Corton Denham is a village and
parish in
Somerset, England, situated seven miles north east of
Yeovil in the
South Somerset district. The village has a
population of 189.
History
The village was named ''Corfetone'' in the
Domesday Book of 1086, coming from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
meaning ''the settlement in a cutting''. The second part of the name comes from the Dynham (later Dynham) family who held the manor from the 12th century until 1509.
The parish was part of the
hundred of
Horethorne.
In the 19th century an iron
waterwheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...
was installed at Whitcombe Farmhouse.
The village was on the covers of two 2006 calendars.
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, 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
Yeovil 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 using the
d'Hondt method of
party-list proportional representation.
Religious sites
The parish
Church of St Andrew was rebuilt 1869–1870 to a design of Charles Barker-Green for the Rev W.B Portman and the patron Lord Portman of
Orchard Portman.
Notable residents
Former
Blue Peter
''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
presenter
Valerie Singleton lived in the village.
World War 2 recipient of the Victoria Cross for bravery, Rear Admiral Godfrey Place, is buried in the village. He was awarded the VC when, as a former mini sub-mariner he took part in a successful and very difficult attack which severely damaged the German battleship Tirpitz in 1943.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_Place
References.
External links
{{South Somerset
Villages in South Somerset
Civil parishes in Somerset