| Charlcombe | |
St Mary Magdalene's Church at Langridge in the parish |
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Charlcombe
Charlcombe shown within Somerset |
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| Population | 433 [1] |
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| OS grid reference | ST752674 |
| Unitary authority | Bath and North East Somerset |
| Ceremonial county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BATH |
| Postcode district | BA2 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | North East Somerset |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Charlcombe is a civil parish and small village just north of Bath in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset, England. The parish has a population of 433[1] and includes the villages of Woolley and Langridge. The valley is currently the centre of attention for the Save Woolley Valley Campaign led by the SWVAG (chaired by Robert Craven).[2][3]
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Langridge and Woolley were part of the hundred of Bath Forum,[4][5] while The parish of Charlcombe was part of the hundred of Hampton.[6]
In 1848 the village had a population of 84, and covered 523 acres (2.12 km2).[7]
Woolley is one of only 52 Thankful Villages for having lost no soldiers during World War I,[8] and one of only 14 doubly-thankful villages that also did not lose any soldiers in World War II.[9]
The parish council 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, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, 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 of interest to the council.
The parish falls within the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within their area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. They are also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service.
Bath and North East Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters are in Bath. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Wansdyke district and the City of Bath of the county of Avon.[10] Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Bathavon Rural District.[11]
The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of North East Somerset. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is also part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
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.[12] Known locally as the Woolley Valley, there has been a dispute about development of green belt land.[13]
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 towards a lake in the Charlcombe valley on a tributary of the Lam Brook.[14][15]
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.[16] There was believed to be a holy well in the grounds.[17] 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.[7]
All Saints Church at Woolley dates from 1761 and was by John Wood, the Younger. It is Grade I listed.[18]
In Langridge the Church of St Mary Magdalene dates from the 12th century and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.[19]
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".[20]
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