Marksbury

Marksbury
Top of ower with spirelets seen behind trees. In the foreground is grass and gravestones
St Peter's Church, Marksbury
Marksbury is located in Somerset
Marksbury
Marksbury
Location within Somerset
Interactive map showing parish boundary
Population388 (2021 census)
OS grid referenceST666623
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBath
Postcode districtBA2
Dialling code01761
PoliceAvon and Somerset
FireAvon
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
  • Frome and East Somerset

Marksbury is a small village and civil parish on the eastern edge of the Chew Valley in Somerset, England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Keynsham and 7 miles (11.3 km) from Bath on the A39 road where it meets the A368. The parish, which includes the villages of Hunstrete and Stanton Prior, has a population of 388.

History

Stantonbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age hillfort near Stanton Prior. It is a scheduled ancient monument. The hillfort, which is at the top of an isolated outcrop of oolitic limestone,[1] close to the A39 road is on the route of the Wansdyke.[2]

In 926 Æthelstan gave the manor, then spelled Merkesburie, to his son. It was later gifted to Glastonbury Abbey and in one of the Danelaw wars was taken by Danish troops. It was restored to the abbey again after the victory of Edgar the Peaceful.[3]

Marksbury was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Mercesberia.[4] The name of the village is thought to come from Old English either as 'Mǣrec's or Mearc's stronghold' (from an Old English male personal name + burh 'stronghold', 'fortified place', dative byrig), or as 'stronghold on a boundary' (from mearc 'boundary', possibly a reference to the Wansdyke, + burh, byrig).

Governance

At the lower level of local government, Marksbury is a civil parish with a parish council of 7 elected members.[5]

At the upper level, Marksbury is in the unitary authority area of Bath and North East Somerset. For elections to the council, Marksbury is part of the Farmborough Ward, which is represented by one councillor. Bath and North East Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county.

Historically, Marksbury was in the Hundred of Keynsham.[6][7] From 1894 to 1933, it was in the Keynsham Rural District of the administrative county of Somerset; then from 1933 until 1974, it was in Bathavon Rural District.[7] Between 1974 and 1996, it was the Wansdyke district of the county of Avon.[8]

The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of Frome and East Somerset constituency.

Emergency services are provided by Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service.

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Marksbury parish had a population of 388 in 163 households.

Census population of Marksbury parish
Census Population Female Male Households Source
2001 399 196 203 148 [9]
2011 397 196 201 157 [10]
2021 388 205 183 163 [11]

According to the 2001 census, the Farmborough electoral ward (which includes Compton Dando, Woollard, Hunstrete, Chewton Keynsham, Saltford and Stanton Prior) had 1,111 residents, living in 428 households, with an average age of 44.5 years. Of these 71% of residents describing their health as 'good', 21% of 16- to 74-year-olds had no qualifications; and the area had an unemployment rate of 1.0% of all economically active people aged 16–74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, it was ranked at 22,100 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived.[12]

Church

The Church of St Peter, is an ancient structure, with a tower containing six bells. It is believed to be late 12th century in origin but mainly from the 15th century. The tower has three stages; the first stage has diagonal buttresses, a canted stair turret in the return of tower and nave and a very small west door with a canted flat arch under a 2-light, chamfered mullion window dated 1634. The second stage has a cusped 2-light window with heavy louvres to the north, a blocked single light to the east and 2-light chamfered, vaguely pointed windows south and west, contemporary with third stage which has one enormous, round headed window with raised architrave and louvres per side, thin, embattled parapet dominated by four pyramidal pinnacles with vanes. The nave has two 2-light windows under hoodmoulds flanking a blocked, moulded round-headed door under a plaque dated 1627. The buttressed, off-centre chancel has to north one window as elsewhere, 3-light east window of 1875. There are several monuments in the chancel including those to Counsell, 1671, and Wadden, 1682. In the nave is a monument to Boulter 1782, by Brewer of Box. William Counsell was the rector (1662–74). The church is a grade II* listed building.[13] An unidentified monument in the churchyard is also listed.[14]

On Wingsbury Hill are remains of an ancient chapel, probably belonging to a monastery, which formerly existed here.

The parish is part of the benefice of Farmborough with Marksbury and Stanton Prior, Clutton with Cameley, and within the archdeaconry of Bath.[15]

Education

The village has a primary school, Marksbury Church of England Primary School. In July 2024 it was graded as 'good' in an Ofsted inspection.[16]

Notable residents

  • Joseph Harding (1805–1876), known for being the "Father of Cheddar Cheese", lived and died in Marksbury.[17]

Other listed buildings

Several houses and farm buildings in Marksbury are grade II listed:

References

  1. ^ "Area 6 Hinton Blewett and Newton St Loe Plateau Lands" (PDF). Rural Landscapes. Bath and North East Somerset Council. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Stantonbury Hill". Wansdyke Project 21.
  3. ^ Robinson, W.J. (1915). West Country Churches. Bristol: Bristol Times and Mirror Ltd. pp. 54–60.
  4. ^ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.
  5. ^ "Council Members – Marksbury Parish Council". marksburyparishcouncil.gov.uk.
  6. ^ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Marksbury AP/CP through time | Census tables with data for the Parish-level Unit". A vision of Britain through time. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  8. ^ "The Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995". HMSO. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  9. ^ "Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. ONSID 00HA027 (Marksbury parish) in Tables KS001 (Usual resident population) and KS016 (Household spaces and accommodation type). Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Parish E04000976 : Marksbury in Table KS101EW (Usual resident population) and Table KS105EW (Household composition). Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Parish Profiles". 2021 United Kingdom census. Office for National Statistics. GSS E04000976 (Marksbury parish) in tables PP001 (Number of Households) and PP002 (Sex). Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Neighbourhood Statistics LSOA Bath and North East Somerset 016B Farmborouch". Office for National Statistics 2001 Census. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2006.
  13. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Peter (1320777)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 April 2006.
  14. ^ Historic England. "Unidentified Monument, in the churchyard and 2 metres south of nave of Church of St Lawrence (1320781)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 April 2006.
  15. ^ "All Saints, Farmborough". A church near you. Church of England. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  16. ^ enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk, Ofsted Communications Team (19 July 2024). "Find an inspection report and registered childcare". reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  17. ^ Heeley, Ann; Vidal, Mary. Joseph Harding, Cheddar Cheese-Maker. Friends of the Abbey Barn, Glastonbury, 1996
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