South Petherton

South Petherton is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, located 5 miles (8 km) east of Ilminster and 5 miles (8 km) north of Crewkerne. The parish had a population of 3,737 in 2021 and includes the smaller village of Over Stratton and the hamlets of Compton Durville, Drayton, Wigborough and Yeabridge. The River Parrett forms the eastern boundary of the parish. The village is approximately 2 miles (3 km) from East Lambrook, Martock and Lopen.

The village is distinctive for the traditional hamstone construction of many of its buildings. In 2005 South Petherton was awarded ‘Somerset Village of the Year’ in a national competition. Historically South Petherton was a market town, but these days is regarded as a village, with many of its ancient functions including the holding of a market having ended by around 1870, although some town-like characteristics remain.

The village's name may come from the Old English word Pared meaning boundary and the Saxon word ton meaning settlement, forming ’Paredton’.

A site on Lightgate Road, north of the present village, has produced Iron Age occupation material, though archaeological evidence of any structures have not yet been discovered. Roman material, mostly consisting of coins, has also been discovered locally and, as it is only 2 miles (3 km) from the Fosse Way, Roman occupation is likely, although it may have been abandoned between the 4th and 8th centuries.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 680 refers to a major battle on the site of the village and the Saxon Ine of Wessex of the Kingdom of Wessex built a palace on present day Silver Street.

A large royal estate of South Petherton was created and the Saxon settlement, Sudperetone (the southern tun on the Parrett), included a minster church, a royal palace and a short-lived 11th century mint. Most of the royal estate passed directly to William the Conqueror and was still a possession of the Crown in 1086. The parish was part of the South Petherton Hundred. Part of the estate was also held by Bruton Abbey from the 12th century until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, then becoming known as the manor of Hele. In 1213 a royal warrant by King John was granted for a market and fair, but by 1243 the main manor had been granted away from the Crown under Henry II and by 1243 South Petherton manor was owned outright by the Daubeney family, who continued to hold it until the late 15th century, the family dying out after Henry Daubeney acquired the earldom of Bridgwater and then failed to produce an heir to succeed him.

The manor reverted to the Crown in 1553, before passing into the ownership of Charles Arundell (d. 1587), who left it to his brother Matthew Arundell, in whose family it remained until 1792, when it was sold to John Baker Edmonds. Edmonds also acquired the rectory estate of South Petherton (known also as the manor of Hele), which had had a complicated history of ownership, including purchase in 1753 by Henry Hele, a successful physician from Salisbury.

Another estate (known as the Manor of Wigborough) was shared by members of the Brome Family from 1581 to 1615, when it passed to the family of Hele of Flete (unconnected to the Henry Hele referred to above) who held it for most of the 17th century.