The origin of the name Burnett is most likely derived from the old English word baernet, meaning a place cleared by burning, and the earliest evidence of a settlement was in the period of the Roman occupation.

In 1102 the village came under the control of the powerful ecclesiastical body of Tewkesbury Abbey and the Benedictine monks stopped to worship and rest at St Michael's Church en route to Glastonbury.

The fact that Burnett has spent two lots of 400 years under the single ownership of first the church and then Bristol Municipal Charities, has resulted in little change with the village managing to maintain much of its character.

The majority of residents no longer work on the land but commute to Bristol and Bath, run their businesses from home or are retired.

The only communal building, St Michael's church, still holds regular services as part of the Parish of Kenysham[14] as it has done for over 1000 years.

In contrast, the steady incline of the B3116 from Burnett south to the junction with the A39 represents the geological dip of the top of the Blue Lias.

The steep slope marking the edge of the Chew Valley, immediately west of Burnett village, is an erosional scarp through the softer red and green shales of the Triassic Mercia Mudstone.

The fields in the bottom of the valley, north of the Burnett Fault, are underlain by the Supra- Pennant Measures of the Carboniferous period, represented by the Pensford Syncline coal basin, which formed part of the Somerset coalfield.

South of the fault, towards Compton Dando, the red colour of the fields indicates that the lower flanks of the valley are underlain by the Mercia Mudstone.

[22] In the summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine.

In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms.