Compton Dundon

Compton Dundon is a village beside King’s Sedgemoor and the Polden Hills, about 5 miles south of Glastonbury and 4 miles north of Somerton. Both towns have pages of their own: Glastonbury and Somerton. The village had a population of 705 in the 2011 census.

The landscape here rewards walkers. Dundon Hill, just outside the village, is an Iron Age hill fort with ramparts about 2 metres high, though quarrying has damaged it. South of the village, Great Breach and Copley Woods form a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, owned and managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

The Admiral Hood Monument commemorates Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, lies within the parish and is Grade II* listed. It is a lofty column on Combe Hill near Butleigh. Butleigh has a 14th-century church, St Leonard’s, which is also Grade II* listed, and Butleigh Court, built in 1845 by J. C. Buckler and known for its tall carved chimney stacks, all different.

In Compton Dundon itself, the Church of St Andrew in Dundon dates from the 14th century and is Grade II* listed. Part of a 14th-century wayside cross survives at the central crossroads. Local history research suggests a bell foundry once stood in the village, although where is uncertain.