Greinton

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.1233333
longitude= -2.8405556
official_name= Greinton
population = 70Somerset County Council, 2002. [http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/statistics/contents/population/estimates/2002mye/ Population estimates] .]
shire_district= Sedgemoor
shire_county = Somerset
region= South West England
constituency_westminster= Somerton and Frome
postcode_district = TA7
postcode_area= TA
dial_code=
os_grid_reference= ST411364

Greinton is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated on the Somerset Levels and Moors at the foot of the Polden Hills, nine kilometers west southwest of Glastonbury and 7 miles east of Bridgwater in the Sedgemoor district. The village straddles the Glastonbury - Taunton road, which bends around in two sharp corners through the village. The ancient road was known as altera strata in the early 14th century -- an alternate route to the Polden road perhaps. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15108/ 'Greinton', A History of the County of Somerset: Vol. 8: The Poldens and the Levels (2004) pp. 63-0] Date accessed: 10 November 2007.]

Archeological evidence points to Roman occupation, including a burial site, but most of Greinton's older houses date to the 1800s. A housing estate of semi-detached homes and barn conversions has been built in the 20th and 21st centuries. Greinton Manor may have been part of the Pouelt estate granted to Glastonbury abbey in 729. Records trace the Manor's tenants, transfers, sales and inheritance through the 11th century up to its subdivision and sales in the 1950s.

In 2007 the publication Digital Spy said Heather Mills joined animal welfare activists from the Viva! organization as they trespassed on Briarwood Farm in Greinton in order to film the treatment of pigs in farrowing crates. [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a43964/heather-mills-campaigns-for-pig-welfare.html/ Digital Spy, March 15, 2007] ]

Greinton's Church

Parts of Greinton's St Michael and All Angels Church date to the 12th century, with evidence that it may have been built on a pre-Christian site. Refurbished in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, the church seems to have been led by a cast of colorful clergy, dating at least to 1259 when Boniface de Foliano was rector.

In 1397 the rector was accused of attacking the vicar of Pawlett during mass and extorting money and livestock from him . . . John Hyne, rector 1584-1624, was in prison in 1590, leaving the church unserved. . . In the 1600s Hyne was presented for minor infringements such as allowing a girl of 12 to be a godmother. He also refused a couple communion and accused the wardens of buying watered wine.

The tower, which dates from the 15th century, has a ring of six bells, including a medieval Bristol bell, bells dated 1586,1707, 1788, and two dated 1899. Major repairs and renovations were carried out in the Victorian era, including the addition of stained glass and a north porch, and the conversion of the south porch to a vestry. Incomplete records in the church register go back to 1655, with complete records from 1777.

References