Shapwick, Somerset
| Shapwick | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Mary |
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 Shapwick
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| Shapwick shown within Somerset | |
| Population | 536 {2011} |
| OS grid reference | ST418382 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRIDGWATER |
| Postcode district | TA7 |
| Dialling code | 01458 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Shapwick is a village on the Polden Hills overlooking the Somerset Moors, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It is situated to the west of Glastonbury.
Shapwick is the site of one end of the Sweet Track, an ancient causeway dating from the 39th century BC.
In 1998 a hoard of 9,238 silver denarii (the second largest hoard ever found from the Roman Empire, and the largest in the United Kingdom) was discovered in the remains of a previously unknown Roman villa near Shapwick. Following a Treasure Inquest in Taunton, the hoard was valued and acquired in its entirety by Somerset County Museums Service for the sum of £265,000. It became known as the Shapwick Hoard.
The parish of Shapwick was part of the Whitley Hundred.
Due to the plan of its roads and streets academics have described it as a "typical English village". Shapwick is one of the nine Thankful Villages in Somerset — those that suffered no casualties in World War I.
The manor of Shapwick originally belonged to Glastonbury Abbey, forming part of its Pouholt (Polden) estate in 729. The manor house (which was previously known as Down House) dates to around 1475; originally it was moated but the moat was filled in during the rebuilding in the first quarter of the 17th century. After the Dissolution of the monasteries the manor passed to Thomas Walton and then to the Rolle family. Sir Henry Rolle remodelled Shapwick House in 1630. The manor of Shapwick was sold in 1786/7 by Denys Rolle (1725-1797) of Stevenstone in Devon, to George Templer (1755-1819) of the East India Company 4th son of James I Templer (1722–1782) of Stover, Teigngrace.
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