Butleigh | |
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Butleigh Village Green |
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Butleigh Cross |
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Butleigh shown within Somerset | |
Population | 823 (2011) |
OS grid reference | ST525335 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | GLASTONBURY |
Postcode district | BA6 |
Dialling code | 01458 |
Police | Avon and Somerset |
Fire | Devon and Somerset |
Ambulance | South Western |
EU Parliament | South West England |
UK Parliament | |
Butleigh is a small village and civil parish, located in Somerset. The nearest village to it is Barton St David, and it is located a short distance from Glastonbury and Street. Its population is 823. Butleigh has a church, small village shop, a Church of England primary school and Butleigh Nursery School.
The parish of Butleigh was part of the Whitley Hundred.
Butleigh Court, which was abandoned for many years and has now been brought back into use, is noted for its interesting architecture including the tall carved chimney stacks, which are all different. Another interesting landmark is the cedar avenue, just outside the village. It was built in 1845 by J. C. Buckler, for Henry Neville-Grenville, on the site of an earlier building.
The village history is told in a slim book, Butleigh: One Thousand Years of an English Village, by E. F. Synge, a former vicar at the parish church. A reconstruction of life of one farm worker, John Hodges, who lived in the village during the Victorian era, is illustrated at the Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury.
There is the lofty column of the Admiral Hood Monument raised to the memory of Sir Samuel Hood on a hill near Butleigh, and in Butleigh Church is another memorial, with an inscription written by Robert Southey.
There is also a 16th-century pub in Butleigh called The Rose and Portcullis.
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.