Find out what it takes to be named Village of the Year
Our Village of the Year competition is back to celebrate our incredible rural communities. Ahead of the launch, Nathalie Gannon pays a visit to our last winner, the beautiful Somerset village of Kingsbury Episcopi.
The roads to Kingsbury Episcopi weave intricately through the countryside and are punctuated by the occasional bridge, hairpin turn, or flustered pheasant bursting from a hedgerow.
The road passes through honeycoloured, Hamstone villages and chocolate-box towns, each one unique in formation and atmosphere, and each telling of the rural beauty of Somerset.
Arriving in Kingsbury Episcopi it seemed, at first, to be just another country parish. That impression changed when arriving at the community centre to meet some of the key members of the parish.
We were greeted warmly by David Wakely, former chairman of Kingsbury Episcopi Parish Council, and he had gathered together Chris Mccallum (the current chair of the Kingsbury May Festival), Sarah Potepa (the parish clerk), Nick Frost (tower captain and community shop volunteer), and Adrian Wills and Helen Oldhouse (members of Kingsbury Time Travellers).
As we sat together in the community shop’s cafe, which overlooks the village recreation space, the existence of the shop itself was a testament to the community spirit of the place.
The shop had resided within a shipping container for five years until the parish raised £1.1 million to build a permanent hub complete with post office and cafe.
As Chris and David went through the parish diary for the year, it was clear the village was a hive of festivities and celebrations.
“The community here is involved with so many things,” said David. “There is a thriving number of clubs, associations. The May Festival is sort of second in the county to the Glastonbury Festival.”
Chris interjected: “Obviously not by a long chalk, we are nothing like as large as Glastonbury but we are the biggest local, one-day festival in the county.
“We have Maypole processions through the village, Maypole and country dancing, there are choirs that perform… but we fill two whole fields with craft stalls and food stalls and it’s such a huge day of entertainment that we get about 8,000 people.
“The festival is free entry, and it’s there so that other groups and organisations can raise enough funds to see them through the year. It involves the whole village, and we close it off. So it requires the sayso of all the people here.”
The May Festival is now in its 26th year and will be held on Sunday, May 3, with a music event held on Friday, May 1 to start off the festivities.
“We also have Party by the Parrett,” Chris said, “which is a oneday music event and it’s been going for 10 years and has about 2,000 people there.”
Adrian added: “It’s reflective of the capacity within the parish that we can put these things on.”
Collective volunteering and celebration is a core value of the parish.
Old photos and newspaper clippings show how regularly the community has come together to put on events that would benefit the local area.
Adrian continued: “‘From our point of view, in terms of history, it really is an amazing place. What is amazing listening to people is that the capacity and history of community participation just goes back decade after decade.
“The people who live and work here now, they’ve kind of inherited the idea that people have always been involved in doing things.
“It’s almost like part of the DNA of the parish. You’re born here or you live here and you have the potential to offer whatever it is that you can offer for the good of the cause. And, for me, it’s magical to live in such a place.
“It’s inspirational, and that inspiration rubs off on other people. It’s a can-do philosophy.”
Chris agreed: “I think one of the great things about the village is that it welcomes anybody coming in.
“It’s a community that’s very welcoming, very inclusive, and the thing I really like about it is that if you do volunteer, and if you do do stuff, virtually everything becomes a social event.”
The parish’s rural links to agriculture, and the seasonal nature of the main exports of the area, added to the sense of ‘mucking in together.’
There is a desire to produce something for the benefit of more people than just the individuals working themselves.
Helen said: “The culture of the village has been to do with the withies on the moor. Growing willow and putting it to various uses, – especially during the First World War when used for cases to carry shells.
“Pigeons were also used at the Front and the pigeon baskets that were used were made here - and sometimes pilot seats. Most people here were employed in it.
“We are also at the heart of cider country. There are so many orchards in the area, and if you look at old maps you can see that we are surrounded by orchards.”
Nick added: “There is something unique about the local soil and geology and climate that apparently means they grow the best cider apples anywhere. And that’s not just some outrageous claim, that’s been studied by the Long Ashton Research Institute.”
One particular local cider apple, called Porter’s Perfection, has become a global phenomenon. It has deep roots in the parish of Kingsbury Episcopi and is linked to the bloodlines of the area.
Sarah told us about her family ties to the nature of the area: “It [Porter’s Perfection] was discovered by my great-grandfather, and it’s a very late apple and it’s very stubborn at getting off the tree which is why a lot of growers don’t grow them anymore.
“We have a few trees left that my great-grandfather put in, they’re well over 100 years old now.”
Family ties are entrenched deeply in modern-day Kingsbury Episcopi.
Adrian said: “What is most amazing is that if you look back at the earliest records we’ve got, documents written in the 1620s and 1630s, you see names that are still in the parish. And it’s like there is a
thread of families going through the history until now.”
Helen added: “We’ve put together some circular walks around the parish, and you can go past the houses of the men who were killed in the First World War.”
A booklet shows the paths to take to visit the homes of those who didn’t come back from the Front.
The project putting this together is called ‘Crossing Paths WWI Heritage Trails,’ and it is one of the many ways that the parish keeps the links to their past alive. First World War centenary plaques are dotted throughout the parish.
There is a devotion in Kingsbury Episcopi to keeping the local heritage alive and thriving.
The history of the families who lived, and continue to live here, is woven into the fabric of the parish and is remembered by residents.
And the people who emigrated to the furthest reaches of the globe are also kept in the tapestry of memory in this place.
The spirit of Kingsbury Episcopi is far-reaching, and the descendants of its former inhabitants have travelled from far afield – America, New Zealand and other far-flung places – to pay respects to the village and leave their mark in the church log book.
The parish’s history group, the Kingsbury Time Travellers, has archived thousands of photos from local sources and those abroad to piece together the make-up of their home. One postcard of Silver Street was found, randomly, on ebay.
A Facebook page displays the Time Travellers’ finds: photos of the past and films of residents sharing their family story. It is a space for people to share or discover their family history.
What is remarkable about all the events, parties, celebrations, volunteering and festivals is that they bring the current residents together, again and again, to continually make improvements and reinforce connections with their neighbours.
The deep connection to history, the emphasis on commemoration and storytelling, reminds the people that the past and their present is remembered in more than just a handful of minds.
It’s a working, collective effort that binds all those who have lived in Kingsbury Episcopi – a promise that each individual will leave a mark through sharing within their community.
The £2,000 won through Village of the Year has been invested in the parish’s next project to renovate the recreation park and to create a sensory garden that can be enjoyed by any resident, no matter the age.
There are plans to build the village’s own Stonehenge as an emblem of the magic that runs through the parish and a structure that inspires the collective imagination.
The village will then use the space for festivals, weddings, plays, performances, and anything else that can be used as an excuse to bring the parish together for some of that community spirit.