Bruton

The Church of St Mary, Bruton was founded by Ine of Wessex in the 7th century,{{Cite web |title=Welcome |url=http://www.stmarysbruton.org/welcome |publisher=St Mary's Bruton |access-date=14 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426232427/http://www.stmarysbruton.org/welcome |archive-date=26 April 2011 |url-status=dead}}

Bruton was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Briuuetone, meaning "Vigorously flowing river" from the Old English tor and Celtic briw meaning vigour.{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Somerset Place Names |year=1992 |publisher=The Dovecote Press Ltd |location=Wimborne, Dorset |isbn=1-874336-03-2}} The river has been the site of several watermills and in 2003 the South Somerset Hydropower Group installed their first hydroelectric turbine at Gants Mill at nearby Pitcombe.[https://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/sewyo355prhbgunpscr51d2w29062005080838.pdf Mirage and oasis: Energy choices in an age of global warming] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230143303/http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/sewyo355prhbgunpscr51d2w29062005080838.pdf |date=30 December 2008 }}, New Economics Foundation, {{ISBN|1-904882-01-3}}, published June 2005, accessed 11 June 2007.[http://www.british-hydro.org/mini-hydro/infopage.asp?infoid=393 Case Study – Gants Mill] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712142236/http://www.british-hydro.org/mini-hydro/infopage.asp?infoid=393|date=12 July 2007}}, British Hydropower Association, published 2004, accessed 11 June 2007.

Bruton Abbey, a medieval Augustinian priory from which a wall remains in the Plox close to Bow Bridge, was sold after the dissolution of the monasteries to the courtier Sir Maurice Berkeley (died 1581), whose Bruton branch of the Berkeley family converted it into a mansion, which was demolished in the late 18th century.{{Cite book |last=Adkins |first=Lesley and Roy |title=A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology |year=1992 |publisher=Dovecote Press |location=Wimborne, Dorset |isbn=0-946159-94-7 |page=31}}

The Dovecote which overlooks Bruton dates from the 16th century. It was at one time used as a house, possibly as a watchtower and as a dovecote. It is a Grade II* listed building,{{NHLE |desc=Dovecote about 370 metres South of Bruton Church |num=1056424 |access-date=30 December 2013}} and an ancient monument,{{Cite web |title=Dovecote, about 370 metres South of Bruton Church (also known as Pigeon Tower), Park Wall (North side), Bruton |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/50820 |work=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |access-date=30 December 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003095505/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/50820 |archive-date= 3 October 2016}}{{Cite web |title=Bruton Abbey |url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=199997 |work=Pastscape |publisher=English Heritage |access-date=30 December 2013}} and is managed by the National Trust. The building was once within the deerpark of the Abbey. It was adapted by the monks from a gabled Tudor tower.{{Cite book |last=Greeves |first=Lydia |title=Houses of the National Trust |year=2013 |publisher=National Trust Books |location=London |isbn=9781907892486 |page=364}} The conversion to a dovecote took place around 1780.{{Cite web |title=Tower, S of the church, Bruton |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/53124 |work=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |access-date=30 December 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003094934/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/53124 |archive-date= 3 October 2016}} It has over 200 pigeonholes.{{Cite web |title=Bruton Dovecote |url=http://somersetroutes.co.uk/site/bruton-dovecote/20 |publisher=Somerset Routes |access-date=30 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235812/http://somersetroutes.co.uk/site/bruton-dovecote/20 |archive-date=30 December 2013}}

Bruton was part of the hundred of Bruton.{{Cite web |title=Bruton Hundred |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18728 |work=A History of Britain |access-date=23 September 2011}}

The town is referenced in a folk song "The Bramble Briar", which is also known by the title "Bruton Town". A rare copy of an inspeximus of Magna Carta was found in Bruton in the 1950s and claimed by King's School. The sale of the copy to the Australian National Museum paid for much building work at the school.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

Much of the town's history appears in the Bruton Museum's Dovecote Building in the High Street. It includes a tourist information office.{{Cite web |title=Bruton Museum |url=http://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=6592 |publisher=South Somerset Council |access-date=31 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108235532/http://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=6592 |archive-date= 8 November 2007}} Bruton Museum Society, formed in 1989, involves the community and local schools in developing the collection of local artefacts. It moved in 1999 to its current location, which was jointly purchased by South Somerset District Council and Bruton Town Council.{{Cite web |title=Revenue Grant Requests – Bruton Museum and Wincanton Museum and History Society |url=http://ww2.southsomerset.gov.uk/media/pdf/b/8/Item_12_-_Revenue_Grant_Requests.pdf |publisher=South Somerset Council |access-date=9 November 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web |title=Museum |url=http://brutontown.co.uk/history/museum.html |publisher=Bruton Town |access-date=31 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317034625/http://www.brutontown.co.uk/history/museum.html |archive-date=17 March 2011}} The museum also marks the time spent in the town by John Steinbeck. It has organised exhibitions at King's School, including one in 2008 on the work of Ernst Blensdorf.{{Cite web |title=BRUTON MUSEUM AT KINGS SCHOOL Blensdorf Retrospective |url=http://www.galleries.co.uk/pr/s7-08-BRUTON-MUSEUM-AT-KINGS-SCHOOL-pr1.htm |publisher=Galleries UK |access-date=31 May 2010}} In 2010, an anonymous donor agreed to pay the rent on the building, removing earlier doubts about its viability.{{Cite news |title=Anonymous donor ends museum's woes |url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/clevedon/news/Anonymous-donor-ends-museum-s-woes/article-1911503-detail/article.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505092041/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/clevedon/news/Anonymous-donor-ends-museum-s-woes/article-1911503-detail/article.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 May 2013 |access-date=31 May 2010 |newspaper=Somerset Guardian |date=16 March 2010}}

In 2014, Hauser & Wirth opened a gallery and arts centre at a derelict farm outside Bruton.{{Cite news |title=Hauser & Wirth to open new art gallery in Somerset |first=Mark |last=Brown |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/dec/16/hauser-wirth-art-gallery-somerset |newspaper=The Guardian|date=16 December 2012 |access-date=17 December 2012}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2014 |title=Doors open at Hauser & Wirth Somerset |url=http://www.countrycalling.co.uk/item/doors-open-at-hauser-wirth-somerset |access-date=8 November 2023 |website=Country Calling}}

The first tier of local government is the parish council, which styles itself as Bruton Town Council.{{Cite web |title=About the Town Council |url=https://brutontowncouncil.gov.uk/what-we-do/about-the-town-council/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=Bruton Town Council |language=en-GB}} The body sets an annual precept (local rate) to cover its operating costs and produces annual accounts for public scrutiny. The town council is responsible for the town's cemetery and allotments, and maintains St Mary's churchyard. It is consulted on local planning applications and works with local police, district council officers and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security and traffic. It initiates projects for maintaining and repairing parish facilities, and consults with the district council on 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 covered.

For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the village comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of South Somerset, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Wincanton Rural District.{{Cite web |title=Wincanton RD |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10202474 |work=A vision of Britain Through Time |publisher=University of Portsmouth |access-date=4 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105035716/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10202474 |archive-date=5 January 2014}}

For elections to Parliament, Bruton is within the Glastonbury and Somerton county constituency.

Bruton station is on the Reading–Taunton line, a branch of the Great Western Main Line, between Westbury and Taunton. The route is the most direct between London (Paddington) and the West Country (ending at Penzance), but is slower for geographical reasons. The stretch between Westbury and Castle Cary is also part of the Heart of Wessex line, served by Great Western Railway services between Bristol Temple Meads and Weymouth.

In December 2015, South West Trains introduced a service between London Waterloo, Salisbury and Yeovil Pen Mill, giving Bruton its first direct London service for some years.

Bus services are operated by South West Coaches.

Work to build the railway at Bruton Railway Cutting exposed geology of the epoch of the Middle Jurassic. It is among the best places in England to display the stratigraphic distinction of fossil ammonites in the Subcontractus and Morrisi zones.[http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003844.pdf English Nature citation sheet for the site] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910045232/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003844.pdf |date=10 September 2008}}; accessed 7 August 2006.

The nearby Godminster Lane Quarry and Railway Cutting is another geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, for study of the Inferior Oolite limestones, of the Middle Jurassic age, laid down in a warm shallow sea some 175 million years ago. The site is unique in that the limestones seen are more closely comparable with rocks of similar age found in the Cotswolds than with rock sequences elsewhere in Somerset. However, the rocks contain the rich assemblage of ammonites typical of the north Dorset/south Somerset area. This feature, along with the unusual limestone sequence, makes the site unique. It is also important as a reference for three sub-divisions (zones) of the Inferior Oolite – the laeviscula, discites and concavum zones.[http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000063.pdf English Nature citation sheet for the site] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013122025/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000063.pdf |date=13 October 2006}}; accessed 10 August 2006.

File:Brutonchurch.jpg]]

Both the 14th-century Church of St Mary,{{NHLE |desc=Church of St Mary |num=1056408 |access-date=9 February 2007}} and the Church of the Holy Trinity in Wyke Champflower,{{NHLE |desc=Church of the Holy Trinity |num=1366339 |access-date=9 February 2007}} dated at 1623, are Grade I listed buildings.

John Wesley preached in Bruton in 1776. A Methodist chapel at West End was opened in 1848.{{Cite web |title=British history online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18733 |access-date=23 October 2008}} The congregation was served by the Somerset Mission Circuit and more recently by the Somerset Mendip Circuit.Churches. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305204452/http://www.somersetmethodists.org/somerset_mendip_circuit_29_08_2014_005.htm Retrieved 1 January 2016.]}}

Bruton is known for two long-standing secondary schools: King's School (founded 1519) and Sexey's School (founded 1889). Both have a sixth form, and a tradition of boarding.

One of Bruton's notable historic characters was Hugh Sexey (1556–1619), who was born locally and attended Bruton Grammar School. By the age of 43 he was appointed as royal auditor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I and later King James I. After his death, his trustees established Sexey's Hospital in Bruton as an institution to care for the elderly. Sexey's trust was mainly involved with educational causes. The politician behind the Education Act 1902, Henry Hobhouse (1854–1937), was involved in the founding of Sexey's School as well as Sunny Hill school (later Bruton School for Girls, open from 1901 to 2022).

• Koos Bekker (born 1952), businessman{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jul/10/this-isnt-really-somerset-how-the-rich-took-over-bruton-george-osborne |title='This isn't really Somerset': how the rich took over Bruton |work=The Guardian |last=Neate |first=Rupert |date=10 July 2020 |access-date=2 February 2021}}
• Caroline Corr (born 1973), musician
• Stella McCartney (born 1971), fashion designer
• Cameron Mackintosh (born 1946), knight bachelor, musical theatre producer
• George Osborne (born 1971), former politician and newspaper editor
• Iwan Wirth (born 1970), art dealer
• Joe Wright, director and Haley Bennett, actress
• Sarah Beeny (born 1972), property developer and TV personality{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/knowing-me-knowing-you-sarah-beeny-and-graham-swift-6262219.html |location=London |work=The Independent |date=15 November 2011 |title=Knowing me, Knowing you: Sarah Beeny and Graham Swift}}
• Mariella Frostrup, newspaper columnist
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson (born 1990), actor and Sam Taylor-Johnson (born 1967), artist and director{{Cite web |date=2024-03-19 |title=The anti-James Bond: Why kale-growing Aaron Taylor-Johnson would be a 007 like no other |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/jewish-hands-dad-why-aaron-180652299.html |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Yahoo Life |language=en-US}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Portal|Somerset}}

{{Commons category|Bruton}}

• [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=18733 British History Online - Bruton Parish] – detailed local history
• [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=18728 British History Online - Bruton Hundred] – detailed history for the wider Bruton area
• The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120324051348/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_BrutonText.pdf Bruton], by Miranda Richardson

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• [https://brutontowncouncil.gov.uk/ Bruton Town Council]

{{Somerset}}

{{South Somerset}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Towns in South Somerset

Category:Market towns in Somerset

Category:Civil parishes in Somerset