Mudford is a village and
parish in
Somerset, England, situated from
Yeovil in the
South Somerset district on the
River Yeo. The village has a
population of 696.
The parish includes the hamlets of Mudford Sock, West Mudford and Up Mudford.
The village lies on the
Monarch's Way, a
long-distance
footpath
A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...
that approximates the
escape route taken by
King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the
Battle of Worcester.
History
At the time of the
Domesday Book in 1086 there were five manors. The largest which was given with the church to
Montacute Priory in 1192, became Mudford Monachorum (''of the monks'') and was centred on the present hamlet of Up Mudford.
The parish of Mudford was part of the
Stone Hundred.
At the eastern end of the parish on the border with
Dorset, the village of Nether Adber was held by Siward the Fowler before and after the
Battle of Hastings, and had a chapel in 1351 but the village was totally abandoned in the mid-16th century.
, the Manor house of Up Mudford, was built in 1630 on the site of an earlier building after a fire.
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
South Somerset, 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
Yeovil Rural District.
The district council is responsible for
local planning and
building control, 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.
It is also part of the
Yeovil 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.
Religious sites
Mudford is served by the
church of St Mary The Virgin, which dates back to the 12th century and is a Grade I
listed building. It has a three-stage tower divided by string courses with clasping corner buttresses, a battlemented parapet with small corner and intermediate pinnacles, and corner gargoyles. There is a stair turret on the north-east corner with a weathervane finial, and a clock face on the east side. It contains five bells dated 1582, 1621, 1623, 1664 and 1666, all by the Purdue family of nearby
Closworth.
It was granted by
Montacute Priory to the
Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1339.
References
External links
Mudford Parish Council Website
{{Authority control
Villages in South Somerset
Civil parishes in Somerset