Westonzoyland

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Westonzoyland
Westonzoyland shown within Somerset
OS grid reference	ST352348
District	Sedgemoor
Shire county	Somerset
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BRIDGWATER
Postcode district	TA7
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
European Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Bridgwater
List of places: UK • England • Somerset

Coordinates: 51°06′22″N 2°55′22″W / 51.106153, -2.922665

Westonzoyland is a village and civil parish in the Somerset Levels, four miles south east of Bridgwater. The last (so far) battle in England, Sedgemoor, was fought near to the Bussex area of the village in 1685. The parish includes the hamlet of Andersea. Westonzoyland has a population of approximately 1,600 people and is the larger of the three 'Zoys', the others being the villages of Middlezoy and Chedzoy. There is one public house in the village - the Sedgemoor Inn which has been the village pub since the time of the battle in 1685.

In World War II the local Royal Air Force airfield, abandoned since 1958, was a base for air combat, and for the transport of airborne ground troops to France. It now houses the Westonzoyland Microlight Aircraft Club - the 'Zoyboyz'. Microlight aircraft fly from the base for both recreation and as part of Sky Watch - Civil Air Patrol. Keeping an eye out from the air for anyone in distress either on land or sea.

St. Mary's Church

St Mary’s Parish Church, with its 15th Century carved timber roof, has a link with both conflicts. It served as a (notoriously disgusting)^{[citation needed]} prison after the 1685 battle and now contains a corner dedicated to local airmen who lost their lives in the 1940s conflict. The 4 stage tower has an embattled parapet with quatrefoil arcading, and set-back buttresses which terminate in pinnacles on the bell-chamber stage.^[1] The current clergyman for the church is the Reverend Christopher Keys.

[edit] Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum

Main article: Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum

Westonzoyland is home to Somerset's earliest steam-powered pumping station, built in 1830. Once a guardian of the Somerset Levels, now a small museum displaying stationary steam engines and exhibits of land drainage history. Pride of place goes to the station's pumping engine, the Easton and Amos. It is still in the main engine house, built in 1861 to replace an earlier engine that had been carrying out the pumping work since 1831.