Evercreech is a village and civil parish south east of

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is based t ...

, and north east of

Castle Cary Castle Cary () is a market town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, north west of Wincanton and south of Shepton Mallet, at the foot of Lodge Hill and on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett. History The word Cary derives fr ...

, in the

Mendip Mendip may refer to: *Mendip District, a local government district of Somerset, England * Mendip Hills, a group of hills in Somerset, England ** Mendip Way, a footpath across the Mendip Hills **Mendip TV Mast, a transmitter in the Mendips area *For ...

district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Stoney Stratton and the village of Chesterblade.

History

The village was recorded as Evrecriz in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Small Down Knoll Small Down Knoll, or Small Down Camp, is a Bronze Age hill fort near Evercreech in Somerset, England. The hill is on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, and rises to 222 m (728 ft). Finds of flints indicate a prehistoric Mesolit ...

(or Small Down Camp) is a Bronze Age hill fort above the village which rises to . The parish was part of the hundred of

Wells Forum The Hundred of Wells Forum is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from the Anglo-Saxon era before the Norman conquest. Each hundred had a ''fyrd'' which acted as the local defence force, and a ...

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, 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

, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, having previously been part of

Shepton Mallet Rural District Shepton Mallet was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974. It was created in 1894, under the Local Government Act 1894. In 1974 it was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 when it became part of the Mendip dist ...

. The district council is responsible for local planning and

building control Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, ligh ...

, local roads,

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

, environmental health, markets and fairs,

refuse collection Waste collection is a part of the process of waste management. It is the transfer of solid waste from the point of use and disposal to the point of treatment or landfill. Waste collection also includes the curbside collection of recyclable m ...

and recycling,

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

and

crematoria Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

, leisure services, parks, and tourism.

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...

is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education,

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, libraries, main roads, public transport,

policing The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning. The village falls in 'Creech'

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

. The area and population of this ward are stated above. It is also part of the Somerton & Frome 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 was part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament prior to

Britain leaving the European Union Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EA ...

in January 2020. This constituency elected seven

MEPs A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Landmarks

There are two pubs in the village: ''The Bell Inn'' and the ''Pickled Inn'' (formerly ''The Shapway Inn''). ''The Pecking Mill'' is within a very short distance to the south. Historically, one of the local pubs, ''The Brewers Arms'', celebrated New Year's Eve with fireworks, but on New Years Day 2005 it announced that it had closed forever. Rumours were rife around the reasons for the closure (most likely due to the non-profitability of such a local enterprise) - popularly noting that the real estate value of the site was extremely high. Cutterne Mill is an old watermill. which is now being used for electricity generation as part of the

South Somerset Hydropower Group The South Somerset Hydropower Group (SSHG) is a group of 10 owners of former watermills in the South Somerset area of England who are installing micro-hydro turbines for electricity generation. The Group was founded as a result of an initiative b ...

The

market cross A market cross, or in Scots, a mercat cross, is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. History Market crosse ...

dates from the 15th century. It stands on four steps and a high shaft. In the 19th century the cruciform head was restored. It is a Grade II* listed building and has been scheduled as an ancient monument.

Industry

Historic industries in Evercreech include quarrying of blue lias and clay; brick making; milk processing; and agriculture, which remains the leading industry today. From the late 18th century until just after World War I, silk processing was an important industry for Evercreech, a spillover from mills at nearby Bruton and Sherborne. The workforce for the village's three silk factories was made up almost entirely of young women and girls, some of whom started working as young as seven or eight years of age. Fulfilling orders from London, two of the factories were throwing mills which produced high quality spun silk thread. The third mill wove silk thread into cloth. Bales of raw silk were imported to the mills from France, Italy, and India by London merchants. Employment in the mills was erratic, driven by highly volatile demand for English woven silk. This volatility was caused by embargoes on imported woven silk, duty taxes, and then the lifting of import restrictions in 1860.

Transport

Evercreech Junction Evercreech Junction was a railway station at Evercreech on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. Originally opened in 1862 as "Evercreech" on the original S&D line from Burnham-on-Sea to Broadstone, it became in 1874 the junction for the north ...

was a railway station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. It was replaced by

Evercreech New railway station Evercreech New, originally called "Evercreech Village", was a railway station at Evercreech on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line ...

from 1874 to 1966, when it closed. Nowadays, the nearest railway stations to Evercreech are in Bruton and

Religious sites

The

Church of St Peter The Church of Saint Peter (Aramaic: ''Knisset Mar Semaan Kefa'', Turkish: ''Senpiyer Kilisesi'', St. Peter's Cave Church, Cave-Church of St. Peter) near Antakya (Antioch), Turkey, is composed of a cave carved into the mountainside on Mount Sta ...

dates from the 14th century and is a Grade I listed building. The three-stage tower has set-back buttresses ascending to pinnacles, with a very tall transomed two-light bell-chamber with windows on each face The embattled parapet has quatrefoil piercing, with big corner pinnacles and smaller intermediate pinnacles. The four-light west window has extensively restored tracery. This tower is of the East Mendip type. On the north wall of the tower is a roll of honour to victims of World War I. It is within a rectangular wooden case with a glazed door crowned by a triangular pediment and plaque below. The church's clock is unusual in that it is missing the 10th hour number, usually shown as the Roman numeral 'X'. The Roman numeral at the 10th hour position is XI (11) and it is followed by the Roman numeral for twelve (XII). Thus the numbers of the last quarter read IX (9) - XI (11) - XII (12) - XII (12). Local rumour suggests that the person who paid for the clock to be made, was instructed by his wife that he had to be home from the pub by 10 o'clock. Therefore, he ensured that the 10 o'clock numeral (X) was missing. The sounds of the bells at Evercreech church were used in the opening credits of BBC's Songs of Praise for many years. There were many complaints. At Chesterblade the tiny Church of St Mary dates from the 12th century.

References

External links

Evercreech village website
{{Authority control Villages in Mendip District Civil parishes in Somerset