East Pennard is a village and civil parish 4 miles (6.4 km) north west of Castle Cary, and 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Shepton Mallet, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It has a population of 348.[1] The parish includes the hamlets of Stone, Parbrook and Huxham.
It is very close to the site of the Glastonbury Festival. Residents receive free tickets to the Festival.
History
The village takes its name from the Brythonic family of Celtic languages: penn-ardd meaning high hill.[2]
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 church, dedicated to All Saints, dates from the 14th century with a tower containing a clock and five bells. They are the second heaviest peal of five bells in the world.[6] It contains a Norman font and several stained-glass windows, also an altar screen and monuments of the Martines and Napiers. It is a grade I listed building.[7]
Huxham
The hamlet of Huxham is just off the A37, south of Shepton Mallet. It is notable for the large area of common land at its centre (comprising two adjoining registered commons).[8][9] This is one of the few areas of common land in this part of Somerset and is thought to have once been a holding area for cattle herds being driven to the markets at Lydford-on-Fosse and Glastonbury. There is a public right of Freedom to roam over the common land by virtue of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, and several public footpaths extend across the surrounding countryside. Huckeymead Lane, which crosses the common, ends at a bridleway that leads to the Monarch's Way. Local wildlife include roe deer, barn owls and (in the large pond on the common) greater-crested newts.
Midsummer view over the common land at Huxham Green
Other amenities in Huxham include a small airfield and a bed and breakfast establishment which is one of the closest accommodations to the Glastonbury Festival site. There are two vineyards nearby, a car repair business, a wedding venue and a local cheesemaker.
Notable residents
The village was the birthplace, in 1869, of Tom Higdon who led the Burston Strike School.
