Buckland Dinham

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Buckland Dinham
St. Michael and All Angels, Buckland Dinham - geograph.org.uk - 128720.jpg
Buckland Dinham - geograph.org.uk - 747663.jpg
Buckland Dinham
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Buckland Dinham
Location within Somerset
Population381 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference ST755515
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town FROME
Postcode district BA11
Dialling code 01373
Police Avon and Somerset
Fire Devon and Somerset
Ambulance South Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Somerset
51°15′43″N2°21′01″W / 51.2620°N 2.3504°W / 51.2620; -2.3504

Buckland Dinham is a small village near Frome in Somerset, England. The village has a population of 381. [1] The village's main industry is farming (arable and dairy), but the village is also a dormitory village for the nearby cities of Bath and Bristol.

Contents

History

In 951 King Eadred granted land at Buckland to his relative Ælfhere. [2]

The village used to be known as Buckland Denham. Denham is believed to be a family name (there are many other villages with Denham in their name) whilst Buckland may refer to a former deer population. Although Buckland Dinham itself does not have a manor house, it is close to Orchardleigh Estate.

There are signs of prehistoric archaeology. A hand axe has been found in Lower Street (which follows the spring line). Kingsdown Camp is an Iron Age hill fort. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. [3] It is a univallate fort with an area of 0.15 hectares (0.37 acres), and is approximately quadrilateral in shape. [4] In the Iron Age or Roman period a drystone wall was constructed, possibly 4 metres (13 ft) high and 2.5 metres (8 ft) wide. There is an entrance on the northeast side. [5] The fort continued to be used by the Romans.

The parish of Buckland Denham was part of the Kilmersdon Hundred. [6]

The Dorset and Somerset Canal's branch to the Somerset coalfields would have passed via the bottom end of the Buckland vale, had it ever been completed. It is now just off the route of NCR 24, the Colliers Way. The Murtry Aqueduct remains. [7] Fussell's balance locks were built on the side of Barrow Hill, an extension of the hill on which Buckland Dinham is perched. [8]

Governance

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, 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, [9] 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 Frome and East Somerset 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, and was part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament prior to Britain leaving the European Union in January 2020, which elected seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Geography

Geographically, the village is on the side of a hill (known as Buckland Down). It looks out over a vale formed by several small streams, in particular the Buckland Brook, which leads southwards towards Frome (and other villages such as Great Elm and Mells). The Buckland Brook skirts the north-eastern side of the village.

Transport

It is on the A362 road from Radstock to Frome. Coming off this at the bottom of the hill is Lower Street, which subsequently turns uphill (as Sands Cross Hill) before looping back to the main road at the top of the village, opposite the Bell public house. Lanes also lead off to Lullington and Great Elm.

Buckland Dinham has never had a railway station, although the Great Western Railway branch from Frome to Radstock (and thence to Bristol) passes by the bottom of the valley. This is today unused by passenger trains, but limestone trains to Whatley Quarry use the line. They then seem to disappear into a clump of trees; in reality, a tunnel entrance is hidden, leading to Vallis Vale and the quarry.

Religious sites

The Church of St. Michael has a nave, chancel, south chapel and south porch which dates from around 1200. The north chapel was added in 1325, and a further chapel to the north of the chancel and the west tower being added in 1480. It underwent restoration in the late 19th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorset and Somerset Canal</span> Partially-built and abandoned canal in South-West England

The Dorset and Somerset Canal was a proposed canal in southwestern England. The main line was intended to link Poole, Dorset with the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. A branch was to go from the main line at Frome to the southern reaches of the Somerset coalfield at Nettlebridge. Construction of the branch started in 1786, using boat lifts rather than locks to cope with changes of level, but the company ran out of money and the canal was abandoned in 1803, never to be completed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendip District</span> Former non-metropolitan district in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radstock</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilcompton</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coleford, Somerset</span> Human settlement in England

Coleford is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the Mells River in the Mendip Hills five miles west of Frome. The parish has a population of 2,313 in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whatley, Mendip</span> Human settlement in England

Whatley is a small rural village and civil parish about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Frome in the English county of Somerset. The parish lies south of Mells and north of Nunney, and includes the hamlets of Lower Whatley and Chantry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mells, Somerset</span> Village in Somerset, England

Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somerset Coalfield</span> Coalfield in northern Somerset, England

The Somerset Coalfield in northern Somerset, England is an area where coal was mined from the 15th century until 1973. It is part of a larger coalfield which stretched into southern Gloucestershire. The Somerset coalfield stretched from Cromhall in the north to the Mendip Hills in the south, and from Bath in the east to Nailsea in the west, a total area of about 240 square miles (622 km2). Most of the pits on the coalfield were concentrated in the Cam Brook, Wellow Brook and Nettlebridge Valleys and around Radstock and Farrington Gurney. The pits were grouped geographically, with clusters of pits close together working the same coal seams often under the same ownership. Many pits shared the trackways and tramways which connected them to the Somerset Coal Canal or railways for distribution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Elm</span> Village in Somerset, England

Great Elm is a village and civil parish between Mells and Frome in Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford. In 2011 the parish had a population of 171.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemington, Somerset</span> Human settlement in England

Hemington is a village and civil parish 5.5 miles (8.9 km) north west of Frome, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It is located just off the A366 between Trowbridge and Radstock. The parish includes the villages of Hardington, Faulkland and Foxcote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lullington, Somerset</span> Human settlement in England

Lullington is a village and civil parish just across the Mells River from Beckington and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north east of Frome, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke St Michael</span> Village and civil parish in England

Stoke St Michael is a village and civil parish on the Mendip Hills 4 miles (6.4 km) north east of Shepton Mallet, and 8 miles (12.9 km) west of Frome, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tellisford</span> Human settlement in England

Tellisford is a village and civil parish 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Frome in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Woolverton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Route 24</span> Cycle route in the United Kingdom

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Kingsdown Camp is an Iron Age hillfort at Buckland Dinham 4.5 kilometres (3 mi) South East of Radstock, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael's Church, Buckland Dinham</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Church of St Michael in Buckland Dinham, Somerset, England, has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Holy Trinity, Chantry</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Church of the Holy Trinity at Chantry, in the parish of Whatley, Somerset, England, dates from 1844 to 1846. It was designed by George Gilbert Scott and William Moffatt, with further work by William George Brown of Frome, for James Fussell, who owned the Old Iron Works, Mells. It is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mells River</span> River in Somerset, England

The Mells River flows through the eastern Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. It rises at Gurney Slade and flows east joining the River Frome at Frome.

Frome was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh-on-Mendip</span> Human settlement in England

Leigh-on-Mendip or Leigh upon Mendip is a small village on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. It lies roughly equidistant from Frome, Radstock and Shepton Mallet at about 5 miles (8 km) from each town.

References

  1. 1 2 "Buckland Dinham Parish". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Charter S 555
  3. ↑ "Kingsdown Camp". National Monuments Record. English Heritage . Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  4. ↑ "Kingsdown Camp, Mells Down, Mells". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council . Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  5. ↑ Adkins L and R, 1992. A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology. page 79
  6. ↑ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  7. ↑ Historic England. "Murtry Aqueduct (1174214)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 25 November 2006.
  8. ↑ Atthill, Robin (1964). Old Mendip. Newton Abbot, Devon: David and Charles. ISBN   0-7153-5171-0.
  9. ↑ "Frome RD". A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Historic England. "Church of St. Michael (1345316)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 16 May 2009.
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