Population 4,643 [1] OS grid reference

Windmill Hill was the site of a Bronze Age Beaker culture burial, and contemporary artefacts have been found on the Selwood Ridge.^[2]

Prior to the Norman Conquest Wincanton and was frequently the scene of battles between the Britons, Danes and Saxons.^[3] During the reign of Edmund Ironside, the English, under his command, defeated the Danes forcing them to leave England.^[4]

In the Domesday Book the name of the town was spelled as Wincaleton thought to mean Pleasant town on the Cale.^[5] Cockroad Wood Castle, which is now in the parish of Charlton Musgrove, was a motte and bailey castle, probably built after the Norman conquest of England in 1066.^[6] The castle sits close to the contemporary Norman castles of Ballands and Castle Orchard, and may have been built a system of fortifications to control the surrounding area. By 1086 the surrounding land was held by Walter of Douai, although no documentary evidence of the castle remains.^[7]

The parish of Wincanton was part of the Norton Ferris Hundred.^[8]

Wincanton was probably the site of a market in the medieval period but did not gain a market and fair charter until 1556.^[9]

The town is also the point where the William of Orange gained his first advantage over King James II, in 1688.^[5] A great part of the town was destroyed by fires in the years 1707,^[5] and 1747.^[10] In the early 19th century Wincanton was a depot for French officers, during the Napoleonic Wars.^[11]

[edit] Governance

Wincanton is within the area of Somerset County Council and the Non-metropolitan district of South Somerset, with its own town council.^[12] The town council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The town council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic; their role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council. The South Somerset district council is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, the library, roads, public transport, trading standards and waste disposal.

It is part of the Somerton and Frome a constituency of the House of Commons. The current member of parliament is the Liberal Democrat politician David Heath CBE. He is the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons.

Residents of Wincanton also form part of the electorate for the South West England constituency for elections to the European Parliament which elects six MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.^[13]

Memorial Hall

Wincanton Fire Station

Wincanton Community Hospital in Dancing Lane was formerly known as Verrington Hospital and has 34 beds on two wards plus intermediate care unit.^[14] It opened as an Isolation Hospital in September 1910 for patients with Scarlet Fever.^[15]

The Balsam Centre is a Healthy Living Centre and also a Children's Centre for Wincanton and South East Somerset.^[16]

The (War) Memorial Hall was opened on 9th. January 1959 has a stage as well as facilities for dancing or to seat 250. It also has a separate committee room that can sit 50.

Fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the South Western Ambulance Service.

Wincanton is situated on the north east edge of Blackmore Vale, 15 miles (24 km) north east of Yeovil, and 12 miles (19 km) north west of Shaftesbury on the extreme southeast of Somerset close to the borders of Dorset and Wiltshire.

Along with the rest of South West England, Wincanton has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50.0 °F) and shows a seasonal and a diurnal variation, but due to the modifying effect of the sea the range is less than in most other parts of the UK. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 1 °C (33.8 °F) and 2 °C (35.6 °F). July and August are the warmest months in the region with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (69.8 °F).^[17]

The south-west of England has a favoured location with respect to the Azores high pressure when it extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer. Convective cloud often forms inland however, especially near hills, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. The average annual sunshine totals around 1,600 hours.^[17]

Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of the rain which falls in those seasons in the south-west is from this source. Average rainfall is about 725 millimetres (28.5 in). November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.^[17]

Originally the home to a local creamery, the facility was bought by the West Surrey Central Dairy Company in the late 1890s, which after developing a dried milk baby powder changed its name in 1908 to Cow & Gate. The creamery and dairy products factory had its own sidings from the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway station, providing access for milk trains.

In order to cope with the transport problems across its quickly expanding creamery, milk bottling and doorstep delivery network, Cow & Gate formed a dedicated logistics arm in 1920. Spun out in 2002 from successor company Unigate, Wincanton PLC is Europe's second largest logistics company. The company still has a base in the town, although its head office function moved to Chippenham, Wiltshire in 2005.^[18]

In 1999, Unigate sold its remaining dairies to Dairy Crest. The company still have a creamery and milk processing plant in the town, but have sold the cheese business to Adams Foods Ltd., producer of the Pilgrim's Choice brand of Cheddar cheese, the second best selling brand in the UK.^[19]

In order to fulfill the large number of food processing jobs, there has been an influx of foreign nationals in the last two years, especially Portuguese and Polish citizens.^[20]