Town in Somerset, England
"Plox" redirects here. For the slang word, see
Please
.
Human settlement in England
Bruton
(
BROO
-t?n
) is a market town,
[2]
[3]
electoral ward
, and
civil parish
in
Somerset
,
England
, on the
River Brue
and the
A359
between
Frome
and
Yeovil
. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of
Shepton Mallet
, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 10 miles (16 km) north-west of
Gillingham
and 12 miles (19 km) south-west of
Frome
. The town and ward have a
population
of 2,907.
[1]
The parish includes the hamlets of Wyke Champflower and
Redlynch
.
Bruton has a museum of items from the
Jurassic era
onwards. It includes a table used by the author
John Steinbeck
on a six-month stay.
The Brue is flood-prone ? in 1768 it wrecked a stone bridge. The 242.8 mm of rain that fell on 28 June 1917 left a river watermark on a pub wall 20 feet above the mean.
[4]
[5]
[6]
In 1984 a protective dam was built upstream.
[7]
History
[
edit
]
The
Church of St Mary, Bruton
was founded by
Ine of Wessex
in the 7th century,
[8]
Bruton was listed in the
Domesday Book
of 1086 as
Briuuetone
, meaning "Vigorously flowing river" from the
Old English
tor
and
Celtic
briw
meaning vigour.
[9]
The river has been the site of several
watermills
and in 2003 the
South Somerset Hydropower Group
installed their first
hydroelectric
turbine at
Gants Mill
at nearby
Pitcombe
.
[10]
[11]
Bruton Abbey
, a
medieval
Augustinian
priory
from which a wall remains in the Plox close to
Bow Bridge
, was sold after the
dissolution of the monasteries
to the courtier Sir
Maurice Berkeley (died 1581)
, whose
Bruton branch of the Berkeley family
converted it into a mansion, which was demolished in the late 18th century.
[12]
The
Dovecote
which overlooks Bruton dates from the 16th century. It was at one time used as a house, possibly as a watchtower and as a
dovecote
. It is a Grade II*
listed building
,
[13]
and an
ancient monument
,
[14]
[15]
and is managed by the
National Trust
. The building was once within the
deerpark
of the Abbey. It was adapted by the monks from a
gabled
Tudor
tower.
[16]
The conversion to a dovecote took place around 1780.
[17]
It has over 200 pigeonholes.
[18]
Bruton was part of the
hundred
of
Bruton
.
[19]
The town is referenced in a folk song "
The Bramble Briar
", which is also known by the title "Bruton Town". A rare copy of an
inspeximus
of
Magna Carta
was found in Bruton in the 1950s and claimed by
King's School
. The sale of the copy to the Australian National Museum paid for much building work at the school.
[
citation needed
]
Much of the town's history appears in the
Bruton Museum
's Dovecote Building in the High Street. It includes a
tourist information office
.
[20]
Bruton Museum Society, formed in 1989, involves the community and local schools in developing the collection of local artefacts. It moved in 1999 to its current location, which was jointly purchased by
South Somerset
District Council and Bruton Town Council.
[21]
[22]
The museum also marks the time spent in the town by
John Steinbeck
. It has organised exhibitions at King's School, including one in 2008 on the work of Ernst Blensdorf.
[23]
In 2010, an anonymous donor agreed to pay the rent on the building, removing earlier doubts about its viability.
[24]
In 2014,
Hauser & Wirth
opened a gallery and arts centre at a derelict farm outside Bruton.
[25]
[26]
Governance
[
edit
]
The first tier of local government is the
parish council
, which styles itself as Bruton Town Council.
[27]
The body sets an annual
precept
(local rate) to cover its operating costs and produces annual accounts for public scrutiny. The town council is responsible for the town's cemetery and allotments, and maintains St Mary's churchyard. It is consulted on local planning applications and works with local police, district council officers and
neighbourhood watch
groups on matters of crime, security and traffic. It initiates projects for maintaining and repairing parish facilities, and consults with the district council on 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 covered.
For
local government
purposes, since 1 April 2023, the village comes under the
unitary authority
of
Somerset Council
. Prior to this, it was part of the
non-metropolitan district
of
South Somerset
, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972
, having previously been part of
Wincanton Rural District
.
[28]
For elections to
Parliament
, Bruton is within the
Somerton and Frome
county constituency
.
Transport
[
edit
]
Bruton station
is on the
Reading?Taunton line
, a branch of the
Great Western Main Line
, between
Westbury
and
Taunton
. The route is the most direct between London (Paddington) and the West Country (ending at Penzance), but is slower for geographical reasons. The stretch between Westbury and
Castle Cary
is also part of the
Heart of Wessex line
, served by Great Western Railway services between
Bristol Temple Meads
and
Weymouth
.
In December 2015,
South West Trains
introduced a service between London Waterloo, Salisbury and
Yeovil Pen Mill
, giving Bruton its first direct London service for some years.
Bus services are operated by
South West Coaches
.
Geography
[
edit
]
Work to build the railway at
Bruton Railway Cutting
exposed geology of the epoch of the
Middle Jurassic
. It is among the best places in England to display the stratigraphic distinction of fossil
ammonites
in the Subcontractus and Morrisi zones.
[29]
The nearby
Godminster Lane Quarry and Railway Cutting
is another
geological Site of Special Scientific Interest
, for study of the Inferior
Oolite
limestones
, of the
Middle Jurassic
age, laid down in a warm shallow sea some 175 million years ago. The site is unique in that the limestones seen are more closely comparable with rocks of similar age found in the
Cotswolds
than with rock sequences elsewhere in Somerset. However, the rocks contain the rich assemblage of ammonites typical of the north
Dorset
/south Somerset area. This feature, along with the unusual limestone sequence, makes the site unique. It is also important as a reference for three sub-divisions (zones) of the Inferior Oolite ? the laeviscula, discites and concavum zones.
[30]
Churches
[
edit
]
St Mary's Church, Bruton
Both the 14th-century
Church of St Mary
,
[31]
and the
Church of the Holy Trinity
in Wyke Champflower,
[32]
dated at 1623, are Grade I
listed buildings
.
John Wesley
preached in Bruton in 1776. A
Methodist
chapel at West End was opened in 1848.
[33]
The congregation was served by the Somerset Mission Circuit and more recently by the Somerset Mendip Circuit.
[34]
Schools
[
edit
]
Bruton is known for two long-standing secondary schools:
King's School
(founded 1519) and
Sexey's School
(founded 1889). Both have a
sixth form
, and a tradition of
boarding
.
One of Bruton's notable historic characters was
Hugh Sexey
(1556?1619), who was born locally and attended Bruton Grammar School. By the age of 43 he was appointed as royal auditor of the
Exchequer
to
Queen Elizabeth I
and later
King James I
. After his death, his trustees established
Sexey's Hospital
in Bruton as an institution to care for the elderly. Sexey's trust was mainly involved with educational causes. The politician behind the
Education Act 1902
,
Henry Hobhouse
(1854?1937), was involved in the founding of Sexey's School as well as Sunny Hill school (later
Bruton School for Girls
, open from 1901 to 2022).
Notable residents
[
edit
]
- Koos Bekker
(born 1952), businessman
[35]
- Caroline Corr
(born 1973), musician
[35]
- Stella McCartney
(born 1971), fashion designer
- Cameron Mackintosh
(born 1946), knight bachelor, musical theatre producer
[35]
- George Osborne
(born 1971), former politician and newspaper editor
[35]
- Iwan Wirth
(born 1970), art dealer
[35]
- Joe Wright
, director and
Haley Bennett
, actress
- Sarah Beeny
(born 1972), property developer and TV personality
[36]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Statistics for Wards, LSOAs and Parishes ? SUMMARY Profiles"
(Excel)
. Somerset Intelligence.
Archived
from the original on 4 January 2014
. Retrieved
4 January
2014
.
- ^
"BrutonTown.com: What's on in Bruton and the surrounding villages"
.
Bruton Town
. Retrieved
1 February
2023
.
- ^
"Bruton - South Somerset"
.
Visit Somerset
. Retrieved
1 February
2023
.
- ^
Singh, Vijay P. (15?18 December 2003).
Watershed Hydrology: Proceedings of the International Conference on Water and Environment
. Bhopal, India: Allied Publishers. pp. 426, 485?488.
ISBN
978-81-7764-547-7
.
- ^
"The Boscastle storm of August 2004 and other heavy rainfall events of the last century in the area"
. wiseweather.co.uk. Archived from
the original
on 14 February 2009
. Retrieved
6 November
2008
.
- ^
Simons, Paul (27 June 2007).
"June's freak downpours have historical precedent"
.
The Times
. London
. Retrieved
6 November
2008
.
- ^
Clark, Colin (2004).
"Real-time flood forecasting"
.
International Water Power and Dam Construction website
. Progressive Media Markets Ltd. Archived from
the original
on 13 April 2009
. Retrieved
6 November
2008
.
- ^
"Welcome"
. St Mary's Bruton. Archived from
the original
on 26 April 2011
. Retrieved
14 September
2011
.
- ^
Robinson, Stephen (1992).
Somerset Place Names
. Wimborne, Dorset: The Dovecote Press Ltd.
ISBN
1-874336-03-2
.
- ^
Mirage and oasis: Energy choices in an age of global warming
Archived
30 December 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
,
New Economics Foundation
,
ISBN
1-904882-01-3
, published June 2005, accessed 11 June 2007.
- ^
Case Study ? Gants Mill
Archived
12 July 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
,
British Hydropower Association
, published 2004, accessed 11 June 2007.
- ^
Adkins, Lesley and Roy (1992).
A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology
. Wimborne, Dorset: Dovecote Press. p. 31.
ISBN
0-946159-94-7
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Dovecote about 370 metres South of Bruton Church (1056424)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
30 December
2013
.
- ^
"Dovecote, about 370 metres South of Bruton Church (also known as Pigeon Tower), Park Wall (North side), Bruton"
.
Somerset Historic Environment Record
. Somerset County Council.
Archived
from the original on 3 October 2016
. Retrieved
30 December
2013
.
- ^
"Bruton Abbey"
.
Pastscape
. English Heritage
. Retrieved
30 December
2013
.
- ^
Greeves, Lydia (2013).
Houses of the National Trust
. London: National Trust Books. p. 364.
ISBN
9781907892486
.
- ^
"Tower, S of the church, Bruton"
.
Somerset Historic Environment Record
. Somerset County Council.
Archived
from the original on 3 October 2016
. Retrieved
30 December
2013
.
- ^
"Bruton Dovecote"
. Somerset Routes. Archived from
the original
on 30 December 2013
. Retrieved
30 December
2013
.
- ^
"Bruton Hundred"
.
A History of Britain
. Retrieved
23 September
2011
.
- ^
"Bruton Museum"
. South Somerset Council.
Archived
from the original on 8 November 2007
. Retrieved
31 May
2010
.
- ^
"Revenue Grant Requests ? Bruton Museum and Wincanton Museum and History Society"
(PDF)
. South Somerset Council
. Retrieved
9 November
2010
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Museum"
. Bruton Town. Archived from
the original
on 17 March 2011
. Retrieved
31 May
2010
.
- ^
"BRUTON MUSEUM AT KINGS SCHOOL Blensdorf Retrospective"
. Galleries UK
. Retrieved
31 May
2010
.
- ^
"Anonymous donor ends museum's woes"
.
Somerset Guardian
. 16 March 2010. Archived from
the original
on 5 May 2013
. Retrieved
31 May
2010
.
- ^
Brown, Mark (16 December 2012).
"Hauser & Wirth to open new art gallery in Somerset"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
17 December
2012
.
- ^
"Doors open at Hauser & Wirth Somerset"
.
Country Calling
. 2014
. Retrieved
8 November
2023
.
- ^
"About the Town Council"
.
Bruton Town Council
. Retrieved
27 January
2023
.
- ^
"Wincanton RD"
.
A vision of Britain Through Time
. University of Portsmouth.
Archived
from the original on 5 January 2014
. Retrieved
4 January
2014
.
- ^
English Nature citation sheet for the site
Archived
10 September 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
; accessed 7 August 2006.
- ^
English Nature citation sheet for the site
Archived
13 October 2006 at the
Wayback Machine
; accessed 10 August 2006.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Church of St Mary (1056408)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
9 February
2007
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Church of the Holy Trinity (1366339)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
9 February
2007
.
- ^
"British history online"
. Retrieved
23 October
2008
.
- ^
Churches.
Retrieved 1 January 2016.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Neate, Rupert (10 July 2020).
"
'This isn't really Somerset': how the rich took over Bruton"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
2 February
2021
.
- ^
"Knowing me, Knowing you: Sarah Beeny and Graham Swift"
.
The Independent
. London. 15 November 2011.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Bruton
.
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