Chewton Mendip is a village and civil parish in 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, is the source of the River Chew and is therefore on the edge of the Chew Valley. The parish includes the hamlets 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 which is unusual for a cave on the Mendip Hills in that it is not in limestone but instead in Dolomitic Conglomerate and Marl. The cave was first entered in 1992.

There is a long barrow to the north of the village by . Excavation in 1946 revealed six Bronze Age barrows below the crest of the Mendips.

The shape of some of the existing fields suggests they are of medieval origin.

The parish was part of the hundred of Chewton.

The Bristol cartographer, James Millerd (c.1637-1715) was from the parish, the son of the local husbandman (tenant farmer), William 'Millard'.

On 12 June 1643 the village was the site of a skirmish in the English Civil War, between Royalist forces led by Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon and the parliamentary forces under William Waller including the cavalry unit of Sir Arthur Haselrig known as Haselrig's lobsters.

The village used to have a Gothic style mansion built for the Waldegrave family before 1791, however all that remains is an 18th-century lodge.

Although more than 300 cars were built, only one, incomplete, Mendip car survives, having been dug out of a hedge at Cookham near Marlow, Buckinghamshire in 1967.

In 2004 there was a proposal to build a wind turbine near Chewton Mendip but it was eventually turned down by Mendip District Council. There was particular concern about the effect the wind turbine would have on the Mendip Hills AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). That decision was appealed against and was considered at a public inquiry in 2006, at which Ecotricity 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 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 purposes, since 1 April 2023, the parish comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of Mendip (established under the Local Government Act 1972). It was part of Wells Rural District before 1974.

The village falls within the 'Chewton Mendip and Ston Easton' electoral ward. 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 county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Geography

Chewton Mendip is within the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Chew Valley.

The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath follows the route taken by Charles II after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester 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, 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 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.

Church

The church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, 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. In addition, there is a peal of eight bells by Taylor's of Loughborough. The church, which was started in 1441 by Carthusian monks, It is a Grade II listed building. 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."

  • Waldegrave family
  • William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill
  • Caroline Waldegrave, Baroness Waldegrave of North Hill
  • Susan Hussey, Baroness Hussey of North Bradley
  • James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave
  • James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave
  • John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave
  • George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave
  • 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

  • Map of Chewton Mendip circa 1900