Ashwick is a village in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, about three miles north of Shepton Mallet and seven miles east from Wells. It has also been a civil parish since 1826. The parish had a population of 1,352 according to the 2011 census, and apart from Ashwick village also includes Gurney Slade and Oakhill. History The area around Ashwick has evidence of occupation since the Iron Age, being in close proximity to Maesbury Castle. In Roman Britain, Fosse Way was constructed, which passes to the east of the parish. Although Oakhill is the larger village today, Ashwick is the older settlement, dating back to Anglo-Saxon times. It appears in the Domesday book as a settlement called Escewiche, which translates as 'the hamlet or farmstead by the ash trees'. The parish of Ashwick was part of the Hundred of Kilmersdon. The village is the site of Ashwick Court, a country house dating from the late 17th century and Grade II* listed. Anthony Newley's short-lived 1960 ATV series The Strange World of Gurney Slade continues to have a cult following owing to its postmodern premise that the Newley character is trapped inside a television programme. Newley's character is named "Gurney Slade"; in one typically surreal episode, he encounters a signpost that leads him in the direction of a locale called Gurney Slade, where he casually interacts with a talking dog. Geology The nearby Maesbury Railway Cutting of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway exposes approximately 135 metres of strata representing the middle and upper Lower Limestone Shales and the basal Black Rock Limestone. Both formations are of early Carboniferous (Courceyan) age. Governance The parish 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 parish 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. The parish council's 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 village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under