Chipstable

Chipstable
Chipstable
Chipstable  Chipstable shown within Somerset
Population	309 (2011)
OS grid reference	ST043271
District	Taunton Deane
Shire county	Somerset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Taunton
Postcode district	TA4
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
List of places UK England Somerset

Chipstable is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated beside Heydon Hill 10 miles (16.1 km) west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The parish has a population of 309.

The parish includes Raddington and Waterrow.

History

The name Chipstable means cippa's post.

The manor was held by Muchelney Abbey from the Norman Conquest until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and then passing to the Bluets of Greenham in Stawley. The parishes of Chipstable and Raddington were part of the Williton and Freemanners Hundred.

The village of Waterrow developed from hamlets called east and west Skirdle.

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.

The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Taunton Deane, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Wellington Rural District. The district council is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.

Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.

It is also part of a 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 part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Geography

The parish lies between the Brendon Hills and the River Tone.

Hurstone Farm Woodlands in Waterrow is a woodland on the banks of the River Tone, which has been designated as a local nature reserve. The woodland, hedgerows and open grassland provide a habitat for dormice, otter and several bat species. Bryophyte species include black spleenwort.

Religious sites

All Saints Church

The Anglican Church of St Michael in Raddington dates from the 13th and 14th centuries and has been designated as a grade I listed building.

The Church of All Saints in Chipstable village is more recent having been built in the 15th century. The tower and part of the nave remain from a previous building of about 1239.

Bethel Chapel, was built as a Congregational church in 1890.

Waterrow Church Hall was also built in Waterrow in 1908 for the people of Waterrow to save the journey uphill to Chipstable for services. Waterrow Church Hall now provides local church services for the inhabitants of Waterrow and beyond.

External links

• village web site
• church web site