119-510: Download coordinates as: The Somerset Coalfield in northern Somerset , England is an area where coal was mined from the 15th century until 1973. It is part of a larger coalfield which stretched into southern Gloucestershire . The Somerset coalfield stretched from Cromhall in the north to the Mendip Hills in the south, and from Bath in the east to Nailsea in the west, a total area of about 240 square miles (622 km). Most of
238-584: A national park in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act . The highest point in Somerset is Dunkery Beacon on Exmoor, with a maximum elevation of 519 metres (1,703 feet). Over 100 sites in Somerset have been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest . The 64 km (40 mi) coastline of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary forms part of
357-475: A boost with the opening of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway in 1873. Greyfield Colliery closed in 1911 and the railway in 1964. Hallatrow was an important station on the Bristol and North Somerset Railway , and the junction for the branch line to Camerton , which opened in 1882 and which was later extended eastwards along the line of the former Somerset Coal Canal to a junction at Limpley Stoke with
476-576: A canal system, as stated by the Coal Commission: "At about this period (1800) the system of coal navigation was being rapidly extended, and the result was that coals were gradually finding their way into districts that could not be reached unless at great cost, by road". A scheme for an extension of the Avon Navigation was proposed in 1766, but canals did not reach the coalfield for almost another 50 years. In 1794 coal proprietors formed
595-663: A committee to construct the Somerset Coal Canal with two branches into the Cam Brook and Wellow Brook Valleys, and from a junction at Midford , to join the proposed Kennet and Avon Canal at the Dundas Aqueduct near Bath . Coal was transported by the Somerset Coal Canal and later by the Bristol and North Somerset Railway and Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway , which were accessed from
714-706: A depot and a superstore. The Duchy of Cornwall owned most of the mineral rights around Midsomer Norton and various small pits opened around 1750 to exploit these. In 1763 coal was discovered in Radstock and mining began on land owned by the Waldegrave family , Lords of the Manor since the English Civil War . In 1896 the pits were owned by the Trustee of Frances, late Countess of Waldegrave. Radstock
833-436: A horse could carry. Can an insignificant toll be put in competition with this saving?" Not all roads were improved, and in 1819 John Skinner observed roads "rendered bad" by the passage of coal wagons. Expansion of production was limited by access to market. Such a need implied a canal project, following Lord Middleton's dictum "Water transport is what all coal owners must aim at". There were large gains from being connected to
952-578: A long history of settlement, and are known to have been settled by Mesolithic hunters. Travel in the area was facilitated by the construction of one of the world's oldest known engineered roadways, the Sweet Track , which dates from 3807 BCE or 3806 BCE. The exact age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but it is believed to be Neolithic . There are numerous Iron Age hill forts , some of which, like Cadbury Castle and Ham Hill , were later reoccupied in
1071-458: A railway linking the colliery to the main Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway was constructed, and sidings laid in 1905 and 1907 which were reconstructed in 1953. On 9 April 1908 an explosion approximately 1,500 feet (460 m) underground killed ten men and boys. As there were no mines rescue teams at that time, the manager and volunteers searched for survivors for 10 days. In 1911, partly as
1190-596: A result of the Norton Hill explosion, Winston Churchill was instrumental in the passing of the Coal Mines Act 1911 ( 1 & 2 Geo. 5 . c. 50). After nationalisation after World War II the National Coal Board spent £500,000 on modernising the mine's infrastructure to give it the capability for annual production of 315,000 tons; however, manpower shortages and geological problems caused
1309-410: A unitary authority for the non-metropolitan county, with the powers of both a district and county council, renamed Somerset Council . The two existing unitary authorities were not altered. A previous attempt to reorganise the county as a unitary authority 2007 was rejected following local opposition. Somerset's local government records date to 1617, longer than those of any other county; a meeting of
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#17327648648981428-468: Is a Grade II listed building . Somerset Somerset ( / ˈ s ʌ m ər s ɪ t , - s ɛ t / SUM -ər-sit , -set ), archaically Somersetshire ( / ˈ s ʌ m ər s ɪ t . ʃ ɪər , - s ɛ t -, - ʃ ər / SUM -ər-sit-sheer , -set- , -shər ) is a ceremonial county in South West England . It is bordered by
1547-454: Is a very large Batch almost in the middle of Camerton that is now a designated Local Nature Reserve. The Batch was bare, like the Paulton ones until, according to locals, the wife of the owner of Camerton Court decided to pay for it to be planted with trees to improve the view. There are small batches at Clutton, east of Radford Hill and at Greyfields, High Littleton. East of Camerton the coal
1666-469: Is approximately 10 °C (50.0 °F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C (69.8 °F). In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 °C (33.8 °F) or 2 °C (35.6 °F) are common. In the summer
1785-744: Is buried beneath newer rock strata, which meant that mining in the area was more difficult. The dominant features of the valleys of the Cam and Wellow Brooks are remnants of coal mining from the 18th to the 20th centuries. In both valleys there are frequent shafts and batches together with the remains of the railway and tram lines that connected the mines to the Avon Valley. Remains of the Somersetshire Coal Canal are also significant reminders of this coal mining history in this area. Mining around Farrington Gurney has been undertaken since
1904-472: Is desirable to preserve or enhance' under section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 . The first of the collieries around Timsbury village was sunk in 1791 and known as Conygre (Conigre in old spellings). Camerton Old Pit opened in 1781 and the shaft went down to 921 feet (281 m). It closed around circa 1898 but the shaft was then used as an airway and escape route for
2023-713: Is dominated by the Levels , a coastal plain and wetland. The north-east contains part of the Cotswolds uplands and all of the Mendip Hills , which are both national landscapes ; the west contains the Quantock Hills and part of the Blackdown Hills , which are also national landscapes, and most of Exmoor , a national park . The major rivers of the county are the Avon , which flows through Bath and then Bristol, and
2142-731: Is drained by the River Parrett while land to the north is drained by the River Axe and the River Brue. The total area of the Levels amounts to about 647.5 square kilometres (160,000 acres) and broadly corresponds to the administrative district of Sedgemoor but also includes the south west of Mendip district . Approximately 70% of the area is grassland and 30% is arable. Stretching about 32 kilometres (20 mi) inland, this expanse of flat land barely rises above sea level. Before it
2261-473: Is in the law code of King Ine who was the Saxon King of Wessex from 688 to 726 CE, making Somerset along with Hampshire , Wiltshire and Dorset one of the oldest extant units of local government in the world. An alternative suggestion is the name derives from Seo-mere-saetan meaning "settlers by the sea lakes". The same ending can also be seen in the neighbouring Dorset . The Old English name
2380-412: Is now run by the vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Paulton creating the joint benefices of Paulton, High Littleton and Farrington Gurney , due to the vicar of High Littleton retiring. The parish has several fine houses still existing: The Grange, Hallatrow is dated 1669 and High Littleton House was built by Thomas Hodges around 1710. The television series Robin of Sherwood was partly filmed nearby in
2499-675: Is part of a larger coalfield which stretches into Gloucestershire . To the north of the Mendip hills is the Chew Valley and to the south, on the clay substrate, are broad valleys which support dairy farming and drain into the Somerset Levels. There is an extensive network of caves , including Wookey Hole, underground rivers, and gorges , including the Cheddar Gorge and Ebbor Gorge . The county has many rivers, including
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#17327648648982618-459: Is the chief settlement of the county's only extant borough ). The largest urban areas in terms of population are Bath, Weston-super-Mare , Taunton, Yeovil and Bridgwater . Many settlements developed because of their strategic importance in relation to geographical features, such as river crossings or valleys in ranges of hills. Examples include Axbridge on the River Axe , Castle Cary on
2737-719: Is used in the motto of the county, Sumorsǣte ealle , meaning "all the people of Somerset". Adopted as the motto in 1911, the phrase is taken from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . Somerset was a shire of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex , and the phrase refers to the wholehearted support the people of Somerset gave to King Alfred in his struggle to save Wessex from Viking invaders. Somerset settlement names are mostly Anglo-Saxon in origin (for example, Bath , Somerton , Wells and Keynsham ), but numerous place names include British Celtic elements, such as
2856-540: The A39 Wells -Bath road, which is crossed by the A37 Shepton Mallet to Bristol road at White Cross. There is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled primary school (4–11 years) in the village, together with several pubs and shops. There is evidence of settlement at High Littleton since Saxon times in the late 7th or 8th century. They called it Lytel tun. Hallatrow may have been much older. In
2975-714: The Avon Fire and Rescue Service , Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service . Bath and North East Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county . Its administrative headquarters is in Bath . Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Wansdyke district and the City of Bath of
3094-753: The Axe , Brue , and Parrett , which drain the Levels. There is evidence of Paleolithic human occupation in Somerset, and the area was subsequently settled by the Celts , Romans and Anglo-Saxons . The county played a significant part in Alfred the Great 's rise to power, and later the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion . In the later medieval period its wealth allowed its monasteries and parish churches to be rebuilt in grand style; Glastonbury Abbey
3213-464: The Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, but convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. In December 1998 there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of
3332-466: The Bath and West of England Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures and Commerce was founded in 1777 to improve farming methods. Despite this, two decades later agriculturist John Billingsley conducted a survey of the county's agriculture in 1795 and found that agricultural methods could still be improved. Coal mining was an important industry in north Somerset during
3451-677: The Battle of Sedgemoor at Westonzoyland , the last pitched battle fought in England. Arthur Wellesley took his title, Duke of Wellington from the town of Wellington ; he is commemorated on a nearby hill by a large, spotlit obelisk , known as the Wellington Monument . The Industrial Revolution in the Midlands and Northern England spelled the end for most of Somerset's cottage industries. Farming continued to flourish, and
3570-438: The Bristol Channel , Gloucestershire , and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east and the north-east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Bath , and the county town is Taunton . Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of 4,171 km (1,610 sq mi) and a population of 965,424. After Bath (101,557),
3689-479: The Domesday Survey of 1086, each village covered an area of about 600 acres (2.4 km ). In early times the villages would have been almost entirely farmed, mostly arable farming but with a mixture of dairy farming and sheep raising. The parish was part of the hundred of Chewton . According to Robinson it is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Liteltone meaning 'The little enclosure' from
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3808-842: The Early Middle Ages . On the authority of the future emperor Vespasian , as part of the ongoing expansion of the Roman presence in Britain, the Second Legion Augusta invaded Somerset from the south-east in 47 CE. The county remained part of the Roman Empire until around 409 CE, when the Roman occupation of Britain came to an end. A variety of Roman remains have been found, including Pagans Hill Roman temple in Chew Stoke , Low Ham Roman Villa and
3927-505: The European Parliament . High Littleton High Littleton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, about 1.2 miles (1.9 km) north of Paulton and 7.5 miles (12 km) south-west of Bath . The parish includes the small village of Hallatrow and the hamlets of White Cross, Greyfield and Mearns; the northeastern part of High Littleton village is known as Rotcombe. High Littleton and Hallatrow are on
4046-722: The Local Government Act 1992 . It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control , local roads, council housing , environmental health , markets and fairs, refuse collection , recycling , cemeteries , crematoria , leisure services, parks, and tourism . it is also responsible for education , social services , libraries , main roads, public transport , trading standards , waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through
4165-531: The National Coal Board , but the expense of improving equipment and working conditions meant that these became uneconomical and the last pit closed in 1973. There is still evidence of the mine workings, with the remains of buildings, spoil heaps and tramways in the area. The Somerset Coalfield covers a total area of about 240 square miles (622 km). It consists of three synclines , informally referred to as 'coal basins'. The Pensford Syncline in
4284-513: The Old English lytel and tun . The property was owned by the Bishop of Coutances and sub-let to a tenant named as Ralph Rufus. Coal mines were established in the area by 1633 because on the Somerset coalfield the coal seams ran obliquely to the surface. The first deep mine in the parish was Mearns Coalworks which began in 1783. During the 1790s, William Smith worked extensively in
4403-594: The Palaeolithic period, and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge . Bones from Gough's Cave have been dated to 12,000 BCE, and a complete skeleton, known as Cheddar Man , dates from 7150 BCE . Examples of cave art have been found in Aveline's Hole . Some caves continued to be occupied until modern times, including Wookey Hole . The Somerset Levels —specifically dry points at Glastonbury and Brent Knoll —also have
4522-479: The Radstock Slide Fault the distance between the broken ends of a coal seam can be as much as 1,500 feet (457 m). The complex geology and thin seams gained the field notoriety and three underground explosions, in 1893, 1895 and 1908 were amongst the first attributable solely to airborne coal dust. Exploratory surveys of the local geology were carried out by William Smith , who became known as
4641-713: The River Cary , North Petherton on the River Parrett , and Ilminster , where there was a crossing point on the River Isle . Midsomer Norton lies on the River Somer ; while the Wellow Brook and the Fosse Way Roman road run through Radstock. Chard is the most southerly town in Somerset and one of the highest, though at an altitude of 126 m (413 ft) Wiveliscombe is the highest town in
4760-511: The Roman Baths that gave their name to the city of Bath . After the Romans left, Britain was invaded by Anglo-Saxon peoples. By 600 CE they had established control over much of what is now England, but Somerset was still in native British hands. The British held back Saxon advance into the south-west for some time longer, but by the early eighth century King Ine of Wessex had pushed
4879-680: The Second World War the county was a base for troops preparing for the D-Day landings . Some of the hospitals which were built for the casualties of the war remain in use. The Taunton Stop Line was set up to repel a potential German invasion. The remains of its pill boxes can still be seen along the coast, and south through Ilminster and Chard . A number of decoy towns were constructed in Somerset in World War ;II to protect Bristol and other towns. They were designed to mimic
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4998-680: The county of Avon . Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Clutton Rural District . An electoral ward with the same name exists. Although High Littleton is the most populous area, the ward stretches south to Farrington Gurney . The total population of the ward as at the census 2011 was 3,005. The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of North East Somerset and Hanham . It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by
5117-555: The first past the post system of election. According to the 2001 Census, the High Littleton Ward had 1,322 residents, living in 490 households, with an average age of 40.7 years. Of these 73% of residents describing their health as 'good', 20% of 16- to 74-year-olds had no qualifications; and the area had an unemployment rate of 1.4% of all economically active people aged 16–74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, it
5236-454: The fossils it contained and the same succession of fossil groups from older to younger rocks could be found in other parts of England. Smith noticed an easterly dip in the beds of rock—small near the surface (about three degrees ) then greater after the Triassic rocks which led to him a testable hypothesis , which he termed the principle of faunal succession , and he began to determine if
5355-491: The pits on the coalfield were concentrated in the Cam Brook , Wellow Brook and Nettlebridge Valleys and around Radstock and Farrington Gurney . The pits were grouped geographically, with clusters of pits close together working the same coal seams often under the same ownership. Many pits shared the trackways and tramways which connected them to the Somerset Coal Canal or railways for distribution. The early pits were adits where coal outcropped or bell pits where coal
5474-541: The "father of English geology", building on work by John Strachey . Smith worked for the Stracheys who owned Sutton Court , at one of their older mines, the Mearns Pit at High Littleton . As he observed the rock strata at the pit, he realised that they were arranged in a predictable pattern that the various strata could always be found in the same relative positions and each particular stratum could be identified by
5593-466: The 17th century where, by 1780, the pits were known as Farrington Colliery. The main geological feature south of Hallatrow consists of Supra-Pennant Measures which include the upper coal measures and outcrops of sandstone. Relics of its industrial past are evident in the area, including the highly visible and distinct conical shaped Old Mills Batch with its generally unvegetated surface. The three disused colliery sites have been developed for light industry,
5712-405: The 17th century. Most mining ended in the 19th century; however, Strap Colliery was opened in 1953 as Mendip Colliery and worked until 1969. The Vobster Breach colliery had a unique system of long coking ovens which, along with the other buildings, have been designated as a Scheduled monument . The boiler chimney of Oxley's Colliery near Buckland Dinham which operated for a few years in the 1880s
5831-482: The 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1800 it was prominent in Radstock . The Somerset Coalfield reached its peak production by the 1920s. All the pits have now been closed, the last in 1973. Most of the surface buildings have been removed, and apart from a winding wheel outside Radstock Museum , little evidence of their former existence remains. Further west, the Brendon Hills were mined for iron ore in
5950-709: The 19th century. Exhibits relate to the coalfield and its geology . Artefacts and memorabilia from the Somerset Coal Canal, Somerset and Dorset and Great Western Railways are also on display. The Pensford coal basin is in the northern part of the coalfield around Bishop Sutton , Pensford, Stanton Drew , Farmborough and Hunstrete . At least one pit was operating near Bishop Sutton before 1719. Four bell pits in Bishop Sutton were marked on field tithe No 1409, and four shaft pits on field tithe No 1428, but were no longer working by 1824. The Old Pit at Bishop Sutton, which
6069-569: The Axe, Brue , Cary, Parrett, Sheppey , Tone and Yeo . These both feed and drain the flat levels and moors of mid and west Somerset. In the north of the county the River Chew flows into the Bristol Avon . The Parrett is tidal almost to Langport , where there is evidence of two Roman wharfs. At the same site during the reign of King Charles I , river tolls were levied on boats to pay for
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#17327648648986188-411: The Lower and Middle Coal Measures are 1,600 feet (490 m) thick with the Middle Coal Measures averaging about 500 and 5,000 feet and the Lower Coal Measures about 600 feet (180 m). Only in the southern part of the Radstock Syncline have coals of the Lower and Middle Coal Measures been worked, mainly at the Newbury and Vobster collieries in the southeast and in the New Rock and Moorewood pits to
6307-399: The Mendips, covers a smaller geographical area than the Somerset Levels; and forms a coastal area around Avonmouth . It too was reclaimed by draining. It is mirrored, across the Severn Estuary , in Wales, by a similar low-lying area: the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels . In the far west of the county, running into Devon, is Exmoor , a high Devonian sandstone moor , which was designated as
6426-448: The Mendips. The Colliers Way ( NCR24 ) national cycle route passes landmarks associated with the coalfield, and other roads and footpaths follow tramways developed during the coal mining years. The cycleway runs from Dundas Aqueduct to Frome via Radstock , and is intended to provide part of a continuous cycle route to Southampton and Portsmouth . Radstock Museum has exhibits that offer an insight into life in north Somerset since
6545-399: The New Pit, until 1930 when it was closed and capped. The New Pit was half a mile east of the Old Pit and went down to 1,818 feet (554 m). In 1928 it was joined underground to Braysdown Colliery and eventually closed in 1950. There is very little obvious landscape evidence remaining of the previous mining activities around Clutton, Temple Cloud, High Littleton and Timsbury. However, there
6664-506: The Quarter Sessions held at Wells in that year decided that a room should be provided "for the safe keeping of the records of the Sessions". As of 2024 , following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies , the ceremonial county of Somerset is divided into 11 parliamentary constituencies , each returning one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons . Conservative Labour Liberal Democrat From 1984 to 1994, Somerset
6783-429: The Severn Estuary. In the mid and north of the county the coastline is low as the level wetlands of the levels meet the sea. In the west, the coastline is high and dramatic where the plateau of Exmoor meets the sea, with high cliffs and waterfalls. Along with the rest of South West England , Somerset has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature
6902-411: The Upper Writhlington Colliery were converted into dwellings. Norton Hill Collieries at Westfield were owned by members of the Beauchamp family such as Sir Frank Beauchamp and his brother Louis Beauchamp who owned other collieries and related works on the coalfield at various times. They were also known as the Beauchamp goldmines as they were the most productive mines in the whole coalfield. In 1900
7021-402: The Writhlington, Huish and Foxcote Colliery Co., and in 1908 by the Writhlington Collieries Co. Ltd. The Upper and Lower Writhlington, Huish & Foxcote pits were merged into a single colliery. The base of the Kilmersdon valley consists of alluvium deposits. Above these, on both sides of all of the valleys, is a band of shales and clays from the Penarth group from the Triassic period. Most of
7140-428: The abbey in 1322, but the royal licence is dated 1328. In 1322 the bishop approved the appropriation of the church of High Littleton to Keynsham , because of the losses which the abbey had sustained in the floods, rain, and murrain in its lands in Ireland and Wales , and in its loss of the tithes of Chewstoke . The church is a Grade II listed building , with monuments in the churchyard listed themselves. The church
7259-399: The area as a mine surveyor and as chief surveyor for the Somerset Coal Canal ; and it was during this time that he formulated his ideas of rock stratification. He describes the area as the 'birthplace of geology'. By 1800 the population had grown to about 800; however, many of these may have worked in mines outside the parish. The Greyfield Coal Company did not start until 1833. It received
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#17327648648987378-421: The boundaries of the West Saxon kingdom far enough west to include Somerset. The Saxon royal palace in Cheddar was used several times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot . The nature of the relations between the Britons and the Saxons in Somerset is not entirely clear. Ine's laws demonstrate that the Britons were considered to be a significant enough population in Wessex to merit provisions; however,
7497-407: The canal basin was connected to the pits at Brittens, Littlebrook, Paulton Ham, Paulton Hill, Simons Hill by a tramway which terminated at Salisbury Colliery. In addition the Paulton Foundry used this line. The entire line was disused by 1871 as were the collieries it served. The area has been designated as an 'area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it
7616-439: The closure of the last two pits, Kilmersdon and Writhlington, in September 1973. Although there are still the remains of mines, disused or redeveloped buildings and a few spoil tips , most have been removed or landscaped and the area has returned to a largely rural nature. The towns and villages have some light industry , but are often commuter towns for Bath and Bristol. There are several limestone quarries , particularly in
7735-435: The coalfield were unsuited to moving coal. Bulley notes "The problem ... was rendered far worse by the state of the roads in Somerset, which were notorious down to the middle of the 18th century. Parishes in the area sometimes neglected or refused to repair those roads which were heavily used by coal carts. Thus in 1617 the inhabitants of Stoke St Michael ... complained that " of late by reason of many coalmines ...
7854-508: The coalfield. They are listed stratigraphically i.e. uppermost/youngest first. Note that not all seams are continuous across the coalfield and that correlation of some seams from one basin to another is uncertain. It is believed that coal was mined in the area during Roman times and there is documentary evidence of coal being dug on the Mendips in 1305 and at Kilmersdon in 1437. By the time of Henry VIII there were coal pits at Clutton , High Littleton and Stratton-on-the-Fosse . During
7973-500: 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, such as the village hall or community centre , playing fields and playgrounds , as well as consulting with
8092-453: The counties of Gloucester and Somerset ... and that it should be a county by itself ". The present-day northern border of Somerset (adjoining the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire) runs along the southern bank of the Avon from the Bristol Channel, then follows around the southern edge of the Bristol built-up area, before continuing upstream along the Avon and then diverges from the river to include Bath and its historic hinterland to
8211-399: The county. The county contains several-miles-wide sections of the Avon green belt area, which is primarily in place to prevent urban sprawl from the Bristol and Bath built up areas encroaching into the rural areas of North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset, and Mendip districts in the county, as well as maintaining surrounding countryside. It stretches from the coastline between
8330-490: The crown, with fortifications such as Dunster Castle used for control and defence. Somerset came under the political influence of several different nobles during the Middle Ages. During the Wars of the Roses, an important magnate was Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon whose wider influence stretched from Cornwall to Wiltshire. After 1485, one of the county's most influential figures was Henry VII's chamberlain Giles Daubeney . Somerset contains HM Prison Shepton Mallet , which
8449-422: 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 of interest to the council. High Littleton is a ward represented by one councillor on the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by
8568-421: The early 17th century coal was largely obtained by excavating the outcrops and driving drifts which followed the seam into the ground. Only small amounts of coal could be obtained by these methods and bell pits were also dug. These were vertical pits, with a 4-foot-diameter (1.2 m) shaft up to 60 feet (18 m) deep, which were opened out at the bottom. When all the coal that could safely be extracted from
8687-492: The highways there are much in decay and grown very founderous ". In Somerset, turnpike roads began in 1707 with the establishment of the Bath Trust, but turnpikes did not reach the coalfield until the mid-1700s. The Bristol Trust, which passed close to the western boundary of the coalfield, established in 1727 was of little importance, as Bristol was never a significant market, having its own coalfield . Turnpikes facilitated
8806-530: The landscape of Somerset falls into types determined by the underlying geology. These landscapes are the limestone karst and lias of the north, the clay vales and wetlands of the centre, the oolites of the east and south, and the Devonian sandstone of the west. To the north-east of the Somerset Levels, the Mendip Hills are moderately high limestone hills. The central and western Mendip Hills
8925-497: The largest settlements are Weston-super-Mare (82,418), Taunton (60,479), and Yeovil (49,698). Wells (12,000) is a city, the second-smallest by population in England. For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas: Bath and North East Somerset , North Somerset , and Somerset . Bath and North East Somerset Council is a member of the West of England Combined Authority . The centre of Somerset
9044-735: The late 19th century; this was taken by the West Somerset Mineral Railway to Watchet Harbour for shipment to the furnaces at Ebbw Vale . Many Somerset soldiers died during the First World War , with the Somerset Light Infantry suffering nearly 5,000 casualties. War memorials were put up in most of the county's towns and villages; only nine, described as the Thankful Villages , had none of their residents killed. During
9163-454: The latest equipment at the time including coal cutters. It had a red-brick winding house, pithead baths and a coal washery. Faulting made coal production expensive and it closed in 1958. The Earl of Warwick 's estates included sawmills , quarries , brickworks and collieries in addition to agricultural holdings. Bell pits, around Clutton and High Littleton , were described in a survey of 1610. All were closed by 1836. The first deep mine in
9282-525: The laws also suggest that Britons could not attain the same social standing as the Saxons, and that many were slaves. In light of such policies, many Britons might have chosen to emigrate to places such as Brittany while those who remained would have had incentives to adopt Anglo-Saxon culture. After the Norman Conquest , the county was divided into 700 fiefs , and large areas were owned by
9401-423: The lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. The ceremonial county of Somerset is currently governed by three unitary authorities : Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES), North Somerset Council , and Somerset Council . B&NES is also part of the West of England Combined Authority . Modern local government in Somerset began in 1889, when an administrative county
9520-574: The line from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon . In addition to its role as a junction, Hallatrow was also an important goods depot, receiving milk from local farms, printed materials from Purnells' factory at Paulton and local coal. The station closed when the Bristol and North Somerset line closed to passenger traffic in 1959; goods services were withdrawn in 1964 and the last train ran in 1968. The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover
9639-461: The local pit. The disused railway line and inclined railway at Haydon are important elements in the Kilmersdon valley east of Haydon. The modern landscape has a less maintained and 'rougher' character and texture than neighbouring agricultural areas caused mainly by the remnants of the coal industry and its infrastructure and changes in agricultural management. Disturbance caused by coal mining and
9758-519: The maintenance of the bridge. The Somerset Levels (or Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly but more correctly known) are a sparsely populated wetland area of central Somerset, between the Quantock and Mendip hills. They consist of marine clay levels along the coast, and the inland (often peat based) moors. The Levels are divided into two by the Polden Hills . Land to the south
9877-458: The movement of coal, and John Billingsley enthused "Nothing so much contributes to the improvement of a county as good roads. Before the establishment of turnpikes, many parts of the county were scarcely accessible. ... coal was carried on horses' backs to the distance of fifteen or twenty miles from the colliery; each horse carried about two hundred and half weight. Now one horse with a light cart will draw four hundred weight or four times more than
9996-507: The nighttime geometry of "blacked out" streets, railway lines, and Bristol Temple Meads railway station , to encourage German bombers away from these targets. One, on the German radio navigation beam flight path to Bristol, was constructed on Beacon Batch . It was laid out by Shepperton Studios , based on aerial photographs of the city's railway marshalling yards . The decoys were fitted with dim red lights, simulating activities such as
10115-592: The north and the Radstock Syncline in the south are separated by the east–west trending Farmborough Fault Belt . Further to the west is the smaller Nailsea Syncline. The Radstock Syncline in particular is cut by a series of east–west thrust faults and north–south trending normal faults . The Coal Measures are divided into a Lower, Middle and Upper with coal seams found within each of these divisions. Lower and Middle Coal Measures are found at depths between 500 and 5,000 feet (150 and 1,520 m). Together
10234-619: The north of the Avon, before meeting Wiltshire at the Three Shire Stones on the Fosse Way at Batheaston . Somerton took over from Ilchester as the county town in the late thirteenth century, but it declined in importance and the status of county town transferred to Taunton about 1366. The county has two cities , Bath and Wells , and 30 towns (including the county town of Taunton, which has no town council but instead
10353-537: The north, where the River Avon formed the border with Gloucestershire, except that the hundred of Bath Forum , which straddles the Avon, formed part of Somerset. Bristol began as a town on the Gloucestershire side of the Avon, but as it grew it extended across the river into Somerset. In 1373 Edward III proclaimed "that the town of Bristol with its suburbs and precincts shall henceforth be separate from
10472-521: The northern border of Somerset. The Bristol Channel has the second largest tidal range in the world. At Burnham-on-Sea , for example, the tidal range of a spring tide is more than 12 metres (39 feet). Proposals for the construction of a Severn Barrage aim to harness this energy. The island of Steep Holm in the Bristol Channel is within the ceremonial county and is now administered by North Somerset Council. The main coastal towns are, from
10591-454: The northern branch of the Somerset Coal Canal which was the focus for tramroads that connected at least 15 collieries around Paulton, Timsbury and High Littleton . On the northern side of canal was the terminus for the tramroad which served Old Grove, Prior's, Tyning and Hayeswood pits, with a branch line to Amesbury and Mearns pits. Parts of this line were still in use in 1873, probably carrying horse-drawn wagons of coal. The southern side of
10710-660: The number of pits reduced from 30 at the beginning of the 20th century to 14 by the mid-1930s, twelve at nationalisation when the National Coal Board was created on 1 January 1947, under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 , five in 1959 and none after 1973. Despite some investment in new infrastructure, particularly at Norton Hill, thin seams made production expensive, limiting profit and investment. The conversion of Portishead power station from coal to oil and reduced national demand together with competition from more economical coalfields led to
10829-519: The parish of High Littleton was Mearns Coalworks which began in 1783. The Greyfield Coal Company did not start until 1833 and expanded after the opening of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway in 1847. Greyfield Colliery closed in 1911, and the railway in 1964. Maynard Terrace in Clutton was built to house some of the miners. Collieries in the Paulton basin were connected to the terminal basin of
10948-549: The pit had been recovered, another pit was sunk close by to intersect the seam and the waste from the second pit thrown into the first. At the beginning of the 19th century there were about 4,000 people employed on the coalfield. The Somerset Miners' Association was founded in 1872, later becoming an area of the National Union of Mineworkers . The uses of coal were varied. Coal was used in limekilns to produce lime for mortar used in building and by farmers to improve
11067-418: The pit to close in 1966. There were numerous coal workings in the area from Gurney Slade east to Mells around the villages of Holcombe , Coleford and Stratton-on-the-Fosse . These included at least 52 bell pits, some with deeper shafts and 16 adits. Some coal may have been mined during Roman times and in the 13th century, making them the earliest coal mines in Somerset, but most development occurred in
11186-517: The pit went out of production by 1855, when "New Pit", which had been sunk in the early 19th century but then closed, was reopened and deepened to exploit deeper seams. New Pit had two shafts of 4 feet (1.2 m) in diameter, one for winding and one for pumping. In 1896 it was owned by F. Spencer of New Rock Colliery, and in 1908 by Jesse Lovell and Sons. By 1921 the pit employed 150 men and boys and produced 10,000 tins per annum. The pit finally closed in 1929. Pensford Colliery, which opened in 1909, had
11305-432: The pits by a series of tramways . After 1854, when the first railway line was opened, the tonnage carried by the coal canal declined rapidly. The total tonnage of coal produced by the coalfield increased throughout the 19th century, reaching a peak around 1901, when there were 79 separate collieries and production was 1.25 million tons per annum. The peak years for production were 1900 to 1920. However, decline took hold and
11424-408: The railways and the subsequent end of mining and abandonment of the railways has created valuable habitats for nature conservation. The Writhlington spoil heap or "batch" is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of the rich collection of fossils in the spoil. The Braysdown batch was planted with conifers, and is known as Braysdown Hill. The offices, blacksmith's shop and stables at
11543-467: The rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August
11662-505: The relationships between the strata and their characteristics were consistent throughout the country. During work as a surveyor (appointed by engineer John Rennie ) for the Somerset Coal Canal Company and subsequently, he mapped the locations of rock strata, and their vertical extent, and drew cross-sections and tables of what he saw and earned the name "Strata Smith". The following coal seams are recognised within
11781-538: The rivers Frome and Avon, and names of hills. For example, an Anglo-Saxon charter of 682 refers to Creechborough Hill as "the hill the British call Cructan and the Anglo-Saxons call Crychbeorh ". Some modern names are wholly Brittonic in origin, like Tarnock , Priddy , and Chard , while others have both Saxon and Brittonic elements, such as Pen Hill . The caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during
11900-411: The soil. From 1820 coal was used to produce gas for lighting and to power steam driven woollen mills in the area. Coke was used to dry malt for the brewing industry. The coalfield had a relatively low population density and did not have a major coal-consuming industry nearby. Transporting coal to market was a key problem for the coalfield's development. In the pre- turnpike era, the roads serving
12019-570: The southwest. Only in the eastern part of Pensford Syncline have coals of the Lower and Middle Coal Measures been worked, at the Globe Pit in the Newton St Loe area in the 19th century. The Variscan orogeny involved lateral compression of the rock sequence resulting in the tight folding, fracturing and faulting of the sandstone and mudstone strata, and the associated Coal Measures. Along
12138-453: The stoking of steam locomotives . Burning bales of straw soaked in creosote were used to simulate the effects of incendiary bombs dropped by the first wave of Pathfinder night bombers; meanwhile, incendiary bombs dropped on the correct location were quickly smothered, wherever possible. Drums of oil were also ignited to simulate the effect of a blazing city or town, with the aim of fooling subsequent waves of bombers into dropping their bombs on
12257-618: The towns of Portishead and Clevedon , extending eastwards past Nailsea , around the Bristol conurbation, and through to the city of Bath. The green belt border intersects with the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) along its south boundary, and meets the Cotswolds AONB by its eastern extent along the Wiltshire county border, creating an extended area protected from inappropriate development. Much of
12376-412: The two districts and non-metropolitan county became part of the new ceremonial county of Somerset. On 1 September 2019 the non-metropolitan districts of West Somerset and Taunton Deane merged, with the new district being called Somerset West and Taunton . In 2023, the non-metropolitan county was reorganised by abolishing the four districts and their councils and reconstituting Somerset County Council as
12495-482: The upland in this area is Lias Limestone (white and blue) while the highest part, above 130 m, south of Haydon, is an outcrop of Inferior Oolitic Limestone, both are from the Jurassic period. The steepest slopes of both the Kilmersdon and Snail's Bottom valleys have frequently slipped. Below these rocks are the coal bearing Carboniferous strata. Haydon is an outlying settlement of Radstock built to house miners from
12614-412: The west to the north-east, Minehead , Watchet, Burnham-on-Sea, Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead . The coastal area between Minehead and the eastern extreme of the administrative county's coastline at Brean Down is known as Bridgwater Bay , and is a National Nature Reserve . North of that, the coast forms Weston Bay and Sand Bay whose northern tip, Sand Point , marks the lower limit of
12733-496: The wrong location. The Chew Magna decoy town was hit by half a dozen bombs on 2 December 1940, and over a thousand incendiaries on 3 January 1941. The following night the Uphill decoy town, protecting the airfield at Weston-super-Mare , was bombed; a herd of dairy cows was hit, killing some and severely injuring others. The boundaries of Somerset are largely unaltered from medieval times. The main change has been in
12852-509: Was England's oldest prison still in use prior to its closure in 2013, having opened in 1610. During the English Civil War , Somerset was largely Parliamentarian , with key engagements being the Sieges of Taunton and the Battle of Langport . In 1685, the Monmouth Rebellion was played out in Somerset and neighbouring Dorset. The rebels landed at Lyme Regis and travelled north, hoping to capture Bristol and Bath, but they were defeated in
12971-480: Was also known as Sutton Top Pit or Upper Sutton Pit was dug before 1799 and owned by Lieutenant Henry Fisher, who sold it in 1821 to Robert Blinman Dowling. After Dowling's death in 1852 the Old Pit was sold to Mr T.T. Hawkes, but he defaulted on the payments and it was sold in 1853 to William Rees-Mogg (ancestor of journalist William Rees-Mogg ) and his associates. The shaft reached a depth of 304 feet (93 m), but
13090-459: Was close to the surface. These methods were abandoned when deep seams were mined. The deepest shaft on the coalfield was at the Strap mine at Nettlebridge which reached 1,838 feet (560 m). Flooding and coal dust explosions in some mines required improved ventilation and pumping engines. Several pits closed in the 19th century as the coal was worked out. Those that survived until 1947 became part of
13209-566: Was converted to standard gauge and connected to the Bristol and North Somerset Line connecting it to the Great Western Railway . The Radstock railway site comprises approximately 8.8 hectares of land which has been subject to planning and development applications. The Writhlington Collieries, close to the Waldegrave Collieries, were further east of Radstock and under different ownership. In 1896 they were owned by
13328-414: Was created and Somerset County Council was established; Bath was administered separately as a county borough . In 1974, the county and council were abolished and replaced by two two-tier non-metropolitan counties , Somerset and Avon . Somerset was governed by a reconstituted county council and five districts : Mendip , Sedgemoor , South Somerset , Taunton Deane and West Somerset . Taunton Deane
13447-497: Was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1972 and covers 198 km (76 sq mi). The main habitat on these hills is calcareous grassland , with some arable agriculture. To the south-west of the Somerset Levels are the Quantock Hills which was England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designated in 1956 which is covered in heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands with plantations of conifer and covers 99 square kilometres. The Somerset Coalfield
13566-765: Was drained, much of the land was under a shallow brackish sea in winter and was marsh land in summer. Drainage began with the Romans, and was restarted at various times: by the Anglo-Saxons ; in the Middle Ages by the Glastonbury Abbey , during 1400–1770; and during the Second World War, with the construction of the Huntspill River . Pumping and management of water levels still continues. The North Somerset Levels basin, north of
13685-461: Was granted borough status that same year. Avon consisted of six districts, of which three were created from areas formerly part of Somerset: Woodspring , Wansdyke , and Bath . In 1996, Avon was abolished and its districts were renamed and reorganised into unitary authorities . Woodspring was renamed 'North Somerset' and Wansydyke and Bath were abolished and a new district covering the same area created, named 'Bath and North East Somerset'. In 1997
13804-529: Was particularly important, and claimed to house the tomb of King Arthur and Guinevere . The city of Bath is famous for its Georgian architecture, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The county is also the location of Glastonbury Festival , one of the UK's major music festivals. Somerset's name derives from Old English Sumorsǣte , short for Sumortūnsǣte , meaning "the people living at or dependent on Sumortūn ( Somerton )". The first known use of Somersæte
13923-569: Was ranked at 31,729 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived. The church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and is an ancient stone edifice with a tower. It contains monuments of the Mogg and Hodge families dating back to the 15th century. On 15 July 1310 the advowson of the church at High Littleton was given to the abbey by Gilbert Aumery, and Bishop Drokensford sanctioned its appropriation by
14042-430: Was represented by Conservative Margaret Daly as part of the Somerset and Dorset West constituency for elections to the European Parliament . From 1994 to 1999, Somerset was represented by Liberal Democrat Graham Watson as part of the Somerset and North Devon constituency for elections to the European Parliament . From 1999 to 2020, Somerset was part of the South West England constituency for elections to
14161-406: Was the terminus for the southern branch of the Somerset Coal Canal which was subsequently turned into a tramway and became the centre for railway development and coal depots, coal washeries, workshops and a gas works. As part of the development of the Wiltshire, Somerset and Weymouth Railway, an 8-mile (13 km) line from Radstock to Frome was built to carry coal. In the 1870s the broad-gauge line
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