Draycott
Street scene showing road junction and white painted house.
Draycott
Draycott is located in Somerset
Draycott
Draycott
Location within Somerset
OS grid referenceST477510
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCHEDDAR
Postcode districtBS27
Dialling code01934
PoliceAvon and Somerset
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

Draycott is a village in Somerset, England, neighbouring the village of Cheddar on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is now the larger village in the civil parish of Rodney Stoke.

History

There is some evidence of occupation of the site in the Iron Age including an unfinished earthwork enclosure on the hill above Draycott.[1]

The village was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Draicote, meaning 'The dray shelter' from the Old English dragan and cot.[2] Another derivation is from the Brythonic from Tre meaning settlement and Coet meanings woods.

Geography

Close to the village is the Draycott Sleights nature reserve which has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Halesland Airfield is situated just to the north of the village and is home to the Mendip Gliding Club. Draycott is still a major strawberry producer and the now-disused railway line that ran through the village was called the Strawberry Line. The pub located opposite the old railway station is called The Strawberry Special.

The A371 road runs north to south through the village's longest axis. Despite being classified as an A-road, it significantly narrows at certain points along the southern part of the village and has been the cause of congestion during times of increased traffic flow such as during the summer tourist season.

Church

The church of St Peter was built in 1861 by the architect Charles Edmund Giles. It is a Grade II listed building.[3] The majority of the stonework is that known locally as 'Draycott Marble', a dolomitic conglomerate with a pronounced pinkish tinge, that was quarried quite close by at Draycott quarry.[4] Notable interior features are the stained glass east windows, the fine wrought-iron rood screen (1894), and the neo-Norman font by William Burges.[5]

Controversially, in 2006, the church attempted to sell the font for £110,000.[6] The Rev. Stanley Price contended that the sale was essential to meet a repair and restoration bill of an estimated £170,000.[7] The sale was initially approved by the Chancellor of the Diocese of Bath and Wells, Timothy J Briden[7] but permission was subsequently refused when the Victorian Society appealed to the Court of Arches, one of the Church of England's highest courts. The court found "no compelling need to dispose of the font had been demonstrated" and concluded that, if allowed, "much of which adorns and adds interest, both historically and architecturally, to our churches would be lost to future generations."[8]

Former railway station

The former railway station was part of the Strawberry Line, which ran out of Yatton (Somerset), towards Wells. Draycott Station was the stop after Cheddar. The station opened in 1878. The line closed in the early 1960s.

Notable residents

  • Henry Barber (1841–1924), English amateur cricketer, died in Draycott.

References

  1. ↑ "Mendip Hills An Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" (PDF). Somerset County Council Archeological Projects. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  2. ↑ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Peter (1058589)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 July 2006.
  4. ↑ Atthill, Robin (1976). Mendip: A new study. Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7297-1.
  5. ↑ "Church of St Peter". Retrieved 17 July 2006.
  6. ↑ "Historic Font to Remain at Draycott — Heritage and History". Heritageandhistory.com. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Font sale go ahead will help church in need of repair :: Christian Publishing and Outreach (CPO) Central". CPO. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "Cambridge Journals Online - Fulltext". Journals.cambridge.org. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
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