Brean is a village and civil parish between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, England. The name is derived from "Bryn" Brythonic and Modern Welsh for a hill and it has a population of 635. Close to the village is

Brean Down Brean Down is a promontory off the coast of Somerset, England, standing high and extending into the Bristol Channel at the eastern end of Bridgwater Bay between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea. Made of Carboniferous Limestone, it is a c ...

, a promontory standing high and extending into the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

, on which stands

Brean Down Fort Brean Down Fort was a Victorian naval fortification designed to protect the Bristol Channel. It was built above sea level on the headland at Brean Down, south of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. The site has a long history because of its ...

, marking the end of Weston Bay. The village is on a strip of land between the sea and the River Axe. It is the home of

Brean Leisure Park Brean Leisure Park is an amusement park in the coastal resort of Brean, near Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England. The park covers an area of . Open from March to November every year, the leisure park has also been a concert venue for artists such ...

, a tropical bird garden, other tourist attractions and several caravan parks. The sandy beach has been used for

land sailing Land sailing, also known as sand yachting, land yachting or dirtboating, is the act of moving across land in a wheeled vehicle powered by wind through the use of a sail. The term comes from analogy with (water) sailing. Historically, land saili ...

since 1970. Sometimes, Brean can also be linked with the nearby village, Berrow so the villages can also be called Berrow & Brean.

History

Brean was part of the hundred of Bempstone. During the Bristol Channel floods of 1607 the village was flooded, with seven of its nine houses being destroyed and 26 inhabitants drowned. Windmill House, on South Road, was one of the terminuses for the PTAT-1 transatlantic communications cable from Manasquan, New Jersey, United States. It was constructed in 1989 by

Mercury Communications Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom, formed in 1981 as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless, to challenge the then-monopoly of British Telecom (BT). Although it proved only moderately successful at challe ...

and closed in 2004.

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

Sedgemoor Sedgemoor is a low-lying area of land in Somerset, England. It lies close to sea level south of the Polden Hills, historically largely marsh (or "moor" in its older sense). The eastern part is known as King's Sedgemoor, and the western part Wes ...

, 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 Axbridge Rural District, which 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

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

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.

Religious sites

The Church of St Bridget dates from the 13th century, but the fabric is predominantly from the 15th century and was extensively rebuilt around 1882. It is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. The dedication to St Bridget of Ireland, Abbess of Kildare, who died in 525, is an indication of a Celtic Christian settlement.

Gallery

Image:Breanrescuehovercraft.JPG, Rescue hovercraft on the sand/mud at Brean Image:Stbridgetschurchbrean.JPG, St Bridget's Church Image:BreanLandYacht.jpg, Land yachts on the beach at Brean Image:Brean 4.jpg, Aerial view of Brean.

References

External links

Brean Parish Council web site
* {{Sedgemoor Villages in Sedgemoor Seaside resorts in England Somerset Levels Civil parishes in Somerset Populated coastal places in Somerset Beaches of Somerset