Chewton Mendip is a village and

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It is situated north of Wells, south of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

on the A39 very close to the A37. The village is in a valley on the

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

, is the source of the

River Chew The River Chew is a small river in England that flows for some through the North Somerset countryside to form the Chew Valley before merging with the River Avon. The spring from which the Chew rises is just upstream from Chewton Mendip. St ...

and is therefore on the edge of the

Chew Valley The Chew Valley is an affluent area in North Somerset, England, named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon at Keynsham. Technically, the area of the valley is bounded by the water catchment area of ...

. The parish includes the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

of Bathway and Green Ore.

History

There were several lead mines and stone quarries in the parish. It is also the site of Attborough Swallet (also known as Red Quar Swallet), a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

which is unusual for a cave on the

in that it is not in

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

but instead in Dolomitic Conglomerate and

Marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

. The cave was first entered in 1992. There is a

long barrow Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...

to the north of the village by . Excavation in 1946 revealed six

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

barrows below the crest of the Mendips. The shape of some of the existing fields suggests they are of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

origin. The parish was part of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Chewton. On 12 June 1643 the village was the site of a skirmish in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, between Royalist forces led by

Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon Sir Robert Dormer of Wing, 2nd Baronet, 1st Earl of Carnarvon, 1st Viscount Ascott, 2nd Baron Dormer of Wing r Wenge(c. 1610 – 20 September 1643) was an English peer. He was the son of Sir William Dormer, and thus a grandson of Robert Dor ...

and the parliamentary forces under

William Waller Sir William Waller JP (c. 159819 September 1668) was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War. Elected MP for Andover to the Long Parliament in 1640, Waller relinquished ...

including the cavalry unit of Sir

Arthur Haselrig Sir Arthur Haselrig, 2nd Baronet (1601 – 7 January 1661) was an English politician and eminent heavy cavalry commander. A major critic of Charles I of England during the period of Personal Rule from 1629 to 1640, he was one of the Five Mem ...

known as Haselrig's lobsters. The village used to have a Gothic style mansion built for the

Waldegrave family Waldegrave is the name of an English family, said to derive from Walgrave in Northamptonshire, who long held the manor of Smallbridge in Bures St. Mary, Suffolk. History Sir Richard Waldegrave served as a Knight of the Shire in 1339 in Li ...

before 1791, however all that remains is an 18th-century lodge. The Waldegrave Estate still operates from an office in converted farm buildings in a small business park found on the southern edge of Chewton Mendip. Other companies include 'Bathroom Engineering' (an international manufacturer & distributor of bathroom & shower products), and The Mendip Cheese Company (a cheese supplier). The Mendip Engineering Company Ltd was based in Chewton Mendip around the time of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was founded in the early 19th century as Cutler's Green Ironworks and supplied the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

with

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

s. By the 19th century they were repairing farm machinery and casting drain covers and road signs. By the start of the 20th century the company was controlled by C.W. Harris and trading as the Mendip Engineering Company. C.W. Harris designed and built steam lorries in 1907/8 that were sold as Mendips; in 1911 petrol engine vans were added to the range. W.L. Adams was employed to design an engine and by 1913 had built a four-cylinder unit suitable for

Cyclecars A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the ca ...

. In March 1914 Harris announced a Light Car completely made by the company; this was sold up to 1916 when war intervened. After

the company moved to Southmead Road in Bristol, and was later taken over by Baines Manufacturing Company Ltd of

Westbury-on-Trym Westbury-on-Trym (sometimes written without hyphenation) is a suburb in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England. The place is partly na ...

. Although more than 300 cars were built, only one, incomplete, Mendip car survives, having been dug out of a hedge at

Cookham Cookham is a historic River Thames, Thames-side village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, Bourne ...

near

Marlow, Buckinghamshire Marlow ( ), historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow, is a town and civil parish within the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, south-southwest of High Wycombe, west-northwest of Maidenhead and ...

in 1967. In 2004 there was a proposal to build a

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

near Chewton Mendip but it was eventually turned down by

Mendip District Mendip was a local government district of Somerset in England. The district covered a largely rural area of with a population of approximately 112,500, ranging from the Wiltshire border in the east to part of the Somerset Levels in the west. ...

Council. There was particular concern about the effect the wind turbine would have on the Mendip Hills AONB (

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

). That decision was appealed against and was considered at a public inquiry in 2006, at which

Ecotricity Ecotricity is a British energy company based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, specialising in selling green energy to consumers that it primarily generates from its 87.2 megawatt wind power portfolio. It is built on the principle of heavily reinvest ...

was given the go-ahead to build the turbine. The planned 2 MW turbine was built at Shooters Bottom Farm (). It has three blades rotating at 6–22 rpm around a high hub. It is expected to produce an average of 6.7MWh (megawatt hours) of electricity per year from the 2MW generator, enough to power up to 2,000 homes in the area.

Governance

Chewton Mendip has its own Parish council which has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover 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 A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

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, as well as consulting with 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 the responsibility of the council. For

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

purposes, since 1 April 2023, the parish comes under the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

Somerset Council Somerset Council, known until 2023 as Somerset County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England. Since 2023 it has been a Unitary authorities of England, unita ...

. Prior to this, it was part of the

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

of Mendip (established 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 ...

). It was part of Wells Rural District before 1974. The village falls within the 'Chewton Mendip and Ston Easton'

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

. The ward starts in Ston Easton, passes westwards to ''Chewton Mendip'' and then continues west to Charterhouse. The total ward population as at the 2011 census was 2,147. It is also part of the

Wells and Mendip Hills Wells and Mendip Hills is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. It was first contested at the 2024 general election. It is currently represented by Liberal Democrat Tessa Munt, who was previously MP for Wells from 2010 to ...

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system of election.

Geography

Chewton Mendip is within the

and the

. The

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West S ...

long-distance footpath follows the route taken by Charles II after his defeat at the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

in 1651. The route enters Somerset near Chewton Mendip and crosses the Mendip Hills heading for Wells.

Climate

Along with the rest of

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

, Chewton Mendip has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately .

Seasonal temperature variation Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum daylight (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the minimum te ...

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 . In winter mean minimum temperatures of or are common. In the summer the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

high pressure affects the south-west of England, however

convective Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...

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 Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

. Most of 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 . About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.

Demographics

According to the 2001 Census the Nedge Ward (which includes Litton) had 2,074 residents in 893 households, with an average age of 40.0 years. 78% of residents described their health as 'good', 18% of 16- to 74-year-olds had no qualifications and the area had an unemployment rate of 1.8% of all economically active people aged 16–74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 it was ranked 26,803 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived.

Church

The church, dedicated to

St Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

, is made of Lias Stone, with a tower of Doulting Stone which was "unfinished" in 1541. The tower contains a bell dating from 1753 and made by Thomas Bilbie of the

Bilbie family The Bilbie family were bell founders and clockmakers based initially in Chew Stoke, Somerset and later at Cullompton, Devon in south-west England from the late 17th century to the early 19th century. Their importance to the local economy and i ...

. In addition, there is a peal of eight bells by Taylor's of Loughborough. The church, which was started in 1441 by

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...

monks, incorporates several

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

features including the north doorway. The register commences in the year 560. Near the altar is a stone seat, known as a 'frid' for those, especially criminals, who took sanctuary in the church. The church includes monuments to Sir Henry Fitzroger and his wife who died in 1388, and to Frances, Lady Waldegrave (1879). The Waldegrave family have owned Chewton from 1553, but did not live in the village until the 1860s. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. A stone cross in the churchyard also has listed building status. Wade and Wade in their 1929 book "''Somerset" described the church as a "singularly interesting church, which possesses one of the most stately towers in the county''". Their description continued "''The arrangement of double belfry windows in the two upper stages is unusual, and the conventional lines of the elaborately pierced parapet above are relieved by the projecting stair turret and spirelet. The general effect is rich and impressive. The figure of our Lord, surrounded by four pairs of adoring angels, over the W. doorway should also be observed (cp. Batcombe). In the body of the church note should be taken of the good Norm. doorway forming the N. entrance. The interior is remarkable for an ugly bit of mediaeval vandalism. To render the altar observable from all parts of the church, a Norm. triplet, which once formed the chancel arch, has been mutilated; a pointed arch has been inserted, and the corner of the S. wall pared away. The chancel contains the only extant specimen in Somerset of a frid stool, a rough seat let into the sill of the N. window of the sacrarium for the accommodation of anyone claiming sanctuary. Note (1) piscinas of different dates in chancel; (2) change of design in arcading of nave, showing subsequent lengthening of church — the earlier columns stand on Norm. bases; (3) rood-loft doorway and ancient pulpit stairs near modern pulpit; (4) Jacobean lectern and Bible of 1611. The "Bonville" chantry, S. of chancel, contains a 15th-cent. altar-tomb with recumbent effigies of Sir H. Fitzroger and wife, and a modern mural tablet with medallion to Viscountess Waldegrave. In the churchyard is a weather-worn but fine cross, with a canopied crucifix. The Communion plate is pre-Reformation, dating from 1511.''"

Other Grade II listed buildings

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notable people

* Peter Denning (cricketer) * *

Waldegrave Family Waldegrave is the name of an English family, said to derive from Walgrave in Northamptonshire, who long held the manor of Smallbridge in Bures St. Mary, Suffolk. History Sir Richard Waldegrave served as a Knight of the Shire in 1339 in Li ...

William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill William Arthur Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill (; born 15 August 1946) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister from 1990 until 1997, and is a ...

* Caroline Waldegrave, Baroness Waldegrave of North Hill * Susan Hussey, Baroness Hussey of North Bradley *

James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, (168411 April 1741) was an English diplomat and peer who served as the British ambassador to France from 1730 to 1740. Life Waldegrave was the son of the 1st Baron Waldegrave and Henrietta FitzJames ...

James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, (4 March 1715 – 13 April 1763) was an English politician and peer who is sometimes regarded as one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in British history. His brief tenure as First Lord of the Trea ...

John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave General (United Kingdom), General John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave (28 April 1718 – 22 October 1784) was a British politician and soldier. Career Waldegrave was the youngest son of the James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldeg ...

George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave, PC (23 November 1751 – 22 October 1789) was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1774 to 1780. Early life Waldegrave was born on 23 November 1751. He was th ...

* George Waldegrave, 5th Earl Waldegrave * John James Waldegrave, 6th Earl Waldegrave * George Edward Waldegrave, 7th Earl Waldegrave * William Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave * William Waldegrave, Viscount Chewton * William Frederick Waldegrave, 9th Earl Waldegrave * William Waldegrave, 10th Earl Waldegrave * Henry Noel Waldegrave, 11th Earl Waldegrave * Geoffrey Noel Waldegrave, 12th Earl Waldegrave * James Sherbrooke Waldegrave, 13th Earl Waldegrave

References

External links

Map of Chewton Mendip circa 1900
{{Authority control Villages in Mendip District Civil parishes in Somerset Waldegrave family Mendip Hills