Bagborough House - geograph.org.uk - 1364771.jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

West Bagborough is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, about north of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. In 2011 the village had a population of 358. The parish of West Bagborough lies on the south-west slopes of the Quantock Hills within the Quantock Hills A.O.N.B and encompasses the neighbouring hamlets of Shopnoller and Seven Ash. The village has a wide variety of properties, with a wide range of building techniques and ages. Due to its availability, local red sandstone features heavily in buildings, both ancient and modern. The village has a 16th-century inn (the ''Rising Sun''), a village hall, and a number of establishments offering accommodation.


History

The origin of the village name is open to some debate and is thought to either come from the name "Begas Barrow" (meaning badger's hill) or from an amalgamation of the family name "Baga" and the Old English word for hill, "beorg". In either case, by 1086, when the Domesday Book was compiled, the name had become Bageberge. The Domesday book records that Ralph Paynel and a Breton knight, William of Mohun, held the land directly from the crown having replaced Merleswein and Leofric who had held it prior to the conquest. Each man's holdings were valued at 2 pounds and 10 shillings (£2/10/-) and 5 pounds (£5/-) annually. The Quantock Hills, although small in extent, is one of the few remaining expanses of open moorland in southern Britain. Its archaeological importance lies in the existence of a landscape displaying examples of well-preserved monuments tracing human exploitation of the hills from the Bronze Age onwards, giving insights into changes in the pattern of land use on the hills through time.
Wills Neck Wills Neck is the highest summit on the Quantock Hills and one of the highest points in Somerset, England. Although only 1261 ft (384 m) high, it qualifies as one of England's Marilyns. It is situated about north west of the historic ...
, a high, broad plateau in the southern region of the Quantock Hills, between Middle Hill and Bagborough Hill, is the site of several bowl barrows and
cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
s dating from the Bronze Age. These earthworks are one of the key features of the Quantocks' broader landscape character. Round barrows, locally known as cairns, and constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, are prehistoric funerary monuments dating from the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC) . Triscombe Stone lies on the boundary between the parishes of West Bagborough and Over Stowey and the old parish of Crowcombe. The stone also lies at the junction of two important routes across the hills, where the east west road from Triscombe to Cockercombe crosses the north-south track along the western ridge, and commands views west to the Brendon Hills and Exmoor. The stone is not impressive, standing only 0.75m high, but it is certainly of considerable antiquity – a map of 1609 has the legend ‘the way to triscombe stone’ (SRO 1609) – and is very likely to be of prehistoric origin. This is reinforced by its location on the western scarp of the hills, close to the Great Hill and Wills Neck barrow. The parish of West Bagborough was part of the
Taunton Deane Taunton Deane was a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council was based in Taunton. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the Municipal Borough of Ta ...
Hundred. A colourful and often repeated tale relates to the relative isolation of village church. This is allegedly due to the
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
, which having struck the village during the fourteenth century, reduced the population to below one hundred. In an attempt to rid themselves of this plague the villagers, so the story goes, abandoned the original settlement and re-built it further to the east, away from the church. Earthworks to the south-west of the church, visible in aerial photographs, in the parklands of Bagborough House may lend credence to this claim. Enclosure of lands within the parish was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1806. In October 2001 a hoard of 4th-century Roman silver was discovered in the village. The 681 coins included two denarii from the early 2nd century and eight miliarense and 671 siliqua all dating from the period AD 337 – 367. The majority were struck in the reigns of emperors Constantius II and
Julian Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (give ...
and derive from a range of mints including Arles and Lyons in France, Trier in Germany and Rome. It became known as the
West Bagborough Hoard The West Bagborough Hoard is a hoard of 670 Roman coins and 72 pieces of hacksilver found in October 2001 by metal detectorist James Hawkesworth near West Bagborough in Somerset, England. Discovery, excavation and valuation The hoard was disco ...
.


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 Somerset West and Taunton, which was established on 1 April 2019. It was previously in the district of
Taunton Deane Taunton Deane was a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council was based in Taunton. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the Municipal Borough of Ta ...
, 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 ...
, and part of
Taunton Rural District Taunton 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 Taunton Deane district. The p ...
before that. 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. It is also part of the
Taunton Deane Taunton Deane was a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council was based in Taunton. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the Municipal Borough of Ta ...
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.


Church

The village church of St Pancras, dates from the 15th century, with the north aisle being added in 1839, and further
restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
in 1872. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. Further work was undertaken in the 1920s under the guidance of Sir
Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...
. The church stands high above the main village, and allegedly owes this separation to the
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
in the fourteenth century (see above). The lychgate is dedicated to the memory of Robert Brooke-Popham. The old rectory is now known as Little Court.


Bagborough House

Bagborough House was built in 1739 by the Popham family, enlarged in 1820 and 1900, and is now lived in by Diana and Philip Brooke-Popham.


References


External links


Parish website
* {{Taunton Deane Villages in Taunton Deane Civil parishes in Somerset