Low Ham
{{Short description|Human settlement in Somerset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
|static_image_name= Low Ham church.jpg
|static_image_alt=Stone building with square tower
|static_image_caption=Church without dedication, Low Ham
|country = England
|coordinates = {{coord|51.0600|-2.8110|scale:10000|display=inline,title}}
|official_name= Low Ham
|population=
|unitary_england= Somerset Council
|lieutenancy_england= Somerset
|region= South West England
|constituency_westminster= Glastonbury and Somerton
|post_town= LANGPORT
|postcode_district = TA10 9
|postcode_area= TA
|dial_code= 01458
|os_grid_reference= ST432292
}}
Low Ham is a village in the civil parish of High Ham in the English county of Somerset.
At the time of the Domesday Book Low Ham was part of the estate of Serlo de Burcy, and was later known as Ham Burcy and Nether Ham.{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15109#s9 |title=Low Ham Manors |accessdate=2007-11-23 |format= |work=British History Online }}
Roman villa
{{main|Low Ham Roman Villa}}
There is evidence of occupation from Roman times with a large Roman villa which was excavated in 1946. The bath block contained a 4th-century mosaic showing the story of Aeneas and Dido. It is the earliest piece of narrative art in the country and is a unique find from Roman Britain.{{cite web | title=The Low Ham Roman Mosaic | work=Somerset Museum | url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/culturecommunity/museums/somersetcollection/lowhamromanmosaic/ | accessdate=2006-08-11}}
Church
English Heritage lists a church, without dedication to any saint, on the site of an earlier church, which was started in the early 17th century, and damaged in the Civil War, and completed in 1690. It is a Grade I listed building.{{NHLE | desc=Church without Dedication | num=1346080 | accessdate=2007-10-03}}
In the 17th century the local Lord of the Manor, Baron Stawell, intended to build a palatial mansion next to the church but it was never completed. The original gateway was moved to Hazelgrove House (now Hazlegrove Preparatory School) in the early 19th century.{{cite book|last=Warren|first=Derrick|title=Curious Somerset|year=2005|publisher=Sutton Publishing|location=Stroud|isbn=978-0-7509-4057-3|pages=83–84}}
Site of Special Scientific Interest
{{Infobox SSSI
|image=
|name=Low Ham
|aos=Somerset
|interest=Geological
|gridref={{gbmappingsmall|ST440290}}
|area=5 hectare
|notifydate=1988
|map=[http://www.natureonthemap.org.uk/map.aspx?map=sssi&feature=1003392,sssi,HYPERLINK,LABEL English Nature]
}}
The Low Ham SSSI at {{gbmapping|ST440290}}, lies on lowest slopes of Woodbirds Hill in the adjoining civil parish of Pitney, just above the Low Ham Rhyne. It is a {{convert|12.4|acre|ha}} geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, notified in 1988. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.
This site contains a Pleistocene sedimentary sequence of sands, silts and peats, laid down in the Early Devensian. The site forms a rare example of deposits of 'interstadial' facies associated with a high sea level; these are of critical importance
for British Pleistocene geology.{{cite web | title=Low Ham SSSI citation sheet | work=English Nature | url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003392.pdf | accessdate=2006-08-11}}
References
External links
{{Commons category|Low Ham}}
- [http://www.english-nature.org.uk English Nature website] (SSSI information)
{{SSSIs Somerset geological}}
Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset
Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1988