Goathurst
{{Short description|Village in Somerset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|coordinates = {{coord|51.103|-3.064|display=inline,title}}
|official_name = Goathurst
|population = 193
| unitary_england = Somerset Council
| lieutenancy_england = Somerset
|region = South West England
|constituency_westminster = Bridgwater
|post_town = BRIDGWATER
|postcode_district = TA5
|postcode_area = TA
|dial_code = 01278
|os_grid_reference = ST255345
|static_image = Halswell House, Goathurst - geograph.org.uk - 502366.jpg
|static_image_width = 250px
|static_image_caption = Halswell House
|static_image_2 = File:Temple of Harmony, Goathurst, Somerset - geograph.org.uk - 920680.jpg
|static_image_2_caption = Temple of Harmony
}}
Goathurst is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset, around 3 miles from the town of Bridgwater. The parish includes the hamlets of Andersfield and Huntstile. The village is on the route of the Samaritans Way South West.
History
Goathurst was part of the hundred of Andersfield.{{cite web|title=Andersfield hundred through time |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/21180 |work=A Vision of Britain Through Time |access-date=11 February 2017 }}
Originally part of the Royal Forest of North Petherton, its first squire owned{{cite web|url=http://www.quantockonline.co.uk/quantocks/villages/goathurst/goathurst1.html|title=Goathurst|publisher=Quantock Online|access-date=12 May 2009}} Goathurst's St Edward's church, a Grade I listed building{{NHLE | desc=Church of St Edward King and Martyr | num=1177353 | access-date=4 November 2006}} which includes a 19th-century monument to three-year-old Isabella Kemeys, showing the child lying on a pillow holding a broken flower.{{cite web|url=http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/churches/somerset.shtml|title=The Hidden Churches of Somerset |last=Simmons|first=Louise|publisher=Time Travel Britain|access-date=12 May 2009}}
Goathurst was the location of a 300-person prisoner of war camp during World War II, initially housing Italian prisoners from the Western Desert Campaign, and later German prisoners following the Battle of Normandy.{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/16573|title=Prisoner of War camp, Haswell Park, Goathurst|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=18 August 2009}}
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 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.
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 Sedgemoor, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Bridgwater Rural District.{{cite web|title=Bridgwater RD|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10025527|work=A vision of Britain Through Time|publisher=University of Portsmouth|access-date=4 January 2014}}
It is also part of the Bridgwater county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, and was part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament prior to Britain leaving the European Union in January 2020, which elected seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Goathurst}}
- Location: {{coord|51.10|N|03.07|W|region:GB}} ST2534
- [http://www.quantockonline.co.uk/quantocks/villages/goathurst/goathurst1.html Entry at Quantock online]
- [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=18531 British History online] comprehensive background on Goathurst and Haswell House
- [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10432248 Vision of Britain entry] many statistics
- [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Goathurst/index.html Entry at GENUKI]
- [http://www.peerage.org/genealogy/tree.htm History of the Poulett family]
- [http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/fulldesc_nofr?inst_id=36&coll_id=1179&expand= Archives Wales] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523130714/http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/fulldesc_nofr?inst_id=36&coll_id=1179&expand= |date=23 May 2007 }} information on the Kemeys-Tynte family
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/02/a3936602.shtml John Salvatore Zuncheddu: story of the PoW camp]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928103254/http://www.sedgemoor.gov.uk/localplan/maps/i28.htm Map of Goathurst from Sedgemoor online]
{{Sedgemoor}}
{{Authority control}}