Worle ( ) is a large village in North Somerset which is joined to the seaside town of

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

on its western edge. It, however, maintains a very separate identity, and may now be bigger than its more famous neighbour. Worle pre-dates Weston and was mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086. In the book, it is said that Worle was owned by

Walter of Douai Walter of Douai ( Old Norman: ''Wautier de Douai'') (born c.1046, died: c.1107) was a Norman knight, probably at the Battle of Hastings, and a major landowner in South West England after the Norman Conquest, being feudal baron of Bampton in Devo ...

, and consisted of and valued at 6.5 hides. "Walter of Douai holds of the King, Worle. Edgar held it in the time of King Edward, and gelded for six hides and a half." The parish church of St Martin's sits on the side of

Worlebury Hill Worlebury Hill is the name given to an upland area lying between the flatlands of Weston-super-Mare and the Kewstoke area of North Somerset, England. Worlebury Hill's rises from sea level to its highest point of , and the western end of the hill ...

and overlooks the village.

History

The name was possibly formed from the Old English ''Wor + leah'' meaning 'wood or clearing frequented by

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

', or perhaps 'moor

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

'. The parish was part of the

Winterstoke The Hundred of Winterstoke is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which ...

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

. Worle has grown dramatically in the last 40 years. That initial development in the 1970s and 1980s included a large number of houses, a Sainsburys supermarket, a secondary school and an ecumenical church (St Marks). However, in recent years a larger range of facilities and amenities have opened up, including large stores, shops, a medical centre, a railway station and additional churches. Weston-super-Mare's Magistrates Court has relocated to Worle. It also has a number of active groups and societies including a

Lions club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquarter ...

. St Martin's Church was built in 1125 and rebuilt during the 14th and 15th centuries, with major restoration and extension work in 1870. The Church is now ecumenical, with

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

as well as

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

ministers. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The ancient parish of Worle became a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in 1866. The civil parish was abolished in 1933, when most of the parish was absorbed into Weston-super-Mare. Smaller areas of the parish joined Kewstoke and Locking. The ''

Weston & Somerset Mercury ''The Weston, Worle & Somerset Mercury'' is a weekly paid for newspaper that covers Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding areas of Somerset and North Somerset in England. The ''Weston Mercury'' was established 1 April 1843 and was family-owned fo ...

'' is the local newspaper. Previous residents included Bristol-born children's author-illustrator and actor Peter James Trapani.

Transport

Worle is located close to junction 21 of the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

. Bristol is approximately away and can be accessed by the M5 or

A370 road The A370 is a primary road in England running from the A4 Bath Road, near Bristol Temple Meads railway station to Weston-super-Mare before continuing to the village of East Brent in Somerset. A more direct route from Bristol to East Brent is ...

. There have been four different stations serving Worle since the

Bristol and Exeter Railway The Bristol & Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied with t ...

opened on 14 June 1841. For most of this time, the station generally known as

Puxton and Worle railway station There are 22 disused railway stations in the between and , 12 of which have structures that can still be seen from passing trains. Most were closed in the 1960s but four of them, especially around , were replaced by stations on new sites. 13 s ...

has served, despite being situated in

St Georges ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

. From 1 March 1884 until 2 January 1922 a more convenient Worle station was provided on the Loop Line. Puxton and Worle closed on 6 April 1964. There was also a Worle Town station situated much closer to the High Street but only served by the

Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway (WC&PR) was a standard gauge light railway in Somerset, England. It was conceived as a tramway in the 1880s, opening between the coastal towns of Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon in 1897 and comp ...

from 1897 to 1940. The present day

Worle railway station Worle railway station, on the Bristol to Exeter line, serves the Worle, West Wick and St Georges suburbs of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England. It is west of Bristol Temple Meads railway station, and from London Paddington. Its thre ...

is situated midway between the two former sites and was opened on 24 September 1990. Since 2008 longer express trains have been allowed to stop at Worle's short platform with the express train opening the doors of up to 4 coaches. This has enabled passengers from Worle to travel to London and all the stops in-between. Before most people had to change at either Weston-super-Mare railway station or

Bristol Temple Meads railway station Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...

. Worle has bus connections running every ten minutes into the centre of Weston-super-Mare and bus routes to Bristol and other locations, which is adjacent to the local McDonalds and Sainsburys supermarket, the buses that serve this are: X1, A3, 3 & 7.

Education

Worle includes two secondary schools, Worle Community School and

Priory Community School Priory Community School - an Academy Trust (often shortened to PCSA) is a school in Worle, a historical village close to Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England. The school is an Academy, part of The Priory Learning Trust, and had 1,264 p ...

, and several primary schools, including Becket Primary School, Mendip Green First School, Worle Village Primary, St Martin's Primary, Mead Vale Primary School, Herons' Moor Academy, Castle Batch Primary School and St Mark's Primary School. Mendip Green Primary School is one of the largest primary schools in the area, with 407 children of 4 – 8 years of age (2008). Mendip Green was one of the first schools in North Somerset achieving Healthy School Status, also it has Leading aspect Award, and a hearing and language resource base.

References

External links

*
Website of Worle Bellringers, St Martin's Church
{{Use dmy dates, date=October 2013 Villages in North Somerset Weston-super-Mare Former civil parishes in Somerset