Chewton Mendip

Chewton Mendip (grid reference ST597531) is a village in the Mendip District of Somerset, England. It is situated 4 miles north of Wells, 16 miles south of Bristol on the Mendip Hills. It is the source of the River Chew.

It has been proposed to hold a pop festival for 25,000 people, to be called the Foundation Festival, close to the village.

1 History
- 1.1 Wind turbine proposal
2 Government and politics
3 Demographics
4 Church
5 Other Grade II listed buildings
6 References

[edit] History

There were several lead-mines and stone quarries in the parish.

There is a long barrow to the north of the village 100 feet by 50 feet. Excavation in 1946 revealed six bronze age barrows below the crest of the Mendips.^[1]

The shape of some of the existing fields suggest they are of medieval origin.^[2]

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.^[1]

[edit] Wind turbine proposal

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 has been appealed and was considered at a public enquiry in 2006, at which Ecotricity was given the go ahead to build the 335 foot (102m) turbine.^[3] The planned 2MW turbine will be built at Shooters Bottom Farm (grid reference ST595503). It will have three 35m blades rotating at 6-22rpm (depending on wind speed) and is expected to produce 6.7 million units of electricity each year. ^[4]

[edit] Government and politics

Chewton Mendip has its own Parish council which is responsible for local matters and is part of the Nedge Ward which is represented by one councillor on the Mendip District Council it is also part of the Mendip North West Division which is represented by one councillor on the Somerset County Council. The village is a part of the Wells constituency which elects one MP to the Westminster Parliament and part of the South West England constituency which elects 7 members to the European Parliament.

[edit] Demographics

According to the 2001 Census the Nedge Ward (which includes Litton), had 2,074 residents, living in 893 households, with an average age of 40.0 years. Of these 78% of residents describing their health as 'good', 18% of 16-74 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 at 26,803 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived. ^[5]

[edit] Church

St Mary Magdalene Chruch, Chewton Mendip

The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, is made of Lias Stone, with a tower (126 feet) of Doulting Stone which was "unfinished" in 1541. The church incorporates several Norman features including the north doorway. The register commences in the year 560, and the church includes monuments to Sir Henry Fitzroger and his wife who died in 1388 and Frances Lady Waldegrave 1879. ^[1] It is a Grade II listed building (Church of St Mary Magdalene at Images of England) A stone cross in the churchyard also has listed building status (Churchyard cross at Images of England)

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".^[6]

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 any one 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."^[7]