Closworth is a village and 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...

 in 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...

, situated five miles south of Yeovil

Yeovil

Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...

 in the South Somerset

South Somerset

South Somerset is a local government district in Somerset, England.The South Somerset district covers and area of ranging from the borders with Devon and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 158,000...

 district, on the border with Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

. The village has a population

Population

A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of 192.

The parish includes the villages of Pendomer and Sutton Bingham, the location for Sutton Bingham Manor, Sutton Bingham Sailing

Sailing

Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...

 Club (SBSC) and Sutton Bingham and District Canoe Club (SBDCC). It sits on a reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 of the same name owned by Wessex Water

Wessex Water

Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply and sewerage utility company serving an area of the south west of England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, most of Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire...

. It has an approximate population of 25.

History

The village was named Clovesuurda meaning "homestead above the valley" 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...

 of 1086, when it was the property of Robert, Count of Mortain. His son gave it to the newly formed priory at Montacute

Montacute

Montacute is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 680 . The name Montacute is thought by some to derive from the Latin "Mons Acutus", referring to the small but still quite acute hill dominating the village to the west.The village...

 in 1102. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

 the estate was bought by the Portmans of Orchard Portman

Orchard Portman

Orchard Portman is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The village has a population of 150....

 who retained it into the 20th century.

The parish was part of the hundred of Houndsborough

Houndsborough (hundred)

The Hundred of Houndsborough 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...

.

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 South Somerset

South Somerset

South Somerset is a local government district in Somerset, England.The South Somerset district covers and area of ranging from the borders with Devon and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 158,000...

, 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 Yeovil Rural District

Yeovil Rural District

Yeovil 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 South Somerset....

. The district council 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 Yeovil 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...

. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP)

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 by the first past the post system of election, and part 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...

 which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method

D'Hondt method

The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...

 of party-list proportional representation

Party-list proportional representation

Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...

.

Geography

The geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 of the area is Cornbrash

Cornbrash

In geology, Cornbrash was the name applied to the uppermost member of the Bathonian stage of the Jurassic formation in England. It is an old English agricultural name applied in Wiltshire to a variety of loose rubble or brash which, in that part of the country, forms a good soil for growing corn...

, the name applied to the uppermost member of the Bathonian

Bathonian

In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age or stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 167.7 Ma to around 164.7 Ma...

 stage of the Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 formation. The name was adopted by William Smith

William Smith (geologist)

William 'Strata' Smith was an English geologist, credited with creating the first nationwide geological map. He is known as the "Father of English Geology" for collating the geological history of England and Wales into a single record, although recognition was very slow in coming...

 for a thin band of shelly 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....

 which, in the south of England, breaks up in the manner indicated. The Cornbrash is a very fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

iferous formation; the fauna indicates a transition from the Lower to the Middle Oolite

Oolite

Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...

s, though it is probably more nearly related to that of the beds above than to those below.

Churches

The Church of All Saints in Closworth village has 13th-century origins and is designated as a Grade II* listed building.

The Norman

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

 Church of All Saints

Church of All Saints, Sutton Bingham

The Church of All Saints in Sutton Bingham in the civil parish of Closworth, Somerset, England dates from the 12th and 13th centuries and has been designated as a Grade I listed building....

 in Sutton Bingham dates from the 12th and 13th centuries and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

The Church of Saint Roch in Pendomer is 14th-century.

Bellfounders

For nearly 200 years Closworth had a bell-foundry

Bellfounding

Bellfounding is the casting of bells in a foundry for use in churches, clocks, and public buildings. A practitioner of the craft is called a bellmaker or bellfounder. The process in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century. In early times, when a town produced a bell it was a momentous occasion in...

. Master bell-founders at Closworth included William Purdue I (active 1572-84), Thomas Purdue (active 1647-1691), Thomas Knight (active 1692-1714), William Knight (active 1709-47), William Elery (active 1732-57), Thomas Roskelly (active 1750-68), Richard Rock (active 1753-67) and James Smith (active 1762-67).