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Ditcheat is a village and civil parish south of Shepton Mallet, and north-west of Castle Cary, in Somerset, England. Besides the village, the parish has four hamlets: Wraxall, Lower Wraxall, Alhampton and Sutton.
Nearby main roads are the A37, west of the village, connecting Bristol and Yeovil, and the A371, east, connecting Shepton Mallet and Wincanton. It lies near the River Brue which is crossed by Ansford bridge which dates from 1823. Boulter's Bridge which spans the River Alham is of medieval origin and has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The parish is close to the Roman Fosse Way.
The Manor House is a 17th-century manor house built by Sir Ralph Hopton.
For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the village comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of Mendip District, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Shepton Mallet Rural District.
It is also part of the Frome and East Somerset county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament prior to Brexit in January 2020, which elected seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
The Abbey is a large house (formerly known as The Priory), built as the rectory by John Gunthorpe who was rector of Ditcheat, Dean of Wells and Lord Privy Seal, in 1473. The house was altered in 1667 for Christopher Coward; and given a new facade and rearranged internally in 1864–68, probably by James Piers St Aubyn for Rev. William Leir. The exterior is now mostly his Victorian neo-Tudor; inside there are reused fragments and some original 15th- and 17th-century work – coffered ceilings and the arch-braced roof of the ‘chapel wing’ – but most of the elaborate Gothic work dates from the 1860s.
Priors Leigh on the Alhampton Road is a former chapel, now a private home.
Alhampton is served by Alhampton Chapel, a small mission church and tin tabernacle which was erected in 1892. Alhampton Chapel is under the auspices of St Mary Magdalene Church in Ditcheat, both of which form part of the Fosse Trinity Benefice.
The Alhampton Inn, also known as the Knave of Clubs, is claimed to have been an alehouse from at least the seventeenth century. "Alhampton Inn: Our Story". Retrieved 28 October 2024 After it closed in 2022, a community initiative supported by the Plunkett Foundation was set up to reopen the pub, and this was successfully achieved in August 2023. "The Alhampton Inn to reopen as a community-run pub", Somerset County Gazette, 23 June 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023 "Alhampton Inn: Our Story". Retrieved 25 August 2023 In 2024, the pub won a Prince of Wales Award of Honour, "Community Spirit Restores Alhampton Inn: A Triumph of Local Collaboration", Porter Dobson. Retrieved 28 October 2024 and was listed by the Daily Mail as one of the hundred best pubs in Britain. Daniel Clark, "Somerset pubs named among UK's best in Daily Mail top 100", Somerset Live, 12 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024
A new woodland, Haddon Wood, was established at Alhampton on 28 acres of land donated by the owner in 2013 to the Woodland Trust for the benefit of the local community. John Vallins, "A woodland dream come true", The Guardian, 3 November 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2023 The land has been planted with native and orchard trees, and has a pond. Haddon Wood, The Woodland Trust. Retrieved 25 August 2023
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