Failand is a village in

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 , lord_ ...

, England. It lies within the

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 ...

Wraxall and Failand Wraxall and Failand is a civil parish in Somerset, England. It includes the villages of Wraxall and Failand. It has a population of 2,302. The parish contains the remains of Wraxall Camp, an Iron Age settlement that seems to have been a farms ...

and the unitary authority area of

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

. The village has two separate parts. Failand itself is on the B3128

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...

road, and is the newer and larger part. Lower Failand, a mile away, is the original village (shown as Fayland on old maps). Lower Failand can be reached by single track lanes only. Failand is home to a general store, a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

(The Failand Inn), an observatory, a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

and a well used village hall.

Landmarks

Tyntesfield Tyntesfield is a Victorian Gothic Revival house and estate near Wraxall, North Somerset, England. The house is a Grade I listed building named after the Tynte baronets, who had owned estates in the area since about 1500. The location was form ...

is a gothic house and estate acquired by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

in 2002 after a national fund-raising campaign. It has now been restored, and is open to visitors. It has been designated as 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 Irel ...

. The entrance is just west of Failand on the B3128. The Anglican parish church of St Bartholomew in Lower Failand was built in 1883-1887 by E. W. Barnes of

Art

Richard Long, the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

winning Land Artist is a longtime resident of Lower Failand.

Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developme ...

, a prominent member of the Bloomsbury Group, grew up in Lower Failand.

Social

Failand has a very active village social life. The Failand Society (link below) meets regularly for talks and social events. There is a very active drama group who perform regularly at the village hall. The failanders club puts on events for older residents. And there are two active supper clubs where residents meet up.

Transport

Despite being a rural village, Failand is very close to Bristol, and Clifton in particular. Clifton village is only 5 minutes' drive from Failand, via

Clifton Suspension Bridge The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and the River Avon, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. Since opening in 1864, it has been a toll bridge, the income from which provides f ...

. The X6 bus runs to Bristol city centre about once per hour, via Clarken Combe, Bower Ashton and Hotwells. Lower Failand is on the National Cycle Network. Route 334 provides links to Clifton in one direction, and

Portbury Portbury is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The parish includes the hamlet of Sheepway which is situated on the moorland at the northern edge of the Gordano valley, between the Go ...

and Portishead in the other, linking to routes North and South.

Sport

Failand is home to the playing fields of several

schools, most notably

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

Bristol Cathedral School Bristol Cathedral Choir School is a mixed gender non-selective musical Secondary Academy, located in the Cabot area of Bristol, England. Until 2008 it was known as Bristol Cathedral School. It is situated next to Bristol Cathedral, in the cent ...

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

, and

Queen Elizabeth's Hospital Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (also known as QEH) is an independent day school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1586. QEH is named after its original patron, Queen Elizabeth I. Known traditionally as "The City School", Queen Elizabeth's Hos ...

(QEH), whose facilities are used by

Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

as their training ground , Bristol City F.C. are also having a new purpose-built training facility being built on land adjacent to QEH. It is also home to the playing fields of the Old Bristolians Society. Failand has its own cricket club, Failand and Portbury Cricket Club, who play on Horse Race Lane in Lower Failand.

Golf

There are two

golf clubs A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety ...

in Failand, namely Bristol & Clifton Golf Club and Long Ashton Golf Club. The courses have played host to numerous elite tournaments, including the

Martini International The Martini International was a men's professional golf tournament that was held from 1961 to 1983. It was hosted by several different golf clubs in England, Scotland and Wales. It was part of the British PGA tournament circuit, which evolved int ...

, the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship, the Bristol Evening World Tournament. Long Ashton Golf Club was opened in 1893 as a nine-hole course before being expanded to 18 holes in 1905. Several members have gone on to have successful careers as professional golfers, including Chris Wood, Andrew Sherborne and

Kitrina Douglas Kitrina Douglas (born 6 September 1960) is an English ex- professional golfer who played on the Ladies European Tour. Douglas won the British Ladies Amateur in 1982 and played in the 1982 Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team. She played prof ...

. Bristol & Clifton Golf Club was founded in 1891 with the intention of building a course on

Purdown Purdown (sometimes spelt Pur Down) is a hill in the north east of Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire t ...

before opting for Failand when their preferred land became unavailable. Like Long Ashton, the course had only nine holes before being extended to 18 in 1895. Further redesign took place when part of the course was taken over during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

for use as a

POW Camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

. File:Manor farm, Failand - geograph.org.uk - 329002.jpg, Manor farm, Failand

References

External links

{{Commons category, Failand
Failand Society

Parish Council Website with much local information
Villages in North Somerset