Mendip is a local government district of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

in England. The district covers a largely rural area of with a population of approximately 112,500, ranging from the

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

border in the east to part of the

Somerset Levels The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south a ...

in the west. The district takes its name from the

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...

which lie in its northwest. The administrative centre of the district is

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is based ...

but the largest town (three times larger than Shepton Mallet) is

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, by a merger of the

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

s of

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

and Wells, along with Frome, Shepton Mallet,

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of di ...

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...

s, and Frome Rural District,

Shepton Mallet Rural District Shepton Mallet was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974. It was created in 1894, under the Local Government Act 1894. In 1974 it was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 when it became part of the Mendip dis ...

, Wells Rural District, part of Axbridge Rural District and part of Clutton Rural District. On 1 April 2023, the district will be abolished and replaced by a new

unitary district A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

for the area at present served by

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county coun ...

. The new council will be known as

Somerset Council Somerset Council is the unitary authority that will replace Somerset County Council and four district councils (Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset, Mendip, and Sedgemoor) on 1 April 2023. History The Conservative governments of The ...

Toponymy

Several explanations for the name ''Mendip'' have been suggested. Its earliest known form is ''Mendepe'' in 1185. One suggestion is that it is derived from the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

term '. However, A D Mills derives its meaning from Celtic ', meaning mountain or hill, with an uncertain second element, perhaps Old English ' in the sense of upland, or plateau. An alternative explanation is that the name is cognate with ''Mened'' (Welsh '), a

Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

term for upland moorland. The suffix may be a contraction of the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

', meaning a valley. Possible further meanings have been identified. The first is 'the stone pit' from the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

' and ' in reference to the collapsed cave systems of Cheddar. The second is 'Mighty and Awesome' from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

' and '.

Governance

The district falls under the jurisdiction of Mendip District Council. As of the 2019 Local elections, the Council went to No Overall Control. As of March 2022, the council has 23 Liberal Democrats, 12 Conservatives, 10 Greens, and 2 Independents

Abolition

On 1 April 2023, the council will be abolished and replaced by a new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

for the area at present served by

. The new council will be known as

. Elections for the new council took place in May 2022, with it running alongside Mendip and the other councils until their abolition in April 2023.

Settlements

The five main settlements in Mendip are: *

* Wells Frome, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet are the only towns in the district, as Wells has city status and Street has maintained its status as a village despite a population in excess of 11,000. Other villages and hamlets include: * Ashwick * Baltonsborough – Batcombe –

Beckington Beckington is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, across the River Frome from Lullington about three miles north of Frome. According to the 2011 census the parish, which includes the hamlet of Rudge, which ...

– Binegar –

Bleadney Wookey is a village and civil parish west of Wells, on the River Axe in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Henton and the nearby hamlets of Yarley and Bleadney where the River Axe travels the length o ...

– Bowlish –

Buckland Dinham Buckland Dinham is a small village near Frome in Somerset, England. The village has a population of 381. The village's main industry is farming (arable and dairy), but the village is also a dormitory village for the nearby cities of Bath and B ...

– Burcott –

Butleigh Butleigh is a small village and civil parish, located in Somerset. The nearest village to it is Barton St David, and it is located a short distance from Glastonbury and Street. Its population is 823. Butleigh has a church, small village shop, a ...

– Butleigh Wootton *

Chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

– Charterhouse – Chelynch – Chesterblake –

Chewton Mendip Chewton Mendip is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It is situated north of Wells, south of Bath and Bristol on the A39 very close to the A37. The village is in a valley on the Mendip Hills and is the so ...

– Chilcompton – Coleford – Coxley – Cranmore –

Croscombe Croscombe is a village and civil parish west of Shepton Mallet and from Wells, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It is situated on the A371 road in the valley of the River Sheppey. Croscombe has a village hall, a shop, a publ ...

* Dean –

Dinder Dinder (which means "the house in the valley") is a small village 2½ miles west of Shepton Mallet, and 2 miles east of Wells in Somerset. It falls within the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out and the Mendip district. The river Sheppey runs al ...

–

Ditcheat Ditcheat is a village and civil parish south of Shepton Mallet, and north-west of Castle Cary, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. Besides the village, the parish has four hamlets: Wraxall, Lower Wraxall, Alhampton and Sutton. Histo ...

– Doulting – Draycott – Dulcote * East Lydford – East Pennard – Easton – Emborough – Evercreech * Farleigh Hungerford – Faulkland *

Godney Godney is a village and civil parish near Glastonbury on the River Sheppey on the Somerset Levels in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. History Near the village are the sites of the Iron Age Glastonbury Lake Village, and the now drained ...

– Great Elm –

Green Ore Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a co ...

* Henton –

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

– Holcombe – Hornblotton –

Horrington Horrington is a collection of three small villages (South Horrington, East Horrington and West Horrington) in the parish of St Cuthbert Out or east of Wells, Somerset, England. South Horrington is a relatively new village created in the late ...

– Huxham Green * Kilmersdon * Lamyatt – Leigh-on-Mendip – Leighton – Litton –

Lydford-on-Fosse Lydford-on-Fosse is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mendip District, Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of West Lydford and Hamlet (place), hamlet of East Lydford. History Lydford- ...

Maesbury Maesbury is a small scattered community in Shropshire, England, south of the town of Oswestry, falling within the Oswestry Rural parish. The name is derived from ''maes'', meaning ''field'' or ''plain'' in Brythonic Welsh, and ''burh'', mea ...

–

Meare Meare is a village and civil parish north west of Glastonbury on the Somerset Levels, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Westhay. History Meare is a marshland village in typical Somerset "rhyne" c ...

– Mells * Nettlebridge – North Wootton – Norton St Philip – Nunney *

Oakhill Oakhill is a village in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, in Ashwick parish approximately north of Shepton Mallet. It lies between the A37 and the A367 (which is part of the ancient Fosse Way). Oakhill is today is mainly a commuter ...

– Oldford * Pilton – Polsham – Prestleigh –

Priddy Priddy is a village in Somerset, England in the Mendip Hills, close to East Harptree and north-west of Wells. It is in the local government district of Mendip. The village lies in a small hollow near the summit of the Mendip range of hills, a ...

–

Pylle Pylle is a village and civil parish south west of Shepton Mallet, and from Wells, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It has a population of 160. The parish includes the hamlet of Street on the Fosse. The village is very close to ...

Rode Rode may refer to: People *Ajmer Rode, Canadian writer *Bernd Michael Rode (born 1946), Austrian chemistry professor *Bernhard Rode (1725–1797), German painter *Ebbe Rode (1910–1998), Danish stage and film actor *Franc Rode (born 1934), Slove ...

–

Rodney Stoke Rodney Stoke is a small village and civil parish, located at , 5 miles north-west of Wells, in the English county of Somerset. The village is on the A371 between Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip. The parish includes the larger village of Dra ...

Southway Southway is a large suburban housing estate in north-west Plymouth in the English county of Devon. The name is believed to have derived from the route into Plymouth often used by Buckland Abbey monks, which was known as the "South Way". Geog ...

– Standerwick –

Ston Easton Ston () is a settlement and a municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. History Because of its geopolitical and strategic position, Ston has had a rich history since ant ...

– Stratton-on-the-Fosse –

Stoke St Michael Stoke St Michael is a village and civil parish on the Mendip Hills north east of Shepton Mallet, and west of Frome, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. History Since the 14th century the village has also been known as Stoke Lane, ...

– Stoney Stratton * Thrupe –

Trudoxhill Trudoxhill is a village and civil parish near Nunney in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. History The name Trudoxhill comes from the Old English ''treow'' meaning tree, ''dox'' for dark and ''hyll'' for hill. The parish includes the ...

Upton Noble Upton Noble is a village and civil parish on the River Frome. It is roughly north-east of Bruton, and from Frome town centre, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. There was a 17th-century village pub called ''The Lamb Inn (''now clo ...

* Vobster * Walton – Wanstrow – Waterlip – West Compton – West Lydford – West Pennard – West Woodlands –

Westbury-sub-Mendip Westbury-sub-Mendip is a village in Somerset, England, on the southern slopes of the Mendip Hills from Wells and Cheddar. The parish boundary is formed by the River Axe. History There is evidence, from flint finds, of occupation of a site, ...

– Westcombe –

Westhay Westhay is a village in Somerset, England. It is situated in the parish of Meare, north west of Glastonbury on the Somerset Levels, in the Mendip district. The name means 'The west field that is enclosed by hedges' from the Old English ''west ...

– Whatley – Wookey –

Wookey Hole Wookey Hole is a village in Somerset, England. It is the location of the Wookey Hole show caves. Location Wookey Hole is located in the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out, in Mendip District. It is one mile north-west of the city of Wells, and l ...

– Worminster – Witham Friary * Yarley

Parishes

Transport

Major roads

* A37 from Bristol to Yeovil * A361 from the M5 to Frome * A371 from Weston-super-Mare to Wincanton * A39 from Bath to Bridgwater

Railways

Railway stations

Frome railway station Frome railway station serves a largely rural area of the county of Somerset in England, and is situated in the town of Frome. The station is located on a long branch line which loops off the main line railway, which carries services on both t ...

served by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

on the Heart of Wessex Line and Reading to Taunton Line.

East Somerset Railway

Railway stations

* Cranmore railway station * Cranmore West railway station *

Merryfield Lane railway station Merryfield Lane Halt is a railway station at the summit of the East Somerset Railway The East Somerset Railway is a heritage railway in Somerset, running between Cranmore and Mendip Vale. Prior to the Beeching Axe, the railway was once ...

Mendip Vale railway station Mendip Vale is the western terminus of the East Somerset Railway The East Somerset Railway is a heritage railway in Somerset, running between Cranmore and Mendip Vale. Prior to the Beeching Axe, the railway was once part of the former ...

served by the East Somerset Railway.

Education

County schools (those which are not

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

) in the five non-metropolitan districts of the county are operated by

. For a full list of schools see: List of schools in Somerset

References

External links

Mendip District Council
* ---- {{Authority control Non-metropolitan districts of Somerset 1974 establishments in England

Toponymy

Governance

Abolition

Settlements

Parishes

Transport

Major roads

Railways

Railway stations

East Somerset Railway

Railway stations

Education

See also

References

External links