Kingsbury Episcopi is a village and civil parish on 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 ...

in Somerset, England, situated north west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 1,307. The parish includes the villages of West Lambrook,

East Lambrook East Lambrook is an English village situated in the civil parish of Kingsbury Episcopi, within the South Somerset district of Somerset. It is noted particularly for its manor gardens. Manor East Lambrook Manor is a small 15th-century manor hous ...

and Thorney.

History

The "Episcopi" part of the village's name means "of the Bishop" in Latin. It refers to the fact that the village belonged to the Bishop of Bath and Wells and not the nearby abbey at Muchelney. The parish was part of the Kingsbury Hundred, Thorney suffered serious flooding during the

Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels From December 2013 onwards the Somerset Levels suffered severe flooding as part of the wider 2013–2014 Atlantic winter storms in Europe and subsequent 2013–2014 United Kingdom winter floods. The Somerset Levels, or the Somerset Levels and ...

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 Langport Rural District. 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 within the 'Burrow Hill'

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 ward stretches from Muchelney in the north, to Puckington in the south west. The total population of this ward at the 2011 census was 2,211. It is also part of the

Somerton and Frome Somerton and Frome is a constituency in Somerset represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by David Warburton, who was elected as a Conservative, but currently sits as an Independent after losing the Conservative whip in ...

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.

Landmarks

Other historic buildings in the village include many old houses, the former pub the ''Wyndham Arms'', Wesleyan church and an octagonal village lock-up that was used to detain drunks and suspected criminals. The

East Lambrook Manor East Lambrook Manor is a small 15th-century manor house in East Lambrook, Somerset, England, registered by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. It is surrounded by a "cottage garden" planted by Margery Fish between 1938 and her death ...

dates from the 15th century. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. The garden was planted by Margery Fish from 1938 until her death in 1969. She wrote several books on cottage gardens and held the National Collection of

Geranium ''Geranium'' is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in ...

s, and a collection of

snowdrops ''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a single ...

Religious sites

Kingsbury Episcopi's church of

St Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (598–655) * Saint Martin ...

boasts an ornate Somerset Tower, tall, made of stone from nearby Ham Hill. Pevsner describes the chancel and chapels of the church as "gloriously lit" and advises visiting on a fine morning. He writes that the nave is older than the rest of the church, "no doubt of before 1400, and not yet infected with the later exuberance" of the Late Perpendicular style of the tower and other parts of St Martin's. Poyntz Wright suggests the west tower was built in 1515. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. The church of St James in East Lambrook dates from the 12th century.

Culture

Kingsbury is known for its May Festival which is held on the May Day

Bank Holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

and attracts over 4,000 visitors. Another popular attraction is the Lowland Games, where events include mud wrestling, river raft racing and bale racing, while locally brewed cider is available. Other nearby places of interest include the

Burrow Hill Cider Farm Burrow Hill Cider Farm is a cider farm in Somerset, England at the base of Burrow Hill overlooking the Somerset Levels. It has views of most of South Somerset on clear days. The cider is made in traditional vats and uses age old traditional meth ...

. The mid-summer Lowland Games have been held near the village of Thorney annually since 1984. The

River Parrett Trail The River Parrett Trail is a long-distance footpath that can be used for walking, jogging, or running, following the route of the River Parrett in Somerset, England. The trail, which is long, runs from Chedington in Dorset to the mouth of the ...

, a walking route that follows the course of the river, passes through the village.LDWA
River Parrett Trail

References

External links

Kingsbury May Festival

Parish website

Parish Boundary, ecclesiastical
{{South Somerset Villages in South Somerset Civil parishes in Somerset