Compton Pauncefoot is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England, situated beside the
A303 road
The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a p ...
, south west of
Wincanton
Wincanton ( or ) is a small town and electoral ward in South Somerset, southwest England. The town lies off the A303 road, a main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry. The town and electoral ward has a populati ...
in the
South Somerset
South Somerset is a local government district in Somerset, England.
The South Somerset district covers an area of ranging from the borders with Devon, Wiltshire and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximat ...
district. The parish had a population of 139 in 2011. The civil parish also includes the village with
Blackford Blackford might refer to:
People with the surname
*Charles Minor Blackford (1833–1903), an American lawyer
*Hosea Blackford, a fictional character in books by Harry Turtledove
*Ian Blackford, a Scottish politician
*Isaac Blackford (1786–1859), ...
(located one mile to the east) and therefore population is based on the two villages together. Blackford parish was merged with Compton Pauncefoot on 1 April 1933. The civil parish holds a
Parish Meeting
A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend.
In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...
twice a year and has no
Parish Council.
There are approximately 35 houses in the village of Compton Pauncefoot and a similar number in Blackford. Compton Pauncefoot is a designated
Conservation Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
. The civil parish is in the Blackmore Vale ward of South Somerset District Council and Somerset County Council.
History
The name of the village is believed to come from 'compton', or narrow valley, belonging to a
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
knight called Pauncefote ('Fat-bellied').
The parish was part of the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of
Catsash.
Baron Blackford, of Compton Pauncefoot in the County of Somerset, was a title in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the ...
. It was created in 1935 for the
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener
*William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect
*William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...
. He had already been created a Baronet, of Compton Pauncefoot in the County of Somerset, in the
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain.
Baronetage of England (1611–1705)
James I of E ...
in 1918. The titles became extinct in 1988 on the death of his great-grandson, the fourth Baron.
Geography
The stream through Compton Pauncefoot is a tributary of the
River Cam (Somerset)
The River Cam is a tributary of the River Yeo in the south of Somerset, England.
The Cam rises east of Yarlington (). It flows south west past North Cadbury, Sparkford, Queen Camel and West Camel, and joins the Yeo near Yeovilton ().
Othe ...
. It travels under the A303 to join the Yarlington headwaters. The River Cam flows onto the Royal Naval Station where it joins the
River Yeo and the Yeo in turn flows west to the south of
Yeovilton
Yeovilton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Yeovilton and District, in Somerset, England, east of Ilchester and north of Yeovil, in South Somerset district. The parish had a population of 1,226 in the 2011 census, est ...
and through the town of
Ilchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman town, and later a market town, Ilchester has a rich medieval history and was a notable ...
. The river course continues to the west and at
Langport
Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...
becomes the
River Parrett
The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to it ...
.
The stream has its headwaters in the hills around Blackford & Compton Pauncefoot together with a number of springs. The main waters come from 3 primary sources: 1. Maperton, 2. Quarry Hill, 3. Sigwells Hill. The first 2 combine in Blackford around the Crossroads/Hollow and further springs contribute at a number of points all the way through both villages. The A303 is nearby and during construction major drainage pipes were laid at intervals that bring significant quantities of water into the stream. This contributes to the rapid rise in the stream during rainfall.
The parish has no
parish council and has a
Parish Meeting
A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend.
In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...
which has limited responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover very limited permitted expenditure (basically minimal operating expenses and contribution to burial authority) and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish meeting helps evaluate local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and
neighbourhood watch
Neighbourhood Watch in the United Kingdom is the largest voluntary crime prevention movement covering England and Wales with upwards of 2.3 million household members. The charity brings neighbors together to create strong, friendly and active comm ...
groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish meeting's role also includes liaising with the district council over 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 matters that the parish meeting has a say on but no formal responsibility.
The village falls within the
Non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...
of
South Somerset
South Somerset is a local government district in Somerset, England.
The South Somerset district covers an area of ranging from the borders with Devon, Wiltshire and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximat ...
, 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
Wincanton Rural District
Wincanton 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 South Somerset.
The parishe ...
,
which 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 (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, lighting, ...
, 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
Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. In order to effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements that must be met in ...
,
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
s 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
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
,
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
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
.
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
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
,
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
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
, major roads (except trunk routes such as the
A303
The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a prim ...
which is the responsibility of the
Highways Agency
National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all fo ...
),
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
,
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 service
A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
s,
trading standards
Trading Standards are the local authority departments with the United Kingdom, formerly known as ''Weights and Measures'', that enforce consumer protection legislation.
Sometimes, the Trading Standards enforcement functions of a local authority a ...
,
waste disposal
Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal.
This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring ...
and strategic planning.
It is also part of the
Somerton and Frome, a
county constituency
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...
represented in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
. It elects one
Member of Parliament (MP)
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often ...
by the
first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
system of election, and was part of the
South West England constituency of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
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 (EAEC o ...
in January 2020, which 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
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...
of
party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...
.
Landmarks
![Comptonpauncefootmanorhouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Comptonpauncefootmanorhouse.jpg)
Compton Castle was built for John Hubert Hunt about 1825,
in a
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
style with large grounds, gatehouse, and lawns stretching down to a lake.
![Comptonpauncefootoldrectory](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Comptonpauncefootoldrectory.jpg)
It was sold in 1986 by the Showering family (of
Babycham
Babycham () is the trade name of a light (6% ABV), sparkling perry invented by Francis Showering, a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. The name was owned by Accolade Wines until December 2021 when it was bought back into the Showeri ...
fame).
It should not be confused with
Compton Castle
Compton Castle in the parish of Marldon in Devon, is a fortified manor house in the village of Compton (formerly "Compton Pole"), about west of Torquay on the southern coast of Devon, England (). The estate was home to the families of Compton ...
(a fortified manor house in the village of Compton, about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Torquay).
The Old Rectory has Georgian, additions to an earlier building. Recently this house and the church were used quite extensively in a serialised version of
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
's ''
Mansfield Park
''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...
''.
The mainly 18th-century Manor House includes parts which date back to the 15th century.
The Crescent is a quarter circle of cottages built in about 1815 for farm workers, and originally known as Waterloo Crescent.
Religious sites
The church dates from the 15th century and is built of
hamstone
Hamstone is the name given to a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material w ...
. In 1485 Sir Walter Pauncefoot left money for the building of the church and for a
chantry
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:
# a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or
# a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...
at Compton Pauncefoot, where a priest could pray daily for his soul and for those of his immediate family. He also left several yards of differently coloured silks to be made into vestments. Until 1864 the church comprised a
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
with south aisle and porch, and a tower at the west. The inner arches of the tower carried a spire of graceful proportions. The north aisle was added in 1864, and at the same time the two stone coffins (now in the churchyard by the yew tree) were removed.
The interior of the church can be viewe
herean
here The
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design.
In mod ...
is 13th-century and is perfectly plain. There is a
mass dial
A tide dial, also known as a Mass or scratch dial, is a sundial marked with the canonical hours rather than or in addition to the standard hours of daylight. Such sundials were particularly common between the 7th and 14th centuries in Europe, ...
on the south wall. The
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
in the south aisle has part of a stone inscribed "Anne Whyting 1535." In the wall under the sill of the adjacent window is a long stone panel divided into compartments, each containing a shield bearing coats of arms relating to the Whyting and Pauncefoot families.
The south wall of the chancel contains a
piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...
with a stone button in the centre of the bowl. Five
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows in the church are signed — a rare phenomenon — by
Jean-Baptiste Capronnier
Jean-Baptiste Capronnier (1 February 1814 – 31 July 1891) was a Belgian stained glass painter. Born in Brussels, Belgium in 1814, he had much to do with the modern revival of glass-painting, and first made his reputation by his study of the o ...
of
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. The west window is by
Charles Eamer Kempe
Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lichg ...
, 1896. The church's three
bells were cast in 1627, and one of them has the royal arms inscribed. The chancel was panelled with
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
in 1934. The church registers date from 1559.
The top of the spire became unsafe, and an appeal was launched in 1980, with the help of grants from the
Department of the Environment
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...
and the
Historic Churches Preservation Trust
The National Churches Trust, formerly the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, is a British registered charity whose aim is to "promote and support church buildings of historic, architectural and community value across the UK". It carries out t ...
. These efforts raised £18,000 for the necessary work to be carried out. The church has been designated by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
as a Grade II*
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The church is part of the Camelot Group of Parishes in the
Diocese of Bath & Wells.
References
External links
Births, deaths and marriages at The Church of the Blessed Virgin MaryCamelot Group of Parishes website{{South Somerset
Villages in South Somerset
Civil parishes in Somerset