Wookey

The name Wookey is thought to come from the Old English wocig, meaning an animal trap.{{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}} An alternative explanation has been offered which suggests it comes from the Celtic word ogof meaning cave,{{cite book |last=Bush |first=Robin |title=Somerset: The complete guide |year=1994 |publisher=Dovecote Press |location=Wimborne, Dorset |isbn=1-874336-27-X |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/somersetcomplete0000bush }}{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=Thomas Scott|title=The History of the Parish and Manor of Wookey|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofparishm00holmrich}} possibly appearing also as Woky.[http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no541a/aCP40no541afronts/IMG_0450.htm Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas. National Archives; CP40/541; year 1396; 9th entry; the defendant is William Smyth, of Woky]

One mile north-west of Polsham, but within the parish of Wookey, are the earthwork remains of Fenny Castle, a motte and bailey castle sited on a natural hillock.{{cite web|title=Fenny Castle|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24455|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=13 May 2011}}{{PastScape|mname=Fenny Castle|mnumber=197243|access-date=13 May 2011}}

File:Fenny Castle Motte and Bailey - geograph.org.uk - 668704.jpg

File:ChristChurchHenton.jpg

The parish was part of the hundred of Wells Forum.{{cite web|title=Somerset Hundreds|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/|publisher=GENUKI|access-date=12 September 2011}}

The now-closed Wookey Station, once lying on Cheddar Valley line branch of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The village included a manor house built by Bishop Jocelin of Wells in the 13th century. It was rebuilt in the sixteenth century and is now a farmhouse and Grade II* listed building.{{NHLE |num=1058584 |desc=Court Farmhouse |access-date=26 November 2006}}{{NHLE|desc=Bishop's palace|num=1013588|access-date=25 January 2015}}

The population in 1821 was 1,040, comprising 223 families, of which 147 were employed in agriculture.{{cite web | title=Somersetshire delineated, by C. and J. Greenwood, 1822 | work=Google Books | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6sHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA210&dq=wookey | access-date=25 October 2007| last1=Greenwood | first1=Christopher | year=1822 }}

The National School was founded in the village in 1844 by St Matthew's Church. From October to December 1880, H. G. Wells joined the school as a pupil-teacher aged 12, following a relative who was headteacher at that time.{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v3YaKvNutIsC | page= 119 | title= West Country History: Somerset | first= Muriel| last= Searle | publisher= Intellect Books| year= 2002 |isbn= 9781841508023}}

It later became Wookey Primary School, a community primary for around 85 children aged 4 to 11 of Wookey and the surrounding area.{{cite web | url=http://www.wookeyschool.ik.org/home.ikml | title=Wookey Primary School | publisher=Wookey Primary School | access-date=8 December 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219232602/http://www.wookeyschool.ik.org/home.ikml | archive-date=19 February 2012 | url-status=dead }}

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 Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Wells Rural District.{{cite web|title=Wells RD|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10061581|work=A vision of Britain Through Time|publisher=University of Portsmouth|access-date=4 January 2014}}

The village falls within the Wookey and St Cuthbert Out West electoral ward. The ward starts near Wells and stretches via St Cuthbert Out to Godney. The total population of this ward taken from the 2011 census was 2,510.{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/wookey-and-st-cuthbert-out-west-e05006793#sthash.C98CGL9D.dpbs|title=Wookey and St Cuthbert Out West ward 2011|access-date= 7 March 2015}}

It is part of the Wells and Mendip Hills 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.

St Matthew's Church dates from the twelfth century and is a Grade I listed building.{{NHLE |num=1295105 |desc=Church of St Matthew |access-date=26 November 2006}} It was granted to the dean of Wells by Bishop Robert, rebuilt by Bishop Reginald and assigned to the sub dean of the cathedral in 1209. The south chancel is thought to have been built to house the memorial to Thomas Clerke in 1556. Beside the church stands the Mellifont Abbey, which was once home to Sir Jacob Wolff, 1st Baronet, where a monument to him and his wife can be seen in the church.{{NHLE |num=1180119 |desc=Mellifont Abbey |access-date=12 October 2007}} Mellifont Abbey is named after the abbey of the same name in Ireland.

• John Clerke (before 1525 – after 1554), politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1547, lived in Wookey.{{cite web|url=http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/clerke-john-ii-1525-54-or-later|title=CLERKE, John II (by 1525-54 or later), of Wookey, Som.|work=History of Parliament Online|access-date=12 May 2023}}
• Thomas Clerke ({{circa|1485}} – 1555), MP for Wells in 1547 and father of John Clerke, lived in Wookey.{{cite web|url=http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/clerke-thomas-1485-1555|title=CLERKE, Thomas (c.1485-1555), of Wookey, Som. and London.|work=History of Parliament Online|access-date=12 May 2023}}
• A. J. Cook (1883–1931), trade unionist, was born in Wookey.{{cite web|url=http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=35&coll_id=11662&expand=|title=A.J. Cook|website=archiveswales.org.uk|access-date=21 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917045618/http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=35&coll_id=11662&expand=|archive-date=17 September 2011}}
• Henry Rolle (1589–1656), Chief Justice of the King's Bench and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1629, acquired a manor in Wookey.{{cite book |last=Hunneyball |first=Paul |title=Biography of Henry Rolle published in History of Parliament: House of Commons 1604-1629 |editor1=Andrew Thrush |editor2=John P. Ferris |year=2010 |url=http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1604-1629/member/rolle-henry-1590-1656}}

• Catherine Bathurst (1825–1907), Roman Catholic convert, nun and prioress, was born in Wookey.{{Cite ODNB |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=23 September 2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/48436 |pages=ref:odnb/48436 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |place=Oxford |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/48436 |access-date=8 February 2023 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.}}
• Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet (1866–1921), publisher and philanthropist, was born in Wookey.{{cite web |title=Sir (Cyril) Arthur Pearson, 1st Bt |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp78188/sir-cyril-arthur-pearson-1st-bt |work=National Portrait Gallery |access-date=16 July 2018}}
• Martin Short (1943–2020), television documentary producer and author, was born in Wookey.{{cite news |last1=Boardman |first1=David |title=Martin Short obituary |work=The Guardian |date=20 September 2020 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/sep/20/martin-short-obituary |access-date=10 May 2021}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Wookey}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724041117/http://www.wookeyparish.co.uk/ Wookey parish website]

{{Mendip}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Villages in Mendip District

Category:Somerset Levels

Category:Civil parishes in Somerset