Steart
St Andrews Church, Steart
Steart is located in Somerset
Steart
Steart
Location within Somerset
OS grid referenceST270458
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBRIDGWATER
Postcode districtTA5
Dialling code01278
PoliceAvon and Somerset
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

Steart (pronounced Ste-art), historically also called Stert, is a small village in Somerset, England. It lies in an isolated position on the Steart Peninsula on the Bristol Channel coast, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Bridgwater.

The toponym is derived from the Old English steort, meaning "tail, projecting piece of land".[1] Steart was historically in the ancient parish of Stockland Bristol, except for the foreshore on the Bristol Channel coast, which was in the parish of Stogursey. In 1885 it was transferred to the civil parish of Otterhampton.[2]

A medieval chapel at Steart was disused by 1611. The church of St Andrew was built in 1882.[3] The Bethel Congregational church was open between 1847 and 1938.

During World War 2, two small radio direction-finding stations were located in Steart. They were part of a secret MI6 organisation called The Radio Security Service listening to and locating the communications of German spies and their handlers. These stations intercepted the messages of the Abwehr, the German Secret Intelligence Service, and provided a large volume of high level intelligence throughout the war. In December 1945, in the nearby village of Combwich The Freedom of Steart was conferred upon Captain Louis Varney, the officer in command of the DF Stations.[4]

The West Somerset Coast Path and River Parrett Trail both start at Steart.

References

  1. ↑ Watts, Victor, ed. (2010), "Steart", The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Cambridge University Press
  2. ↑ Vision of Britain website
  3. ↑ A P Baggs; M C Siraut (1992). "Stockland Bristol: Churches". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 6. Victoria County History. pp. 129–131. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Radio amateur G5RV honoured by villagers". Southgate Amateur Radio News. Retrieved 24 August 2017.

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