Selwood used to be a village but is now part of the suburbs of Frome. It is a civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the villages of East and West Woodlands, Rodden and the hamlets of Alder Row and Blatchbridge.
The ancient Selwood Forest stretched approximately between Gillingham in Dorset and Chippenham in Wiltshire. Between the eighth and early eleventh centuries it was an important boundary between east and west Wessex, and in 705 the bishopric of Sherborn was established for those "west of Selwood"[5] Only a few fragments of the forest now survive.
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.
Manor Farmhouse in West Woodlands provides a particularly good survival of 17th century interior features in a very fine state of preservation,[8] while St. Algars Farmhouse (named after Ælfgar of Selwood) dates from the 14th century.[9] In Rodden the Manor House dates from the late 16th century.[10]
The church in East Woodlands was completed in 1714 having been paid for by the Longleat estate, then patrons of the parish. It is now dedicated to St Katharine. It was extensively restored in the 1870s by Pearson,[12] the architect who also designed Truro Cathedral.
