Washford is a village on the

Washford River The Washford River is a river in the English county of Somerset. It rises at above mean sea level near the village of Treborough, in the Brendon Hills, and flows into the Bristol Channel in the port town of Watchet. On its course it flows thro ...

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

Old Cleeve Old Cleeve is a village south east of Minehead in Somerset, England, and also a civil parish. The civil parish of Old Cleeve covers an area of and includes the villages of Old Cleeve, Roadwater and Washford as well as hamlets such as Bilbro ...

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. The village is next to Cleeve Abbey, one of the best-preserved

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 ...

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

in England. It centred in a valley close to the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...

on the

A39 road The A39 is an A road in south west England. It runs south-west from Bath in Somerset through Wells, Glastonbury, Street and Bridgwater. It then follows the north coast of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall through Williton, Minehead, Porlock, Lynmo ...

east of the resort town of

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and close to the Exmoor National Park. T ...

and southwest of the port of

Watchet Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset, England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated west of Bridgwater, north-west of Taunton, and east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth of ...

. The village lies on the route of the Somerset Way and Celtic Way Exmoor Option.

History

Geography

Washford is southeast of Old Cleeve. The parish is in

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 ...

unitary authority area. Washford railway station is a station on the

West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset Council. The railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc), which is suppor ...

, a

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

-operated

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

. The station is the headquarters of the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust and contains a number of historic artefacts from the

Somerset and Dorset Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR, also known as the S&D, S&DR or SDJR), was an English railway line Joint railway, jointly owned by the Midland Railway (MR) and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) that grew to connect Bat ...

. The village also had a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

West Somerset Mineral Railway The West Somerset Mineral Railway was a standard gauge line in Somerset, England. Originally expected to be long its length as built was , with a branch to Raleigh's Cross Mine. The line's core purpose was to carry iron ore northwards from ...

. Since 1933 there has been a

broadcasting station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

at Washford. The front parts of the old transmitter building are now part of the Tropiquaria wildlife park and house their tropical hall, aquarium, the Washford Radio Museum and the Shadowstring Puppet Theatre. Washford has a primary school, Old Cleeve Church of England School, which currently educates about 100 three- to nine-year-old children. Washford has a few shops, including a post office and a hairdresser.

Landmarks

Washford has a

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

chapel, which 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 ...

. The village of Washford has two inns: the Washford Inn and the White Horse Inn, which is a free house. By the river and preserved

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

is Abbey Mill House, which is 18th-century and is also a listed building.House

References

External links

Washford Inn – pub and hotel

White Horse Inn – pub with accommodation

{{West Somerset Villages in West Somerset