South Petherton (GB)
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South Petherton is a village and civil parish on the River Parrett in the South Somerset district of Somerset, It is distinctive for the traditional hamstone construction of many of its buildings.
In 2005 South Petherton was awarded ‘Somerset Village of the Year’ in a national competition. Historically South Petherton was a market town, but these days is regarded to be a village, with many of its ancient functions having ended by around 1870.
The village name may come from the Old English word Pared meaning boundary and the Saxon word ton meaning settlement, forming ’Paredton’.
A site on Lightgate Road, north of the present village, has produced Iron Age occupation material, though archaeological evidence of any structures have not yet been discovered. Roman material, mostly consisting of coins, has also been discovered locally and, as it is only 2 miles (3 km) from the Fosse Way, Roman occupation is likely, although it may have been abandoned between the 4th and 8th centuries. It was also recently discovered that South Petherton was, during the 17th century, one of the main centres of bronze cauldron and skillet production. These cooking vessels were used all over the UK.
South Petherton was allocated the 725 PO Numeral
