Shapwick - a potted history The Community Group discussed the joining up of footpaths from Shapwick Hill down into the village. It was agreed that before we approach the landowners to discuss a permissive pathway along the edge of their fields, the village needs to demonstrate a commitment to resolving the problem of dog mess left on their land currently. Dog mess can cause issues for cattle, therefore we must take and be seen to be taking responsibility as dog owners to clean it up. To make this more convenient and to show willing to the landowners, the Parish Council will look to get a dog bin placed at the High Lane end of the village, as well as placing ‘Please clean up after your dog’ signage at the start of the footpaths that are already in place. This will let all users of the footpaths know that they must clean up after their dogs. As we know, we have many walkers come through our village so we cannot place all responsibility on to our villagers. The community group also felt the clearing of overgrown footpaths is something the villagers will have to instigate ourselves. We cannot leave this to landowners to maintain. Steve and Graham from the Parish Council led the way, clearing the path from the back of the church to Bridewell Lane last month. Therefore, as well as the October litter pick (see below), we plan a footpath clearing party for spring next year, to help make paths more accessible during the summer. The Parish council will organise refreshments as an incentive for participants and their families in the working parties. Finally, Richard Tweedy is actively considering whether the village should apply for the ‘Walkers are Welcome’ status. He feels this could benefit the village, given the current initiative to maintain our local paths, combined with the pilgrimage theme that is part of the surrounding area. However there are questions around the required level of governance required which need to be resolved first. Richard will keep us updated on this large scale project for the village. FRANK BARNARD Shapwick has an international reputation as one of the few English settlements to retain its original layout, a ‘ladder’ plan that contained its dwellings and small farms in a north-south rectangle dating back over a thousand years. The village was the subject of a major study by the University of Bristol into its archaeological, historical and topographical heritage between 1988-1998. The ten-year Shapwick Project led by Professor Mick Aston of Time Team fame confirmed that the present settlement and its medieval field system was planned in the late Saxon period although the site was occupied from still earlier times. There was much activity during the Iron Age and the Romano-British period and the team identified locations of numbers of Roman farms and villas, predicting that more remain to be uncovered. Over the following centuries Shapwick gradually evolved yet always retained its original imprint on the surrounding landscape. It was this that led to it being chosen by Bristol University for the Project because as a rare survivor it fulfilled a number of criteria; it was well documented as part of the Glastonbury Abbey estate from at least late Saxon times to the Dissolution, maps of the parish from the eighteenth century existed in the Somerset County Record Office and it had been the subject of previous intensive research by the Somerset Levels Project in 1988. Much of Shapwick’s history is known, still more remains to be discovered. Meanwhile, alone among its neighbouring parishes, it has retained its topographical integrity within its established boundaries, a subject of interest and concern not only in Somerset and Britain as a whole but on a global basis. For those who would like to know more some copies of The Shapwick Project are held by longer-term residents who would no doubt be ready to share a fascinating and remarkable document to help today’s villagers learn more about their rich heritage. Shapwick as a "ladder" village, from a 19th century map in The Vernacular Buildings of Shapwick (see p.3). The village essentially retains this ladder pattern today. Footpaths NIKKI POLDEN L I TTERP I CK ! SUNDAY 3 0 OCTOBER L I TTERP I CK ! ! The next Shapwick Litterpick will be on Sunday 30 October, 10-12. Meet at the corner of Northbrook Road and Orchard way. A fun way to get to know the vllage, meet old and new friends, and be part of keeping the village special. Families very welcome. Tasty refreshments at the Pavilion when you've finished! L I TTERP I CK ! SUNDAY 3 0 OCTOBER L I TTERP I CK ! ! 4 AUTUMN I S SUE | OCTOBER 2 0 2 2
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