Норт-Петертон: История и достопримечательности сомерсетского городка.

North Petherton is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks, and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels. The town has a population of 6,730 as of 2014.

The town itself it thought to have developed around the minster which, it is supposed, was on the same site as the current church. Believed to have been commissioned by Alfred the Great, it is thought to have been the handle for a pointer that would have fitted into the hole at its base, and been used while reading a book out loud. It is inscribed, "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN," ("Alfred had me made"). It may be one of the "aestels" Alfred had sent to each bishopric with a copy of his translation of Pope Gregory the Great's book Pastoral Care. A replica of the jewel can be found in the church of St Mary. When the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal was opened in 1827 it joined the River Parrett by a lock at Huntworth, where a basin was constructed, but in 1841 the canal was extended to a floating harbour in Bridgwater, and the Huntworth link was filled in. The canal and river were not re connected at this point when the canal was restored, because the Parrett is by then a salt water river laden with silt, whereas the canal contains fresh water. Not only is there a risk of silt entering the canal, but the salt water cannot be allowed to contaminate the fresh, as the canal is still used for the transport of drinking water for Bridgwater's population. The Crossways Swing Bridge over the canal in the parish was built in 1827 by John Rennie. It is a wooden bridge which rotated on steel ball bearings in a circular track, a very early example of the use of ball bearings in this way. It was designated as a Grade II listed building but the mechanism was removed in 1987. The Higher and Lower Maunsel locks on the canal are either side of the Maunsel bridge which carries the A361. The stone Coxhill road bridge dates from the same time. Woolmersdon House in Woolmersdon is a Grade II listed late Georgian residence. In 1906, North Petherton became the first town in Britain (and perhaps the only one) and the Gas and Carbide Company was wound up. The North Petherton Rosco Acetylene Company (dating from at least 1898) may have supplied gas to the adjacent church prior to the Gas and Carbide Company. In 1926 the Bridgwater Beam Wireless Station was opened north east of the town. It was the UK receiving station for Marconi's UK to Canada Beam Wireless Service, (part of the Imperial Wireless Chain,) the first transoceanic shortwave wireless telegraph service in the world and operated until 2002. In 1984 North Petherton was provided with a small public library. As a result of a revitalised fund raising campaign (originally begun decades earlier), this was followed a few years later by the construction of a Community Centre, opened in 1987, which was extended in 1991.

The civil parish of North Petherton includes the villages of North Newton (on the route of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal) and Northmoor Green (also known as Moorland) in the Somerset Levels, as well as a number of other smaller settlements. Despite several reductions in size, with land redesignated to neighbouring parishes, North Petherton remains one of the largest parishes in Somerset at , and the largest in Sedgemoor. Fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the South Western Ambulance Service. An electoral ward exists with the same name. Although North Petherton is the most populous area the ward stretches west to Broomfield and east to Lyng. In the north the ward adjoins Bridgwater. The total population for this ward as at the 2011 census was 7,155. It is also part of the Bridgwater and West Somerset 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.

North Petherton is situated on one of the historic communication routes through Somerset, and a turnpike through the town was opened between Bridgwater and Taunton in the 1730s. The opening of the nearby M5 motorway in the 1970s which relieved major traffic jams on the A38 through the town, also added to the attraction of the town for commuters and has consequently led to the construction of several new housing estates. The town lies on the route of the Macmillan Way West long distance footpath. South east of the town near Lyng, on the opposite side of the M5 motorway but within the parish is North Moor, a 676.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. North Moor is a nationally important grazing marsh and ditch system on the Somerset Levels and Moors. A range of neutral grassland types supporting common and scarce plants has developed mainly due to variations in soils and management practices. Aquatic plant communities are exceptionally diverse with good populations of nationally scarce species. The site has special interest in its bird life.

Along with the rest of South West England, North Petherton has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately In winter mean minimum temperatures of or are common. A new £100 m Regional Agricultural Business Centre, including an extensive Cattle Market and Dairy opened just beyond the outskirts of the town in 2007, following construction which began in 2006. This replaced the cattle markets in both Taunton and Bridgwater.

North Petherton has two schools, North Petherton juniors and North Petherton infants, however they have been joined together to form one school, North Petherton Primary School. Secondary schools in nearby Bridgwater include: Robert Blake Science College, Brymore School, Chilton Trinity School, East Bridgwater Community School which was previously known as Sydenham School and is a Performing and Visual Arts College, and Haygrove School which has specialist Language College status. Special schools in the town include: Elmwood Special School, New Horizon Centre School and Penrose School. Further Education is provided by Bridgwater College which was formerly Bridgwater Technical School.

The town has the minster church of St Mary the Virgin, with a highly decorated tower which, at 112 feet (34 metres) high, is claimed to be one of the tallest towers in the West Country. The building is mainly dated from the 15th century, with a minstrel gallery from 1623, a peal of six bells, and a clock built in Bridgwater in 1807. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. The Church of St Peter has a tower which may be of Saxon origin which was altered in 1635. The rest of the church was completely rebuilt for Rev. Thomas Eaton in 1885. It is Grade II* listed. The Church of St. Michael has Norman origins and has seen various restorations since. It was last restored and extended in 1868 for Slade family of Maunsel House. In the cemetery is a 19th century combined Non conformist and Anglican Mortuary Chapel.

The annual North Petherton Carnival is part of the West Country Carnival circuit, and takes place in November, on the second Saturday in November. The date of the first Carnival at Bridgwater is the previous Saturday, featuring most of the same participants. The Walnut Tree (rebranded in the 1970s from the Clarence Hotel, and before that as the New Inn) is one of three hotels in the town, it was formerly in competition with the George Hotel (now closed), where monthly petty sessions (court hearings) were formerly held. The hotel is also used as the Headquarters for Pentathlon Carnival Club, one of the carnival clubs which class North Petherton as its local carnival.

North Petherton has been twinned with the commune of Ceaucé in Normandy since 1994.