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112-651: North Petherton is a town and civil parish in Somerset , England, situated on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks , and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels . The town has a population of 6,730 as of 2014. The parish includes Hamp , Melcombe , Shearston , Woolmersdon and Huntworth . Dating from at least the 10th century and an important settlement in Saxon times, North Petherton became

224-522: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with

336-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of

448-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed

560-477: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of

672-462: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have

784-559: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in

896-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as

1008-419: A crown, or as a pendant , though this would display the figure upside down. The Alfred Jewel is about 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (6.4 cm) long and is made of filigreed gold , enclosing a highly polished tear-shaped piece of clear quartz "rock crystal", beneath which is set a cloisonné enamel plaque, with an image of a man, perhaps Christ , with ecclesiastical symbols. The figure "closely resembles

1120-520: A figurative image is an innovation in Anglo-Saxon art, following Byzantine or Carolingian examples, as is the use of rock crystal as a "see-through" cover. The rock crystal piece may be recycled from a Roman object. The jewel was ploughed up in 1693 at Petherton Park , North Petherton in the English county of Somerset , on land owned by Sir Thomas Wroth ( circa 1675–1721). North Petherton

1232-529: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving

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1344-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until

1456-468: A note of caution as to the connection with Alfred, noting that "in a period when royal titles meant something, there is no royal title in the inscription". However the commissioning by Alfred and the function as a pointer handle are taken as firmly established by Leslie Webster in her survey Anglo-Saxon Art of 2012, as well as by the Ashmolean. Other functions suggested have been as an ornament for

1568-695: A number of buildings have been given listed building status. The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Nortperet . The name derives from the area's location to the north side of the River Parrett , and from the Old English nor tun . Long before the Norman Conquest , during Saxon times North Petherton was at the centre of a large royal estate, located on one of the historic communication routes through Somerset, and

1680-689: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Alfred Jewel The Alfred Jewel

1792-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself

1904-431: A population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of

2016-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by

2128-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have

2240-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it

2352-598: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below

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2464-943: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at

2576-521: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there

2688-477: A town only in the late 20th century, until then claiming to be the largest village in England. A former market and administrative centre, North Petherton is now largely a dormitory town for workers in Bridgwater , 3 miles (5 km) to the north east, and Taunton , 8 miles (13 km) to the south west. The centre of the town is designated an Area of High Archaeological Potential ( AHAP ), and

2800-602: A very early example of the use of ball bearings in this way. It was designated as a Grade II listed building but the mechanism was removed in 1987. The Higher and Lower Maunsel locks on the canal are either side of the Maunsel bridge which carries the A361 . The stone Coxhill road bridge dates from the same time. Woolmersdon House in Woolmersdon is a Grade II listed late Georgian residence. In 1906, North Petherton became

2912-452: Is a 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 town 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 town council's role also includes initiating projects for

3024-402: Is a nationally important grazing marsh and ditch system on the Somerset Levels and Moors. A range of neutral grassland types supporting common and scarce plants has developed mainly due to variations in soils and management practices. Aquatic plant communities are exceptionally diverse with good populations of nationally scarce species. The site has special interest in its bird life. Along with

3136-648: Is a piece of Anglo-Saxon goldsmithing work made of enamel and quartz enclosed in gold. It was discovered in 1693, in North Petherton , Somerset , England and is now one of the most popular exhibits at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford . It has been dated to the late 9th century, in the reign of Alfred the Great , and is inscribed "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN" , meaning "Alfred ordered me made". The jewel

3248-813: Is about 8 miles (13 km) away from Athelney , where King Alfred founded a monastery. A description of the Alfred Jewel was first published in 1698, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . It was bequeathed to Oxford University by Colonel Nathaniel Palmer (c. 1661–1718), and today is in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. There is a replica of the jewel in the Church of St Mary, North Petherton and also one in

3360-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been

3472-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have

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3584-781: Is given in the preface, but in the context of books, the Old English word "aestel" can mean a "guide", "index", and also a "handle"; so, it is concluded that it meant a small pointer. Other jewelled objects with a similar form have survived, all with empty sockets, such as a 9th-century example in gold and glass in the British Museum , found in Bowleaze Cove in Dorset (see below), and the yad or " Torah pointer" remains in use in Jewish practice. David M. Wilson sounded

3696-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In

3808-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt

3920-603: The A38 through the town, also added to the attraction of the town for commuters and has consequently led to the construction of several new housing estates. The town lies on the route of the Macmillan Way West long-distance footpath . South east of the town near Lyng , on the opposite side of the M5 motorway but within the parish is North Moor , a 676.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest . North Moor

4032-660: The Clarence Hotel, and before that as the New Inn) is one of three hotels in the town, it was formerly in competition with the George Hotel (now closed), where monthly petty sessions ( court hearings) were formerly held. The hotel is also used as the Headquarters for Pentathlon Carnival Club, one of the carnival clubs which class North Petherton as its local carnival. North Petherton has been twinned with

4144-601: The English Civil War took place in August 1644 outside what was then the cornhill, now the area of Fore Street between the Community Centre and the former George Inn. The Alfred Jewel , an object about 2.5-inch (64 mm) long, made of filigree gold, cloisonné -enamelled and with a rock crystal covering, was found in 1693 at Petherton Park, North Petherton. Believed to have been commissioned by Alfred

4256-535: The Imperial Wireless Chain ,) the first transoceanic shortwave wireless telegraph service in the world and operated until 2002. In 1984 North Petherton was provided with a small public library . As a result of a revitalised fund-raising campaign (originally begun decades earlier), this was followed a few years later by the construction of a Community Centre, opened in 1987, which was extended in 1991. The civil parish of North Petherton includes

4368-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with

4480-489: The National Pipe Organ Register . The Church of St Peter has a tower which may be of Saxon origin which was altered in 1635. The rest of the church was completely rebuilt for Rev. Thomas Eaton in 1885. It is Grade II* listed. The Church of St. Michael has Norman origins and has seen various restorations since. It was last restored and extended in 1868 for Slade family of Maunsel House . In

4592-524: The Parliament of the United Kingdom . It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. North Petherton is situated on one of the historic communication routes through Somerset, and a turnpike through the town was opened between Bridgwater and Taunton in the 1730s. The opening of the nearby M5 motorway in the 1970s which relieved major traffic jams on

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4704-461: The Saxon Hundred of North Petherton. According to the late 13th century Hundred Rolls , King Henry II of England (died 1189) gave William of Wrotham lands at North Petherton. Between 1513 and 1535 Sir William Courtenay (d.1535) of Powderham , Devon was the keeper of North Petherton Park. The town itself it thought to have developed around the minster which, it is supposed, was on

4816-552: The South Western Ambulance Service . An electoral ward exists with the same name. Although North Petherton is the most populous area the ward stretches west to Broomfield and east to Lyng . In the north the ward adjoins Bridgwater . The total population for this ward as at the 2011 census was 7,155. It is also part of the Bridgwater county constituency represented in the House of Commons of

4928-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or

5040-651: The commune of Ceaucé in Normandy , France since 1994. Civil parishes in England In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in

5152-595: The lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making

5264-403: The monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of a civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if

5376-426: The plague , as well as indicating that the area was redeveloped in the late Middle Ages. It is thought that there may have been a mint in the town during the 10th or 11th century, and a charter to hold a market was granted in 1318, although it is thought that the market predated this. A shire hall , courthouse and guildhall are known to have exited and were probably located north of the church. A minor skirmish of

5488-430: The railway station at Bridgwater. Nearby King's Cliff formerly provided a source of building stone for the town dating from at least Medieval times. The production of cloth and leather goods also used to take place in the town, the former being commemorated in the name of the road known as Dyer's Green. The extensive cider orchards that used to surround much of the town in the 19th century had largely disappeared by

5600-482: The unitary authority of Somerset Council . Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of Sedgemoor , which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , having previously been part of Bridgwater Rural District . Fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service , Avon and Somerset Constabulary and

5712-470: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of

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5824-403: The 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with

5936-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until

6048-591: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from

6160-511: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In

6272-405: The Alfred Jewel, a number of similar objects have been found. All are smaller and less elaborate, but are traceable to the same period and have a socket like that on the Alfred Jewel, suggesting that they were made for the same purpose. Simon Keynes comments that "it is perhaps only a matter of time before another is found in a context that reveals its function". The above six objects, along with

6384-559: The Alfred Jewel, were exhibited together in Winchester Discovery Centre in 2008, as the centrepiece of an exhibition of relics of Alfred the Great. In a paper published in 2014, Sir John Boardman endorsed the earlier suggestion by David Talbot Rice that the figure on the jewel was intended to represent Alexander the Great . A medieval legend in the Alexander Romance had Alexander, wishing to see

6496-567: The Anglo-Saxon Fuller Brooch . The Early English Text Society , a text publication society founded in 1864 to publish Anglo-Saxon and medieval English texts, uses a representation of the enamel plaque of the Jewel (omitting the gold frame) as its emblem. The Society for Medieval Archaeology , established in 1957, uses a representation of the Jewel as a logo. It was drawn by Eva Sjoegren (wife of David M. Wilson , one of

6608-570: The English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007 the right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by

6720-417: The Great , it is thought to have been the handle for a pointer that would have fitted into the hole at its base, and been used while reading a book out loud. It is inscribed, "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN," ("Alfred had me made"). It may be one of the "aestels" Alfred had sent to each bishopric with a copy of his translation of Pope Gregory the Great's book Pastoral Care . A replica of the jewel can be found in

6832-548: The Huntworth Business Park adjacent to the nearby Junction 24 of the M5 motorway), and in earlier times at least 7 watermills . Basket making and the manufacture of associated products including wicker furniture, was also a significant industry, at one time employing over 100 people in small factories and homes, until its decline in the second half of the 20th century. The products were distributed nationally via

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6944-635: The Jewel is given as a birthday present in chapter six of Nancy Mitford 's comic novel, The Pursuit of Love (1945). In Susan Cooper 's The Dark is Rising (1973), one of the six Signs of the Light, the Sign of Fire, is based on the Jewel. It also is made with gold and bears the inscription "LIHT MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN" , or "The Light ordered me made". The Jewel is referred to in Roy Harper 's 19-minute song "One of Those Days in England (Parts 2–10)" from

7056-594: The Virgin , with a highly decorated tower which, at 112 feet (34 metres) high, is claimed to be one of the tallest towers in the West Country . The building is mainly dated from the 15th century, with a minstrel gallery from 1623, a peal of six bells , and a clock built in Bridgwater in 1807. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building . A specification of the organ can be found on

7168-738: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from

7280-563: The album Bullinamingvase (1977). The Inspector Morse episode "The Wolvercote Tongue" (1987) centres on the theft of a fictional Saxon artefact based on the Jewel. A near identical aestel (with the Christ-like figure wearing a red tunic instead of a green one) appeared in BBC Four 's Detectorists in 2015, first appearing in series two, and playing a more pivotal role in the following Christmas Special. In an episode of

7392-591: The archives at Tamworth Castle. Another replica is on display in the Blake Museum , Bridgwater. In February 2015 the jewel returned to Somerset for the first time in 297 years when it was displayed for a month in the Museum of Somerset , Taunton Castle . In 2018–2019, it was displayed in the British Library , London as part of the "Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War" exhibition. Since the discovery of

7504-413: The base has as its snout a hollow socket, like those found in the other examples, showing that it was intended to hold a thin rod or stick. The back is a flat gold plate engraved with an acanthus -like plant motif, or Tree of Life according to Webster. Like the back of other examples, it is "suitable for sliding smoothly across the surface of a page". The use of relatively large cells of enamel to create

7616-472: The beasts are not shown, just the king holding two sticks with flower-like blobs at their ends. The scene is shown in the famous 12th-century floor mosaic in Otranto Cathedral in southern Italy, with a titulus of "ALEXANDER REX". The scene refers to knowledge coming through sight, and so would be appropriate for an aestel. Boardman detects the same meaning in the figure representing sight on

7728-537: The book, nor the book from the church. " Mancus " was a term used in early medieval Europe to denote either a gold coin , with a weight of gold of 4.25 grams (2.73 dwt ; equivalent to the Islamic dinar , and thus lighter than the Byzantine solidus ), or a unit of account of thirty silver pence . This made it worth about a month's wages for a skilled worker, such as a craftsman or a soldier. No other context

7840-415: The canal contains fresh water . Not only is there a risk of silt entering the canal, but the salt water cannot be allowed to contaminate the fresh, as the canal is still used for the transport of drinking water for Bridgwater's population. The Crossways Swing Bridge over the canal in the parish was built in 1827 by John Rennie . It is a wooden bridge which rotated on steel ball-bearings in a circular track,

7952-400: The cattle markets in both Taunton and Bridgwater. North Petherton has two schools, North Petherton juniors and North Petherton infants, however they have been joined together to form one school, North Petherton Primary School. Secondary schools in nearby Bridgwater include: Robert Blake Science College , Brymore School , Chilton Trinity School , East Bridgwater Community School which

8064-530: The cemetery is a 19th-century combined Non-conformist and Anglican Mortuary Chapel. The annual North Petherton Carnival is part of the West Country Carnival circuit, and takes place in November, on the second Saturday in November. The date of the first Carnival at Bridgwater is the previous Saturday, featuring most of the same participants. The Walnut Tree (rebranded in the 1970s from

8176-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such

8288-558: The church of St Mary. When the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal was opened in 1827 it joined the River Parrett by a lock at Huntworth , where a basin was constructed, but in 1841 the canal was extended to a floating harbour in Bridgwater, and the Huntworth link was filled in. The canal and river were not re-connected at this point when the canal was restored, because the Parrett is by then a salt water river laden with silt , whereas

8400-537: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to

8512-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had

8624-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced

8736-525: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London

8848-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been

8960-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In

9072-433: The end of the 20th, by which time local employment was largely restricted to service businesses and farming . Folly Foot fishery is based on a lake which is stocked with Koi, Mirror, Common and Ghost Carp. A new £100 m Regional Agricultural Business Centre, including an extensive Cattle Market and Dairy opened just beyond the outskirts of the town in 2007, following construction which began in 2006. This replaced

9184-482: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and

9296-745: The figure of Sight in the Fuller Brooch , but it is most commonly thought to represent Christ as Wisdom or Christ in Majesty ", according to Wilson, although Webster considers a personification of "Sight" a likely identification, also comparing it to the Fuller Brooch. Around the sides of the crystal there is a rim at the top that holds the rock crystal in place, above an openwork inscription: "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN" ( Ælfred mec heht ġewyrċan , [ˈælv.red mek hext jeˈwyrˠ.t͡ʃɑn] ), meaning "Alfred ordered me made". An animal head at

9408-592: The first town in Britain (and perhaps the only one) to have street lights lit by piped acetylene gas, supplied by the North Petherton Gas and Carbide Company , operating from a plant in Mill Lane (photo) . The plant was demolished towards the end of the 20th century to form a car park for the local doctor's surgery. Acetylene was replaced in 1931 by coal gas produced in Bridgwater, as well as by

9520-676: The founders), appeared prominently on the front cover of Medieval Archaeology , the society's journal, from 1957 to 2010, and continues to appear on the title page. In the epic poem The Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton (1911), King Alfred offers the Jewel to the Virgin Mary on the island of Athelney . One dim ancestral jewel hung On his ruined armour grey, He rent and cast it at her feet: Where, after centuries, with slow feet, Men came from hall and school and street And found it where it lay. A replica of

9632-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from

9744-584: The largest in Somerset to this day. King Henry II expanded the royal estate into the Royal Forest (hunting ground) of Petherton Park , which continued to exist until the 17th century. Geoffrey Chaucer (~1343–1400), author of The Canterbury Tales was appointed Deputy Forester of the Royal Forest of North Petherton towards the end of his life. The Royal Forest was probably similar in area to

9856-476: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by

9968-420: The lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. North Petherton used to be a market town , with the right to hold a market having been granted in 1318, along with the right to an annual fair . In the past the town hosted a Starkey Knight and Ford brewery on Fore Street (demolished in the late 1960s), several maltings , a light engineering works (Trig Engineering, since moved to

10080-418: 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. For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the town comes under

10192-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of

10304-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays

10416-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as

10528-448: The parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under a common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in

10640-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally

10752-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of

10864-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As

10976-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in

11088-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on

11200-456: The precious "aestels" or staffs that Alfred the Great is recorded as having sent to each bishopric along with a copy of his translation of Pope Gregory the Great 's book Pastoral Care . He wrote in his preface to the book: And I will send a copy to every bishop's see in my kingdom, and in each book there is an aestel of 50 mancusses and I command, in God's name, that no man take the staff from

11312-602: The provision of an electricity supply, and the Gas and Carbide Company was wound up. The North Petherton Rosco Acetylene Company (dating from at least 1898) may have supplied gas to the adjacent church prior to the Gas and Carbide Company. In 1926 the Bridgwater Beam Wireless Station was opened north east of the town. It was the UK receiving station for Marconi's UK-to-Canada Beam Wireless Service, (part of

11424-472: The rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have

11536-566: The rest of South West England , North Petherton has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10  °C (50.0  °F ). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C (69.8 °F). In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 °C (33.8 °F) or 2 °C (35.6 °F) are common. In

11648-478: The same site as the current church. There is archaeological evidence indicating that there were timber buildings to the west of the church in the late Saxon period, and it is suspected that the remains of the Saxon settlement may continue to lie beneath the town centre. Excavations to the west of the church, on what is now the Community Centre site, revealed a 14th-century cemetery, which may have been used for victims of

11760-478: The summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. In December 1998 there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection . Most of

11872-569: The villages of North Newton (on the route of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal ) and Northmoor Green (also known as Moorland) in the Somerset Levels, as well as a number of other smaller settlements. Despite several reductions in size, with land redesignated to neighbouring parishes, North Petherton remains one of the largest parishes in Somerset at 43 km (16.6 sq mi), and the largest in Sedgemoor. The town council (which

11984-666: The way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe

12096-493: The whole world, first descending into the depths of the ocean in a sort of diving bell , then wanting to see the view from above. To do this he harnessed two large birds, or griffins in other versions, with a seat for him between them. To entice them to keep flying higher he placed meat on two skewers which he held above their heads. This was quite commonly depicted in several medieval cultures, from Europe to Persia, where it may reflect earlier legends or iconographies. Sometimes

12208-738: Was both an important centre and the meeting place for the Hundred of North Petherton although the Petherton limit tithing of North Petherton was in the Hundred of Andersfield from the 1670s. At the time of the Norman invasion the Hundred covered a large area corresponding, today, roughly to a north–south corridor along the M5 motorway from Junction 25 near Taunton , to north of Junction 23 at Stretcholt , and east–west from Athelney to Goathurst . The Parish of North Petherton continues to be one of

12320-434: Was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were the gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of

12432-431: Was once attached to a rod, probably of wood, at its base. After decades of scholarly discussion, it is now "generally accepted" that the jewel's function was to be the handle for a pointer stick for following words when reading a book. It is an exceptional and unusual example of Anglo-Saxon jewellery. Although the function of the Jewel is not absolutely certain, it is believed to have been the handle or terminal for one of

12544-421: Was previously known as Sydenham School and is a Performing and Visual Arts College , and Haygrove School which has specialist Language College status. Special schools in the town include: Elmwood Special School, New Horizon Centre School and Penrose School. Further Education is provided by Bridgwater College which was formerly Bridgwater Technical School. The town has the minster church of St Mary

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