Wick St. Lawrence is a

civil parish 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, w ...

and village in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It falls within the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The council is based in Weston-super-Mare, the area's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Clevedon, Nailsea ...

. The population of the parish, which includes Bourton, Icelton and Ebdon, in the 2011 census was 1,331.

History

The parish of

Wick St Lawrence Wick St. Lawrence is a civil parish and village in Somerset, England. It falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The population of the parish, which includes Bourton, Icelton and Ebdon, in the 2011 census was 1,331. History The pa ...

was part of the

Winterstoke The Hundred of Winterstoke is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. By far the most important and auth ...

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

, while Bourton was in

Portbury Portbury is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The parish includes the hamlet Sheepway, which is situated on moorland at the northern edge of the Gordano valley, between the Gordano ...

. The 15th century village cross stands on an area of grass opposite the parish church, raised up on five ascending octagonal stone platforms. The crosshead was destroyed during the time of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

s. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. The

Ebdon Bow Bridge Ebdon is a surname. It originated as a toponymic surname, referring either to Ebdon Farm in Sidbury or Ebdon in Wick St. Lawrence, both in England. People with this surname include: * Dick Ebdon (1913–1987), English football forward * Edward Ebdo ...

which carries the road from the village to nearby

Worle Worle ( ) is a village in the civil parish of Weston-Super-Mare, in the North Somerset district, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is joined to the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare on its western edge. It, however, maintains a ...

over the

River Banwell The River Banwell is a small river in Somerset, England. It begins life as a series of springs near the Church of St Andrew in Banwell where they once filled a large pool below the church. It then flows north east of Weston-super-Mare and on to ...

was built in the late 18th or early 19th century.

Governance

North Somerset's area covers part of the

ceremonial county Ceremonial counties, formally known as ''counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'', are areas of England to which lord-lieutenant, lord-lieutenants are appointed. A lord-lieutenant is the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch's repres ...

but it is administered independently of the

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a subdivision of England used for local government. The non-metropolitan counties were originally created in 1974 as part of a reform of local government in England and Wales, and ...

. Its administrative headquarters are in the town hall in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the

Woodspring North Somerset is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The council is based in Weston-super-Mare, the area's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead, along with a n ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of the

county of Avon Avon ( ) was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in the west of England that existed between 1974 and 1996. The county was named after the River Avon, which flows through the area. It was formed from the county boroughs of Bristol and ...

. Before 1974 that the parish was part of the

Axbridge Rural District Axbridge was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974. It was named after the town of Axbridge. It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 as a successor to the Axbridge rural sanitary district. In 1974, it was a ...

Religious sites

The windows of the church are in the

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

style, while the modest tower has a peal of six bells; the oldest of which were cast in 1655. The intricately carved stone pulpit came from

Woodspring Priory Woodspring Priory (originally Worsprynge or Worspring) is a former Augustinians, Augustinian priory. It is near the scenic limestone promontory of Sand Point and Middle Hope, owned by the National Trust, beside the River Severn, Severn Estuary ...

in 1536 following the Dissolution of the Monasteries.Smith, Rosie & Howard. ''North Somerset Coast in Watercolours''. The Garret Press, Weston-super-Mare. It has been designated as a Grade II*

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Wick St Lawrence
Photographs of St. Lawrence's Church, Wick St. Lawrence.
Civil parishes in Somerset Ports and harbours of Somerset Villages in North Somerset