Charlcombe

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Charlcombe
Charlcombe (Somerset)
Charlcombe

Charlcombe shown within Somerset
OS grid reference ST752674
Unitary authority Bath and North East Somerset
Ceremonial county Somerset
Region South West
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Bath
Postcode district BA2
Police Avon and Somerset
Fire Avon
Ambulance Great Western
European Parliament South West England
UK Parliament Wansdyke to be North East Somerset from next general election.
List of places: UK • England • Somerset

Coordinates: 51°24′20″N 2°21′26″W / 51.4055, -2.3572

Charlcombe is a small village just north of Bath in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset, England.

In 1848 the village had a population of 84 inhabitants, and covered 523 acres.[1]

The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a very ancient stone edifice, dating from the 12th century. It is said to have been at one period the parish church of the city of Bath. It is a grade II* listed building.[2] There was believed to be a holy well in the grounds.[3] According to tradition it was formerly the mother church of Bath, and received an annual acknowledgment of a pound of pepper from the abbey there.[4]

All Saints Church dates from 1761 and was by John Wood, the Younger. It is grade I listed.[5]

Contents

[edit] Geology

The local geology of the Swainswick valley around Sopers Wood, in the south Cotswolds, has been investigated because of the presence of landslides since the work of William Smith in 1799. These are caused by the over-steepened topography downslope of the cap rock formed by the Great Oolite where water egresses around the plateau at the junction between the Great Oolite and the Fuller’s Earth Formation and through the more permeable limestone bands within the Fuller’s Earth.[6]

[edit] Frogs and toads

Every year in February and March Charlcombe Lane is closed by the local council to enable frogs and toads to cross the road in safety. During this period local residents and volunteers go out at dusk, the time of greatest movement collecting them in buckets and depositing them on the other side of the road, allowing them to continue their journey safely.[7][8]

[edit] Reference in literature

The village of Charlcombe is mentioned in letters by Jane Austen as being "sweetly situated in a little green valley, as a village with such a name ought to be".[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ 'Charlbury - Charlwood', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) pp. 549-54.. British History Online. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  2. ^ Church of St. Mary. Images of England. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.
  3. ^ The Hermit of Charlcombe Rectory. Notes and Queries. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  4. ^ 'Charlbury - Charlwood', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) pp. 549-54.. British History Online. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  5. ^ All Saints Church. Images of England. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.
  6. ^ R.W.W. Anson & A.B. Hawkins (2002). "Movement of the Soper’s Wood landslide on the Jurassic Fuller’s Earth, Bath, England" (in English). Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment 64 (4): 325–345. ISSN 1435-9529 (Print) 1435-9537 (Online). 
  7. ^ Valentine help for love-struck toads. Bath & North East Somerset Council. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  8. ^ Valentine help for love-struck toads. BBC Somerset News. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  9. ^ Letters to her sister Cassandra Austen, 1799. Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.