Wrington


Wrington is a village and a civil and ecclesiastical parish in North Somerset, England. Both parishes include the nearby village of Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river, about east of Weston-super-Mare and south-east of Yatton. It has a population of 2,633 according to the 2011 Census.

History

The village dates back to Roman times and there is strong evidence of Saxon occupation as well.
Wrington was historically part of the hundred of Brent-cum-Wrington.
Wrington Cottage Hospital opened in 1864 and admitted 24 patients in its first year of operation. The first surgeon was Horace Swete, who wrote the Habdy Book of Cottage Hospitals. It was referred to by Florence Nightingale in 1869.
Wrington had its own railway station between 1901 and 1963, on the Wrington Vale Light Railway, which ran from Congresbury to Blagdon.

Governance

As a parish council, Wrington Council has responsibility for setting an annual precept to cover operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. Its role includes initiating maintenance and repair of parish facilities. It falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which was created in 1996 under the Local Government Act 1992. North Somerset covers some of the ceremonial county of Somerset, but is administered separately from today's non-metropolitan county. Its headquarters are in the town hall of Weston-super-Mare. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, the parish lay in the Woodspring district of the county of Avon. Before 1974, the parish was part of Axbridge Rural District.
An electoral ward exists with the same name. This includes Butcombe as well as Wrington parish. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 2,851.
The parish is represented in the parliamentary House of Commons as part of the North Somerset constituency. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system, currently Liam Fox of the Conservative Party.

Church

The Church of All Saints has 13th-century foundations. It was remodelled with the addition of a west tower about 1450. There was a restoration in 1859 and further restoration of the tower in 1948. The church includes on either side of the door stone busts to John Locke and Hannah More dating from the early 19th century. The chancel has an 1832 Gothic reredos by Charles Barry. The rood screen is from the 16th century. It has a tall four-stage tower with set-back buttresses which develop into crocketed pinnacles at the top stage. The top displays moulded string courses and a trefoil-pierced triangular parapet with gargoyles and corner pinnacles. It is Grade I listed. According to Freeman it is "one of the "highest achievements of architectural genius". It dates from the period 1420–1450. The belfry stair is in the south-east turret. The height of the tower is to the top of the pinnacles.
The 17th-century rectory is Grade II listed.
The church's bells ring automatically. Until 2012, this took place every 15 minutes even through the night, but after a noise abatement order was served, it was reduced to hourly during the night.

Primary school

The village primary school was opened on 1 May 1857 and is Grade II listed.

Butcombe Brewery

A major institution in the local economy is the Butcombe Brewery, a microbrewery set up in the nearby village of Butcombe in 1978 by Simon Whitmore, the managing director of Courage Western, made redundant in a restructuring, and his wife Maureen. In 2003 the business was sold to Guy Newell and Paul Horsley, and moved to an industrial estate at Wrington, to be housed in a purpose-built brewery completed in March 2005. In the same year the brewery set up a joint venture with Thatcher's, the Long Ashton Cider Company, to produce a keg cider. In 2008 output was 24,000 barrels a year and the number of direct outlets was about 450.

Notable residents

In birth order:
Wrington Redhill AFC plays at the recreation ground in Wrington. The club operates a 1st team, a reserve team and an A team. The 1st team plays in the Erra Somerset County League in the premier division. The reserve team plays in Weston super Mare and District League Division 1 and A team in the W&D division 4. The club badge is a gold rampant dragon, the same as the emblem on the unofficial Flag of Somerset. The club colours are green and black.

Cricket club

Wrington currently has two senior teams. The 1st XI is currently in the North Somerset Cricket League Saturday Division 1. The 2nd XI is in Saturday Division 3. The club's limited overs team also finished as runners-up in the league's Butcombe Brewery KO Cup. The club also has a youth system, running teams in the North Somerset Youth Cricket Leagues at Under 17, 15, 13 and 11 levels. The club's facilities and pitch have been improved in the last few years, and alongside an improved pitch It now has two nets, used for training sessions for all ages and levels.