St Cuthbert Out, sometimes Wells St Cuthbert Out, 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 ...

in the county of

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 entirely surrounds (but does not include) the city and parish of Wells as an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

. According to the 2021 census it had a population of 4,574, an increase on the 2011 census count of 3,749. The parish is named for the

Church of St Cuthbert, Wells The Church of St Cuthbert is an Anglican parish church in Wells, Somerset, England, dating from the 13th century. It is often mistaken for the cathedral. It has a fine Somerset stone tower and a superb carved roof. It is a Grade I listed buildi ...

and was created in 1866. The historic ecclesiastical

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Wells St Cuthbert had been split into two, with the

Wells St Cuthbert In Wells St Cuthbert In, sometimes St Cuthbert In, is a former Civil parishes in England, civil parish covering the larger part of the small city of Wells, Somerset, Wells, now in the parish of Wells, in Somerset, England. The parish was named for ...

parish covering the area inside the city of Wells (except for the small area covered by the cathedral's liberty of Wells St Andrew). Population centres in the parish are

Dinder Dinder (which means "the house in the valley") is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of St Cuthbert Out, in the Somerset (district), Somerset district, in the ceremonial county of Somerset. It is miles west of Shepton ...

Wookey Hole Wookey Hole is a village in Somerset, England. It is the location of the Wookey Hole show caves. Location Wookey Hole is located in the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out. It is one mile north-west of the city of Wells, and lies on the border o ...

and East, West and South Horrington. It also includes the smaller settlements of Burcott, Coxley, Dulcote, Easton, Launcherley, Lower Milton, Polsham, Southway, Upper Milton and Worminster.

Wookey Wookey is a village and civil parish west of Wells, on the River Axe in Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Henton and the nearby hamlets of Yarley and Bleadney where the River Axe travels the length of the village. There u ...

itself is a separate parish. The parish is crossed by the national

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West S ...

long distance footpath, as well as the more local

Mendip Way The Mendip Way is an long-distance footpath across the Mendip Hills from Weston-super-Mare to Frome. It is divided into two sections. The West Mendip Way was opened in 1979 and starts at the Bristol Channel at Uphill Cliff. It climbs the Mend ...

footpath, and

National Cycle Route 3 Route Bristol to Bridgwater West Harptree , Charterhouse, Somerset, Charterhouse , Wookey Hole , Glastonbury The route goes south from Bristol into Somerset and around Chew Valley Lake Bridgwater to Land's End Taunton , Bideford , Bu ...

History

Burcott

Watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

was built for the

Bishop of Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...

and listed among his estates in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086. The

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...

is driven by water from the River Axe soon after it leaves

Wookey Hole Caves Wookey Hole Caves () are a series of limestone caverns, a show cave and tourist attraction in the village of Wookey Hole on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset, England. The River Axe flows through the cave. It is a ...

. Most of the current building and the gearing within the

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

, which is used to grind corn, date from 1864 and has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as 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 ...

. Burcott Manor House was built in the late 16th or early 17th century, with further alterations in the 18th and 20th centuries. Coxley lies on the

River Sheppey The River Sheppey has its source in a group of springs west of the village of Doulting, near Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. It flows through the wetlands to the north of the Polden Hills and ultimately joins the River Brue. Route Fr ...

where the Anglican Christ Church was built in 1839 by Richard Carver. It has been designated by

as a grade II

Dulcote Quarry Dulcote Quarry is a disused limestone quarry at Dulcote, near Wells on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. The quarry measures around from West to East and around from North to South, with an area of , which is surrounded by of woodland. ...

, is a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

where the

Foster Yeoman Foster Yeoman Limited, based near Frome, Somerset, England, was one of Europe's largest independent quarrying and asphalt companies. It was sold to Aggregate Industries in 2006. History The company was founded by Foster Yeoman, from Hartlepool ...

Company was founded in 1923. The quarry now measures around 600 m from West to East and around 350 m from North to South. It now has an output of approximately 0.25M tonnes per year of Carboniferous Limestone, for general purpose construction aggregates. A

Geodiversity Geodiversity is the variety of earth materials, forms and processes that constitute and shape the Earth, either the whole or a specific part of it.Zwolinski, Zb. 2004. ''Geodiversity'', in: ''Encyclopedia of Geomorphology'', A.Goudie (ed.), Routle ...

audit of the site was carried out in 2004. Twinhills Woods and Meadows south of Dulcote is a 21.2

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

(52.4 acre)

biological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. Easton is believed to mean 'The enclosure by the water' from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''eas'' and ''tun''. The church of

St Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

in Easton, which was built by Richard Carver, dates from 1843. It is a Grade II

Fenny Castle Motte and Bailey - geograph

Polsham (also spelled Poulsham) is split into two parts with half of the village on the

A39 road The A39 is an A road in south west England. It runs south-west from Bath in Somerset through Wells, Glastonbury, Street and Bridgwater. It then follows the north coast of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall through Williton, Minehead, Porlock, Lynmo ...

, which includes a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

(The Three Wells), and half of the village around 600 yards down a country lane.

Polsham railway station Polsham was a railway station on the Somerset and Dorset Railway in the village of Polsham, Somerset in England. It closed in 1951. Opening in December 1861 on the Somerset Central Railway, which was at that time worked by the Bristol and Exe ...

was on the

Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR, also known as the S&D, S&DR or SDJR), was an English railway line Joint railway, jointly owned by the Midland Railway (MR) and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) that grew to connect Bat ...

line. This single platform station, opened in December 1861, was the only stop between Wells and

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

. There is still a 1920s two-storey station house on the site but all traffic ceased through the station on 29 October 1951. One mile north-west of Polsham are the earthwork remains of

Fenny Castle Fenny Castle is the remains of a motte and bailey castle in the parish of Wookey, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, but not accessible to the public. It is sited on a natural hillock of Lias approximately above the surroun ...

, a

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

castle sited on a natural hillock, however since boundary changes were introduced this is now in the parish of

Notable buildings and structures

The former

Mendip Hospital Mendip Hospital opened in 1848 as the Somerset and Bath Pauper Lunatic Asylum at Horrington, near Wells, Somerset, Wells, in the English county of Somerset. As a county asylum, it was replaced by Tone Vale Hospital in 1897, but it continued to h ...

at Horrington was built in 1845–47 as the County Lunatic Asylum, by Sir

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

and W. B. Moffatt, supervised by Richard Carver. It is Grade II listed. The hospital chapel is also listed. The

Mendip transmitting station The Mendip transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility on the summit of Pen Hill, part of the Mendip Hills range in Somerset, England, at above sea level. The station is in St Cuthbert Out civil parish, approximat ...

is within the parish, on

Pen Hill Pen Hill forms part of the Mendip Hills plateau in Somerset, England. The hill is located in St Cuthbert Out civil parish. The name Pen is believed to be Celtic for hill or tor. It gives its name to one of the four periclines which underlay ...

; its 293m high mast is the tallest structure in south west England.

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 A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

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. For

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

purposes, since 1 April 2023, the parish comes under 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 ...

Somerset Council Somerset Council, known until 2023 as Somerset County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England. Since 2023 it has been a Unitary authorities of England, unita ...

. Prior to this, it was part of the

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

of Mendip (established 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 ...

). It was part of

Wells Rural District Wells was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974. It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, taking over the responsibilities of the former Wells Rural Sanitary District. Each parish elected one or more cou ...

before 1974. It is also part of the

Wells and Mendip Hills Wells and Mendip Hills is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. It was first contested at the 2024 general election. It is currently represented by Liberal Democrat Tessa Munt, who was previously MP for Wells from 2010 to ...

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system of election.

Wards

The civil parish is divided into four parish wards. They are (with the number of councillors each elects to the parish council, in brackets): North (five), South (three), East (four) and West (five).legislation.gov.uk
''The Somerset (Electoral Changes) Order 2012''

References

External links

St Cuthbert Out Parish Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Cuthbert Out Civil parishes in Somerset Wells, Somerset