Crewkerne

Crewkerne
Church of St Bartholomew, Crewkerne
Crewkerne Location within Somerset
Population	7,000 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	ST441093
Civil parish	Crewkerne
Unitary authority	Somerset
Ceremonial county	Somerset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CREWKERNE
Postcode district	TA18
Dialling code	01460
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Yeovil
List of places UK England Somerset 50°52′49″N 2°47′38″W / 50.8803°N 2.7939°W / 50.8803; -2.7939

Crewkerne (/ˈkruːkərn/ KROO-kərn) is a town and electoral ward in south Somerset, England, 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Yeovil and 7 miles (11 km) east of Chard. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley, and borders the county of Dorset to the south. The town is on the main headwater of the River Parrett, A30 road and West of England Main Line railway, in modern times the slower route between the capital and the southwest peninsula, having been eclipsed by the Taunton route.

The earliest written record of Crewkerne is in the 899 will of Alfred the Great who left it to his youngest son Æthelweard. After the Norman conquest it was held by William the Conqueror and in the Domesday Survey of 1086 was described as a royal manor. Crewkerne Castle was possibly a Norman motte castle. The town grew up in the late mediaeval period around the textile industry, its wealth demonstrated in the fifteenth century Church of St Bartholomew. During the 18th and 19th centuries the main industry was cloth making, including webbing, and sails for the Royal Navy.

Local ecological sites include the Bincombe Beeches Local Nature Reserve and the Millwater biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Crewkerne railway station is served by South Western Railway. There are local supermarkets and local shops, and some local industry. The town is the birthplace of several notable people and has varied cultural and sporting facilities including those at Wadham Community School.