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Crewkerne ( ) is a town and electoral ward in south Somerset, England, southwest of Yeovil and east of Chard. A separate civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Clapton, Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley, and borders the county of Dorset to the south. The town is on the main headwater of the River Parrett, the A30 road and the West of England railway line.
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 15th-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. The town is the birthplace of several notable people and has varied cultural and sporting facilities including those at Wadham School.
In 1499, John de Combe, a precentor of Exeter Cathedral and former vicar of Crewkerne, founded Crewkerne Grammar School. The school survived until 1904.
The parish was part of the hundred of Crewkerne.
Crewkerne Castle was possibly a Norman motte castle on a mound to the north-west of the town, which is known as Castle Hill.Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, 1980. The town grew up in the late mediaeval period around the textile industry, its wealth preserved in its fifteenth century parish church. It later prospered as a coaching inn stop in the Georgian period.
The Manor Farmhouse in Henley was built from hamstone in the early 17th century, but possibly incorporates medieval fragments. The building is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. During the 18th and 19th centuries the main industry was cloth making, including webbing, and sails for the Royal Navy.
For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, Crewkerne parish comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of South Somerset (established under the Local Government Act 1972), and it was part of Crewkerne Urban District before 1974. West Crewkerne has its own parish council. The parishes are within the Yeovil constituency for Westminster elections.
This electoral ward includes Misterton and at the 2011 Census had a population of 7,826.
Crewkerne Town Hall occupies part of the Victoria Hall in the Market Square. The Hamstone building was rebuilt around 1742 and altered in 1836, when a south piazza was added after the demolition of the shambles. In 1848–9 it became a museum, reading room and library and was remodelled in 1900 by Thomas Benson of Yeovil to create shops and offices. It is a Grade II listed building.
In the northern outskirts of the town is the Bincombe Beeches, a local nature reserve which is managed by the town council and includes a line of beech trees, some of which are between 150 and 200 years old. Between 2002 and 2005 grants were obtained to improve access to the site and support the planting of new trees. The Millwater biological Site of Special Scientific Interest consists of a complex mosaic of pasture, wet grassland, tall-herb fen, standing and running water, alder and willow carr.
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Ariel Motor Company is based in Crewkerne, and is one of the UK's smallest automobile companies, with just seven employees, producing fewer than 100 cars per year. It was founded in 1991 and changed its name from Solocrest Ltd in 2001. The company's flagship car is the Ariel Atom, an extremely light, high performance car.
Crewkerne and District Museum is part of a wider heritage centre which includes local archives and a meeting room. The museum opened in 2000 in an old house with an 18th-century frontage. It was restored with the help of grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Somerset County Council, South Somerset District Council and Crewkerne Town Council. The development of Crewkerne during the 18th and 19th centuries, with particular emphasis on the flax and linen industry is illustrated with a permanent display. Other collections relate to local archaeology, Coins and Medals, Costume and Textiles, Fine Art, Music, Personalities, Science and Technology, Social History, Weapons and War.
Crewkerne railway station, in nearby Misterton, is served by South Western Railway on what was the main south western railway line before it was outranked by the Taunton line. Trains operate to London Waterloo (two and a half hours away) via (70 minutes), and in the opposite direction to (under an hour). There is also a service provided by Great Western Railway to London Paddington. The station was opened by the London and South Western Railway on 19 July 1860. It was designed by Sir William Tite and has been designated as a Grade II listed building.
The town is served by Stagecoach South West with buses to Yeovil via Kithill, Misterton and Haselbury Plucknett and Chard. Buses also run to Merriott, South Petherton and Ilminster and Taunton. First West of England has service to Bridport via Beaminster and Broadwindsor, Yeovil via East Chinnock and West Coker and Chard.
It is on the route of the Monarch's Way a long-distance trail in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester.
Crewkerne Grammar School was at DeCombe House, until it closed in the late 1960s to combine into St Martin's School long on Abbey Street (having moved from the High Street in the late 1970s). Its Senior and Juniors School closed in 2003, leaving a pre-school nursery. Its gym was on Gouldsbrook Terrace, converted since.
Wadham School has students from 11 to 18 years old and includes those travelling from surrounding villages.
No major alterations have been made since the Reformation in the 1530s and 1540s, but there have been many changes to the interior to accommodate various phases of Church of England worship. Among these are an oven used for baking communion bread in the south east corner of the north chapel. During the Civil War, considerable damage was done including the destruction of nearly all of the medieval stained glass. William III of England worshipped in the church following his landing in the Glorious Revolution of 1689. By the early 19th century, all the medieval furnishings except the Norman Baptismal font had disappeared. New pews were made and the west galleries were added in 1808–11. The latest restoration that has left the church interior visible today, took place in the late 19th century; it was more sympathetic to the church's architectural character than many Victorian restorations. At this time, the central section of the west gallery was removed to reveal the great west window and the organ was relocated to the south transept. The pews date from around 1900 and have attractive carved bench-ends. The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.
Crewkerne also contains one of very few Unitarianism chapels left in the West Country, Crewkerne Unitarian Church, a tiny chapel tucked away on Hermitage Street. The Methodist church on South Street is shared by Roman Catholic and Methodism congregations, following the closure and proposed redevelopment of St Peter's Catholic Church. Christ Church, a chapel of ease to St Bartholomew's, was built on South Street in 1852–54. It was declared redundant in 1969 and demolished in 1975. It is now the site of the residential Christchurch Court. (2025). 9781445611983, Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445611983
Crewkerne's local radio stations are BBC Radio Somerset on 95.5 FM, Heart West on 97.1 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South West on 105.6 FM, and Radio Ninesprings, a community based station that broadcast on 104.5 FM.
The Chard and Ilminster News is the local newspaper that serves the town.
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