Norton Sub Hamdon

Norton sub Hamdon is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset, situated five miles west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 694.

The village of Chiselborough is 0.5 mi to the south, and the village of Stoke-sub-Hamdon 1 mi to the north.

History
The majority of the houses and cottages in the village are made from the local stone, hamstone, which is taken from the nearby Ham Hill, from whence the village gets its name. In fact, Norton Sub Hamdon means "north below the hill farm". After the Norman Conquest the manor was granted to Robert, Count of Mortain, who gave it to the church of Grestein Abbey in Normandy which administered it through Wilmington Priory in Sussex until it was confiscated by the crown in the 14th century. It was then given to the De la Pole family and inherited with the dukedom of Suffolk to the Seymours and in 1671 to the Earl of Aylesbury before being broken up and sold off.

The parish was part of the hundred of Houndsborough.

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 South Somerset, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Yeovil 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 the Yeovil 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.

Little Norton
Little Norton is a more or less contiguous hamlet to the east that includes the western fringe of Ham Hill an ancient hillfort (and scheduled Ancient Monument and extends also to its southeast to High Wood and Bagnel Farm which is listed building.

The only other listed building in the neighbourhood is the central Little Norton Mill, which is also Grade II listed; its overshot waterwheel is 13' 9'' in diameter and was cast by G. Parsons of the Parrett engineers.

Landmarks
Homefield in Rectory Lane was previously known as Folly's. It dates from the 17th century and has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.

The manor house was built in the 17th century and is now in multiple occupation.

The village pub, the Lord Nelson Inn, also has 17th century origins.

Education
The primary school dates from the mid 18th century. It is situated next to the churchyard and its dovecote.

Religious sites
Church of St Mary the Virgin in Norton Sub Hamdon has 13th-century origins, but was largely rebuilt between 1500 and 1510. Further restoration was undertaken by Henry Wilson in 1894 and 1904. The five-stage tower, which rises 98.5 ft was damaged by lightning and fire on 29 July 1894, but restored within a year preserving the original design. It has a double plinth, offset corner buttresses, dividing strings, battlemented parapet with pairs of corner pinnacles extended from buttresses, and central paired pinnacles corbelled off gargoyles. The dovecote in the churchyard dates from the 17th century, and was associated with a manor house which was demolished around 1850.

Notable residents
The village is home to Paddy Ashdown, former local MP and ex-leader of the Liberal Democrats political party. He was knighted (KBE) in 2000 and became a life peer as Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon in the County of Somerset in the House of Lords after retiring from the Commons in 2001.