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PC Agenda 21st. May 2012

This website is to introduce the community of the Village of Hinton St. George, Somerset, England.

The Village

As taken from the Village Design Statement, ‘the Hill-top (hae-tun) village of Hinton St. George occupies a commanding position on a north facing scarp at the north-western corner of Crewkerne hundred. The village is sheltered to the south by the Windwhistle ridge rising to 780ft, while to the north the scarp falls 250ft to arable land, meadow and pasture.’

The village was described by Arthur Mee in his ‘Somerset, King’s England’ in 1940 as:

‘…one of the perfect villages, with a wide and lovely street, old houses, a beautiful church and the ancient home of the lords of the manor set in a thousand acres’

In the post-war years, there were 9 working farms in the parish, five within the village itself – the last of these provided the sight of a dairy herd walking to pasture through the High Street as recently as 2000! Hinton House was the domain of the Poulett family, as it had been for centuries past, and Hinton was essentially still a feudal village. Brettingham Court was a Riding School, and the scene of some village events. There were two pubs – the George and Crown (which burned down in 1959, now redeveloped as George and Crown cottages), and the Poulett Arms, now the Lord Poulett Arms. As well as what is still now the Personal Service Stores, there were three other shops, including the Post Office in West Street, and a butcher. There was a garage on the Green, though there were few cars in the village. Reliance on public transport can be gauged by the fact that 26 buses per day passed along the Merriott road!

The 15th century Church, a Grade I listed building, was an important part of village life, there being at least two services every Sunday. Upkeep of the building and costs of the Rectory were largely borne by the Earl, who attended services in the private Poulett Pew.

The current Village hall opened in 1957, replacing, as a centre for entertainment and meetings, the Victory Hut, which had stood behind the Reading Room in the High Street. Larger functions and dances had until then taken place in the School, in which a partition dividing the two classrooms could be lifted to make one substantial room.

The 1960’s saw significant change, with the sale of the Poulett estate to Oxford University, who in turn sold on to villagers to own their properties for the first time. This included the splitting of Brettingham and Wyatt Courts into a number of separate residences. By now the village had a reliable water supply to replace the somewhat rickety system provided by the Earl, enabling some degree of development of new homes.

Today, in a sense, Hinton has reached a state of critical mass in terms of amenities, sustainability, and integrity of the village life. The one shop has a solid business base, including the Post Office (the survival of which in 2008 highlighted the need for such an institution in rural communities, and the awesome resolve of the villagers to retain it), but the future holds doubts nonetheless. The School has been a success story in recent years, but its future is subject to periodic reviews by the County educational authorities. The pub has seen successful stability over recent years, but has yielded a growth in car parking problems in the High Street. The Village Hall and Playing Fields are valuable assets requiring sound management and careful development of facilities. The Church must now be supported by locally raised funds, and its survival as an available working institution into the future is a daunting challenge.

Development of Hinton, currently with a population of around 400 living in some 240 residences, is protected by a Conservation Area. This Area encompasses the majority of properties in the central part of the village. Within this area is a smaller zone of archaelogical potential. The centre of the village is marked by a late Medieval Cross.

Land to the south of the village, within the parish boundary, is designated as an Historical Park.

The Future

Whether Hinton remains a perfect village, in spite of changes since Mee’s time, will be influenced by decisions of those, whether private individuals, commercial organisations, or local authorities, who bring about physical changes within the village.

We are also subject to changes in the way of life in the surrounding countryside, in the greater environment, social, physical and spiritual, in climate, and in government policies.

Some changes are necessary to move with the times, to fit better into the social structure of Somerset, to improve quality of life in all age groups. However, even small changes, if insufficiently considered, can combine to the detriment of the appearance of the village.

Two other features of our modern times should be noted. First, the automobile has become the essential means of short and long distance travel, because of convenience, and because of the failure of public transport to provide an adequate answer to the needs of most people. Many homes in Hinton have little or no parking provisions, being built in the age of horse and cart, while we move to an age in which families are multiple car owners. This has produced a glut of parked cars in the streets of Hinton, seen as a problem by many, but to which there is no easy solution. Second, we are in the age of city dwellers who take on second or weekend homes in villages such as Hinton. These homeowners should be encouraged to be as much a part of village life as full-time residents, and take an active role in the formulation of the future of the village.

As well as the obvious farm related businesses in the surrounds of Hinton, modern society has produced the home based businesses which can be run through telephone lines and the internet. It is in the interests of Hinton that these businesses of all types should be encouraged and assisted where possible.