Henstridge is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated east of Sherborne in the South Somerset district, near the border with Dorset. The parish includes the hamlet of Yenston. In 2011, the village had a population of 1,814.

History

The village name means "the ridge where stallions are kept". The parish was part of the hundred of Horethorne.

Yenston Priory Yenston Priory was a Benedictine priory in Henstridge, Somerset, England. It was a cell of the Abbey of Sever in Normandy, France. It was founded by Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, who died around 1100 and was also known as Hugh Abrincus, a ...

was a 16th-century house of Benedictine monks.

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 Wincanton 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 and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning. 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

Inwood House was built in 1881 by the Welsh industrialist Thomas Merthyr Guest on the site of an earlier house. The circular crenellated water tower was retained, as was the small doric Temple of Laocoon and an Oriental Summerhouse. Guest married the writer Lady

Theodora Guest Lady Theodora Guest; Theodora Grosvenor; Lady Theodora Grosvenor (July 7, 1840 – March 24, 1924) was a British author, anti-suffragist, collector and benefactor. In 1913 she sold the 15th century Braque Triptych to the Louvre. Life Guest was b ...

who died here in 1924.

Transport

The village is situated at the junction of the A30 and

A357 road The A357 is a road that leads from Blandford to Wincanton. In combination with the A350 and A371, it forms the main route between Blandford and Poole and Weston-super-Mare, of which it is the intermediate segment. There have been calls for tra ...

Henstridge railway station Henstridge railway station was a station at Henstridge in the county of Somerset, in England. It was located on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. Sited on a single line stretch, the station had one short platform with a modest station buil ...

was on the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, and is now the location of the Gartell Light Railway Just east of the village is

Henstridge Airfield Royal Naval Air Station Henstridge (RNAS Henstridge; or HMS ''Dipper'') is a former Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm airbase, located west of Shaftesbury, in Dorset and east of Yeovil, in Somerset, in South West England. It is home to the Dorset and ...

(

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

code – EGHS). It was built during the Second World War as a training base for the Fleet Air Arm, which commissioned it as HMS ''Dipper''. Visitors can still see the concrete outline of an aircraft carrier deck embedded into theits one surviving runway. The

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

sold the airfield in 1957 and today it is mainly used as a base for general aviation and is an active training centre for autogyros (gyrocopters). The airfield is the base for the

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is a registered charity, which uses a helicopter to provide an air ambulance service to the English counties of Dorset and Somerset. The air ambulance came into service in March 2000, following the success ...

. The airfield also hosts a weekly parkrun.

Religious sites

The parish Church of St Nicholas dates from the 12th century, but was largely rebuilt in 1872–3 by J.M Allen. The two former chapels in the High Street are now private residences.

References

External links

Henstridge Parish Council

Henstridge Airfield
{{South Somerset Villages in South Somerset Civil parishes in Somerset