for the hamlet four miles northwest of Dulverton

Dulverton

Dulverton is a town and civil parish in the heart of West Somerset, England, near the border with Devon. The town has a population of 1,630. The parish includes the hamlets of Battleton and Ashwick which is located approximately north west of Dulverton...

 in western Somerset, see Ashwick (near Dulverton)

Ashwick is a village in the Mendip

Mendip

Mendip is a local government district of Somerset in England. The Mendip district covers a largely rural area of ranging from the Mendip Hills through on to the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 110,000...

 district of Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, about three miles north of Shepton Mallet

Shepton Mallet

Shepton Mallet is a small rural town and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset in South West England. Situated approximately south of Bristol and east of Wells, the town is estimated to have a population of 9,700. It contains the administrative headquarters of Mendip District Council...

 and seven miles east from Wells

Wells

Wells is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. Although the population recorded in the 2001 census is 10,406, it has had city status since 1205...

. It has also been a civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 since 1826. The parish had a population of 1,291 according to the 2001 census, and apart from Ashwick village also includes Gurney Slade and Oakhill

Oakhill

Oakhill, Somerset is a village located approximately north of Shepton Mallet between the A37 and the A367 . Oakhill is today is mainly a commuter village of in size, but it is more famous for its past activities which include its brewing....

.

History

The nearby Maesbury Railway Cutting

Maesbury Railway Cutting

Maesbury Railway Cutting is a 2 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between East Horrington and Gurney Slade in Somerset, notified in 1995.It was part of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway....

 of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway

Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway

The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway – almost always referred to as "the S&D" – was an English railway line connecting Bath in north east Somerset and Bournemouth now in south east Dorset but then in Hampshire...

 exposes approximately 135 metres of strata representing the middle and upper Lower Limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 Shales

Shalës

Shalës is a municipality in the Elbasan District, Elbasan County, central Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Shalës, Licaj, Kurtalli, Xibrake, Xherie and Kodras....

 and the basal Black Rock Limestone. Both formations are of early Carboniferous

Carboniferous

The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

 (Courceyan) age.

Although Oakhill is the larger village today, Ashwick is the older settlement, dating back to Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 times. It appears in the Domesday book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 as a settlement called Escewiche, which translates as 'the hamlet or farmstead by the ash trees'. The Fosse Way

Fosse Way

The Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester , Bath , Cirencester and Leicester .It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at Venonis south...

 passes to the east of the parish.

The parish of Ashwick was part of the Kilmersdon

Kilmersdon (hundred)

The Hundred of Kilmersdon 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. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was...

 Hundred,

Anthony Newley

Anthony Newley

Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...

's short-lived 1960 ATV

Associated TeleVision

Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...

 series The Strange World of Gurney Slade

The Strange World of Gurney Slade

The Strange World of Gurney Slade is a British six-part television series made by ATV which was transmitted by the ITV network between 22 October and 26 November 1960. A surreal series devised by Anthony Newley, who also starred, it was written by Dick Hills and Sid Green...

, in which Newley starred, continues to have a cult following

Cult following

A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...

 owing to its postmodern premise that the Newley character is trapped inside a television programme.

The village is the site of Ashwick Court

Ashwick Court

Ashwick Court is Grade II* listed house on Heckley Lane northwest of Ashwick, in Mendip district, eastern Somerset, England, adjacent to the Church of St James. It is a country house, dating from the late 17th century and became a listed building on June 2, 1961.Judge Jeffries tried cases at...

, a country house dating from the late 17th century and Grade II* listed.

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

Neighbourhood Watch (UK)

The Neighbourhood Watch scheme in the United Kingdom is a partnership where people come together to make their communities safer. It involves the Police, Community Safety departments of local authorities, other voluntary organisations and, above all, individuals and families who want to make their...

 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

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 of Mendip

Mendip

Mendip is a local government district of Somerset in England. The Mendip district covers a largely rural area of ranging from the Mendip Hills through on to the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 110,000...

, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

, having previously been part of Shepton Mallet Rural District

Shepton Mallet Rural District

Shepton Mallet was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974.It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894.In 1974 it was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 when it became part of the Mendip district....

, which is responsible for local planning

Planning permission

Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...

 and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health

Environmental health

Environmental health is the branch of public health that is concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment that may affect human health...

, market

Market

A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

s and fairs, refuse collection and recycling

Recycling

Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...

, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

.

Somerset County Council

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.-Area covered:...

 is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education

Local Education Authority

A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...

, social services, libraries

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

, main roads, public transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

, policing

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 and fire services, trading standards

Trading Standards

Trading Standards is the name given to local authority departments in the UK formerly known as Weights and Measures. These departments investigate commercial organisations that carry out trade in unethical ways or outside the scope of the law.-History:...

, waste disposal and strategic planning.

It is also part of the Wells

Wells (UK Parliament constituency)

Wells is a county constituency centred on the city of Wells in Somerset. It elects one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, by the first past the post voting system...

 county constituency represented in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 and of the South West England constituency

South West England (European Parliament constituency)

South West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.-Boundaries:...

 of the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

.

Church

The parish Church of St James

Church of St James, Ashwick

The Church of St James in Ashwick, Somerset, England has a tower dating from around 1450 and the rest of the church from 1881. It is a Grade I listed building, adjacent to Ashwick Court....

 is basically a Victorian Gothic building erected between 1876 and 1881 by Browne and Gill of Bath. However, the church tower dates back to 1463. It is a Grade I listed building. The earliest record of a church on the site is 1413, when Bishop Bubwith dedicated a churchyard at Ashwick and authorised burials to take place there, but it is not known when the church was first built. The church was originally a chapel of ease

Chapel of ease

A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....

 connected to the vicarage at Kilmersdon

Kilmersdon

Kilmersdon is a small village located in the north of Somerset between the towns of Radstock and Frome. The settlement is recorded in William I's Domesday book and dates back at least 1,000 years; though the core of the village dates from the mid nineteenth century.-History:The name Kilmersdon...

, near Radstock

Radstock

Radstock is a town in Somerset, England, south west of Bath, and north west of Frome. It is within the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset and had a population of 5,275 according to the 2001 Census...

. It remained so until the formation of Ashwick parish. The benefice of Oakhill was added in 1923 and Binegar

Binegar

Binegar is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is located on the A37, east of Wells, between Shepton Mallet and Chilcompton. Its population in 2001 was 328.-History:...

 was added in 1969, since when one rector has overseen all three villages.

At the west end of the aisles in the Church of St James two memorial tablets can be seen. These are dedicated to John Billingsley

John Billingsley (agriculturist)

John Billingsley was an agricultural pioneer in 18th century Somerset, England.The writer of the 1794 Survey of Somerset, Billingsley was a leading agriculturalist who was one of the founders of the Bath and West Society, known today as the Royal Bath and West of England Society...

, his wife Mary, and their family.
The writer of the 1794 Survey of Somerset, Billingsley was a leading agriculturalist who was one of the founders of the Bath and West Society, known today as the Royal Bath and West of England Society

Royal Bath and West of England Society

The Royal Bath and West of England Society is a charitable society founded in 1777 to promote and improve agriculture and related activities around the West Country of England. Based at the Royal Bath and West of England Society Showground near Shepton Mallet in Somerset, the society is a...

. He lived all his life at Ashwick Grove, which is in the nearby village of Oakhill.