Closworth is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, south of Yeovil in the South Somerset district, on the border with Dorset. The village has a population of 220. The parish includes the villages of Pendomer and Sutton Bingham, the location for Sutton Bingham Manor, Sutton Bingham Sailing Club (SBSC) and Sutton Bingham and District Canoe Club (SBDCC). It sits on a reservoir of the same name owned by Wessex Water. It has an approximate population of 25.

History

The village was named ''Clovesuurda'' meaning "''homestead above the valley''" in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was the property of Robert, Count of Mortain. His son gave it to the newly formed priory at

Montacute Montacute is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 831 (2011 census). The name Montacute is thought by some to derive from the Latin "Mons Acutus", referrin ...

in 1102. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the estate was bought by the Portmans of Orchard Portman who retained it into the 20th century. The parish was part of the hundred of Houndsborough.

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 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 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, 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, 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 of party-list proportional representation.

Geography

The geology of the area is Cornbrash, the name applied to the uppermost member of the Bathonian stage of the Jurassic formation. The name was adopted by William Smith for a thin band of shelly limestone which, in the south of England, breaks up in the manner indicated. The Cornbrash is a very fossiliferous formation; the fauna indicates a transition from the Lower to the Middle

Oolite Oolite or oölite (''egg stone'') is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Ancient Greek word for egg (ᾠόν). Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 ...

s, though it is probably more nearly related to that of the beds above than to those below.

Churches

The Church of All Saints in Closworth village has 13th-century origins and is designated as a Grade II* listed building. The

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 ...

Church of All Saints in Sutton Bingham dates from the 12th and 13th centuries and has been designated as a Grade I listed building. The Church of Saint Roch in Pendomer is 14th-century.

Bellfounders

For nearly 200 years Closworth had a bell-foundry. Master bell-founders at Closworth included William Purdue I (active 1572-84), Thomas Purdue (active 1647-1691), Thomas Knight (active 1692-1714), William Knight (active 1709-47), William Elery (active 1732-57), Thomas Roskelly (active 1750-68), Richard Rock (active 1753-67) and James Smith (active 1762-67).

References

External links

* {{South Somerset Villages in South Somerset Civil parishes in Somerset