Kilmersdon
| Kilmersdon | |
 The old post office |
|
  Kilmersdon Kilmersdon shown within Somerset | |
| Population | 541 [1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | ST695525 |
| Civil parish | Kilmersdon |
| District | Mendip |
| Shire county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | RADSTOCK |
| Postcode district | BA3 |
| Dialling code | 01761 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Wansdyke to be North East Somerset from next general election. |
Kilmersdon is a village and civil parish in the north of Somerset between the towns of Radstock and Frome. The settlement is recorded in William I's Domesday book and dates back at least 1,000 years; though the core of the village dates from the mid nineteenth century. The parish includes the hamlets of Charlton, South View and Green Parlour.
History
The name Kilmersdon means 'Cynemaer's Hill'.[2]
The parish was part of the Kilmersdon Hundred,[3]
The area has the remains of many disused coal mines which were part of the Somerset coalfield. Access to coal mining beneath Kilmersdon was through a network of tunnels from an entrance at Haydon, a nearby hamlet. Because of this, visual evidence of mining is sparse; although in the past some buildings have collapsed due to subsidence and others have evidence of movement — including the church. Kilmersdon is just off the route of NCR 24, the Colliers Way. The Kilmersdon Road Quarry is a 0.43 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Kilmersdon is said to be the "home" of the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme, the fabled hill being recently restored as part of a local Millennium scheme. Immediately adjacent to the newly restored well is Kilmersdon Primary School, which was established (though not in the current building) in 1707. Other local amenities include Norton Garden Machinery (formerly a petrol station and garage) and The Jolliffe Arms - named after the Jolliffe family, whose estate is responsible for building much of Kilmersdon. The local post office closed in 1998.
Nearby is the Ammerdown Conference and Retreat Centre. Lord Hylton's son Andrew and his family currently live at Ammerdown — the current Lord Hylton lives in Hemington. The family's estate covers some of the villages around including Kilmersdon, and many of the cottages in this estate are owned and run by a charitable housing association set up by Lord Hylton to continue to provide affordable local housing for local people.
A pair of lodges, gate piers and gates, associated with Ammerdown House, which were built in 1788–94 by James Wyatt, are Grade II* listed buildings and on the English Heritage register of buildings at risk.[4][5]
Governance
Kilmersdon 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, 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.
The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Frome Rural District,[6] which is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.
Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.
It is also part of the Somerton and Frome parliamentary 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, and 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.
Religious sites
Kilmersdon Church (St Peter and St Paul) is located in the centre of the village. It dates back to the Norman period, though much of the current structure was built during the Victorian era. The tower is in four stages, includes corner buttresses with shafts and pinnacles, and is connected across the angle. The tower contains a ring of six bells, the heaviest being a tenor of 21 cwt. The summit has large corner shafts with pinnacles. There are traceried 3-light bell-chamber windows with a dense quatrefoil interlace and blank 2-light windows on the two lower stages. The flanked niches were for statuary, however this is now missing. The church has a triangular lychgate designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It is a Grade I listed building.[7]
Notable people
- The children's author Steve Voake was head teacher of Kilmersdon Primary School for eight years.
References
- ↑ "Kilmersdon Parish". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ Place names in the UK Retrieved 23 September 2007
- ↑ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ↑ "Kilmersdon Lodges". English Heritage, Buildings at Risk Register. Retrieved 27 July 2007.
- ↑ "Historic Buildings at Risk Register". Mendip District Council. p. Entry 21. Retrieved March 2011.
- ↑ "Frome RD". A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ↑ "Church of St Peter and St Paul". Images of England. Retrieved 7 October 2006.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kilmersdon. |
