by John Steinbeck. It has organised exhibitions at King's School, including one in 2008 on the work of Ernst Blensdorf.[23] In 2010, an anonymous donor agreed to pay the rent on the building, removing earlier doubts about its viability.[24]

In 2014, Hauser & Wirth opened a gallery and arts centre at a derelict farm outside Bruton.[25][26]

Governance

The first tier of local government is the

neighbourhood watch
groups on matters of crime, security and traffic. It initiates projects for maintaining and repairing parish facilities, and consults with the district council on 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 covered.

For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the village comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of South Somerset, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Wincanton Rural District.[28]

For elections to

county constituency
.

Transport

Heart of Wessex line, served by Great Western Railway services between Bristol Temple Meads and Weymouth
.

In December 2015, South West Trains introduced a service between London Waterloo, Salisbury and Yeovil Pen Mill, giving Bruton its first direct London service for some years.

Bus services are operated by South West Coaches.

Geography

Work to build the railway at

ammonites in the Subcontractus and Morrisi zones.[29]

The nearby

limestones, of the Middle Jurassic age, laid down in a warm shallow sea some 175 million years ago. The site is unique in that the limestones seen are more closely comparable with rocks of similar age found in the Cotswolds than with rock sequences elsewhere in Somerset. However, the rocks contain the rich assemblage of ammonites typical of the north Dorset/south Somerset area. This feature, along with the unusual limestone sequence, makes the site unique. It is also important as a reference for three sub-divisions (zones) of the Inferior Oolite – the laeviscula, discites and concavum zones.[30]

Churches

St Mary's Church, Bruton

Both the 14th-century

listed buildings
.

John Wesley preached in Bruton in 1776. A Methodist chapel at West End was opened in 1848.[33] The congregation was served by the Somerset Mission Circuit and more recently by the Somerset Mendip Circuit.[34]

Schools

Bruton is known for two long-standing secondary schools: King's School (founded 1519) and Sexey's School (founded 1889). Both have a sixth form, and a tradition of boarding.

One of Bruton's notable historic characters was

King James I. After his death, his trustees established Sexey's Hospital in Bruton as an institution to care for the elderly. Sexey's trust was mainly involved with educational causes. The politician behind the Education Act 1902, Henry Hobhouse (1854–1937), was involved in the founding of Sexey's School as well as Sunny Hill school (later Bruton School for Girls
, open from 1901 to 2022).

Notable residents

References

  1. ^ a b "Statistics for Wards, LSOAs and Parishes — SUMMARY Profiles" (Excel). Somerset Intelligence. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. ^ "BrutonTown.com: What's on in Bruton and the surrounding villages". Bruton Town. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Bruton - South Somerset". Visit Somerset. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  4. ISBN 978-81-7764-547-7
    .
  5. ^ "The Boscastle storm of August 2004 and other heavy rainfall events of the last century in the area". wiseweather.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  6. ^ Simons, Paul (27 June 2007). "June's freak downpours have historical precedent". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  7. ^ Clark, Colin (2004). "Real-time flood forecasting". International Water Power and Dam Construction website. Progressive Media Markets Ltd. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  8. ^ "Welcome". St Mary's Bruton. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  9. ISBN 1-874336-03-2
    .
  10. ISBN 1-904882-01-3
    , published June 2005, accessed 11 June 2007.
  11. ^ Case Study – Gants Mill Archived 12 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine, British Hydropower Association, published 2004, accessed 11 June 2007.
  12. ISBN 0-946159-94-7
    .
  13. ^ Historic England. "Dovecote about 370 metres South of Bruton Church (1056424)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  14. ^ "Dovecote, about 370 metres South of Bruton Church (also known as Pigeon Tower), Park Wall (North side), Bruton". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  15. ^ "Bruton Abbey". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  16. ISBN 9781907892486
    .
  17. ^ "Tower, S of the church, Bruton". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  18. ^ "Bruton Dovecote". Somerset Routes. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  19. ^ "Bruton Hundred". A History of Britain. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  20. ^ "Bruton Museum". South Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  21. ^ "Revenue Grant Requests – Bruton Museum and Wincanton Museum and History Society" (PDF). South Somerset Council. Retrieved 9 November 2010.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Museum". Bruton Town. Archived from the original on 17 March 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  23. ^ "BRUTON MUSEUM AT KINGS SCHOOL Blensdorf Retrospective". Galleries UK. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  24. ^ "Anonymous donor ends museum's woes". Somerset Guardian. 16 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  25. ^ Brown, Mark (16 December 2012). "Hauser & Wirth to open new art gallery in Somerset". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  26. ^ "Doors open at Hauser & Wirth Somerset". Country Calling. 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  27. ^ "About the Town Council". Bruton Town Council. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  28. ^ "Wincanton RD". A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  29. ^ English Nature citation sheet for the site Archived 10 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine; accessed 7 August 2006.
  30. ^ English Nature citation sheet for the site Archived 13 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine; accessed 10 August 2006.
  31. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1056408)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
  32. ^ Historic England. "Church of the Holy Trinity (1366339)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
  33. ^ "British history online". Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  34. ^ Churches. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  35. ^ a b c d e Neate, Rupert (10 July 2020). "'This isn't really Somerset': how the rich took over Bruton". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  36. ^ "Knowing me, Knowing you: Sarah Beeny and Graham Swift". The Independent. London. 15 November 2011.

External links

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