Is Sparkford a good place to live?

[sophiesmileyface]

Hello, due to hubby's new job we're considering to move to Sparkford, we have viewed a few new build houses in Sparkford and considering to make an offer on one of them. I would be grateful if anyone could let me know if Sparkford is a good place to live, we have two children age 7 and 10.

Hello! Do you mean Sparkford in Somerset?

Hi thanks for the message, yes I was going to add 'Sparkford, south somerset' :)

It depends on whether you drive, and whether you will work? Sparkford is quite nice, but is very close to the A303 and has a lot of through traffic. If possible I would live a bit further away from the 303. What is your budget for the house?

Thanks Swifey40, we would drive and I work from home most of the time, our maxmium budget is 500k. Yes the traffic noise is our main concern, we wouldn't mind too much ourselves but a little worry about the house value for the future, maybe the value won't go up much in 5 years because of the traffic? Also I noticed a lot of new houses have been built in Sparkford recently, not sure if this is a good news or not for this small village?

There does seem to be a lot of new houses and not any more facilities, I agree. I would be inclined to move to one of the villages a bit further out.

North Cadbury is really nice and has a good primary I think. It also depends if you want a new house or an old one I suppose.
We moved down here 2 years ago (slightly sw from Sparkford) and bought a house that is very old and needs lots of work. But I totally understand if you want a lovely new house, all clean and finished exactly how you want it! ☺️
Are you moving far? We moved about 1 and 3/4 hours from family and we absolutely love Somerset!! It's so friendly!

Well it does have a MacDonalds, we have been known to drive down the 303 just for that .

Thank you Swifey40! we prefer a new house because I know we just couldn't handle the renovation. We currently live in London, A303 is actually quite convenient for us to travel back. is there anything else we should be aware of apart from the traffic in Sparkford?

@SuzanneV

Well it does have a MacDonalds, we have been known to drive down the 303 just for that .

We went to that mcdonalds too after our first viewing

It's fine for professionals who commute by car, nice area, good transport links but there is nothing for children; particularly when you get to teen age. The McDs is basically it. There used to be buses into Yeovil etc but I know they're not as regular as they used to be and I would expect them to face further cuts. It's not a fun life for young people around there. Depending on what exactly you need, there are other places with more going on (e.g. Street which has Clarks village)

It's OK but I concur with PP that there are better places a bit further away from the A303. Sherborne would be better for the DC, more to do and the Gryphon is really well thought of. In Sherborne they are more likely to have local friends. Lots of new builds available too.

@Swifey40

North Cadbury is really nice and has a good primary I think. It also depends if you want a new house or an old one I suppose. We moved down here 2 years ago (slightly sw from Sparkford) and bought a house that is very old and needs lots of work. But I totally understand if you want a lovely new house, all clean and finished exactly how you want it! ☺️ Are you moving far? We moved about 1 and 3/4 hours from family and we absolutely love Somerset!! It's so friendly!

North Cadbury is in Special Measures!

@reefedsail

It's OK but I concur with PP that there are better places a bit further away from the A303. Sherborne would be better for the DC, more to do and the Gryphon is really well thought of. In Sherborne they are more likely to have local friends. Lots of new builds available too.

Thank you reefedsail, I've noticed Sherborne's house pirces are slightly more expensive than Sparkford, but I suppose that's why schools are better there too

Do you want village or a bit more going on?

Large villages / small towns
Bruton - Sexey’s school
Castle Carey (train station)
Somerton
Wincanton
Sherborne - Gryphon school

@sophiesmileyface Sherborne has a house price bubble because it's thought of as a very sought after place to live. And to be fair, it is nice. There are some very reasonably priced houses up on Corelli, but it's not ideal up there because it's not an easy wander into town.

If you could compromise on the new build you could get a good house close to town with your money. This, for example, is in a great spot. Easy walk into town, easy walk to Sherborne Primary and the Gryphon. Nice community feel on that road in particular too.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/74483553#/

There is also a small development of new builds currently going up on Kings Road, but I'm not sure what the prices will be like.

Sorry for the multiple posts! Some info about the new builds here:

tandaland.co.uk/current-developments/

@reefedsail thanks for the information, very useful! I think we need to make up our mind which area we want to move, a very hard decision :(
we were about making an offer on a new build in Sparkford
as we really liked it, but now...:(

TBH I would think carefully. You are likely to end up with King Arthur's which has been in Special Measures for a good while, when you could live a few miles further south and have the Gryphon.

No primary in Sparkford and some quite ropey ones close by. I'd not be happy with either Countess Gytha or North Cadbury.

It really is dominated by the A303 too and associated traffic issues.

Thanks Reefedsail! We were considering hazlegrove prep in Sparkford, it's on doorstep, and we love the countryside view too around this development. Does anyone have views on the Hazlegrove prep?

Hazlegrove seems lovely. My 10yo DS is at Sherborne Prep so my only experience of it is going there for matches. It's got a reputation for being the 'sporty' prep locally. The parents seem nice when we go there- not too much braying.

I still wouldn't live in a lane of the A303! If you are moving from somewhere much more urban it probably doesn't bother you though. We lived for years right on a low numbered junction of the M4 and didn't think twice about that- in fact we thought it was rather convenient. Now we've been out here for the best part of a decade I'm unreasonably offended by main roads!

I do really value that my DS can walk to school though (as does he) and it's made it much easier for me to be flexible at work. I can't imagine anybody can walk to HzG.

Hazelgrove prep is really good!