Great Elm | |
---|---|
Church of St Mary Magdalene, Great Elm | |
Bridge over Mells River | |
Location within Somerset | |
Population | 171 (2011) [1] |
OS grid reference | ST745495 |
District | |
Shire 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 | |
Great Elm is a village and civil parish between Mells and Frome in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford.
The name Great Elm was recorded as Telma in the Domesday Book of 1086, and then as Teames in 1236 which is a contraction of aet elmat the elm tree. Little Elm developed into the village of Chantry. [2]
At Tedbury Camp southwest of the village a pot of Roman coins was dug up in 1961. [2]
After the Norman Conquest the manor was held by the Giffards and later by the Hidges family and then the Stracheys. [2]
The parish was part of the hundred of Frome. [3]
For many years in the 18th and 19th centuries Great Elm was the site of water powered mills owned by James Fussell IV. [4]
The Stracheys owned Rock House for a period early in the 20th century.
Hapsford House on Hapsford Hill is a 19th-century country house. [5]
The Jackdaws Music Education Trust has been based in the village since 1993.
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, [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 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.
The village lies above the Mells River in the Mendip Hills.
Vallis Vale is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which includes an ancient woodland and exposes some of Britain's most classic rock outcrops, exhibiting several of the most easily demonstrated examples of angular unconformity available. [7]
The Macmillan Way long-distance path passes through the village, the Mendip Way passes by on the far side of the river, and the village is just off the Colliers Way, National Cycle Route 24.
The parish is crossed by a Mendip Rail railway line which carries aggregate trains from Whatley Quarry. On 6 October 2008 a freight train was hit from behind by a runaway train near Great Elm on the private line from Whatley Quarry. There were no serious injuries. [8] [9]
The Church of St Mary Magdalene dates from the 12th century and is a Grade I listed building. [10]
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.
Mendip is a local government district of Somerset in England. The district covers a largely rural area of 285 square miles (738 km2) with a population of approximately 112,500, ranging from the Wiltshire border in the east to part of the Somerset Levels in the west. The district takes its name from the Mendip Hills which lie in its northwest. The administrative centre of the district is Shepton Mallet but the largest town is Frome.
Buckland Dinham is a small village near Frome in Somerset, England. The village has a population of 381. The village's main industry is farming, but the village is also a dormitory village for the nearby cities of Bath and Bristol.
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.
Nunney is a village and civil parish in the Mendip local government district within the English county of Somerset. It is located 3 miles (5 km) south-west of Frome and the parish includes the hamlet of Holwell.
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.
Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome.
James Fussell IV (1748–1832) was an iron magnate operating the Old Iron Works, Mells in Vallis Vale between Mells and Great Elm in Somerset. He was a promoter of the Dorset and Somerset Canal and the inventor of both the roller chain and the balance lock.
Old Iron Works, Mells is a 0.25 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, in the Wadbury Valley, south of the village of Mells in Somerset, notified in 1987. The site is a ruined iron works, which mainly produced agricultural edge-tools that were exported all over the world, and is now, in addition to its unique and major importance in relation to industrial archaeology, used as a breeding site by horseshoe bats. The block of buildings adjacent to the entrance is listed Grade II* and most of the rest of the site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is included in the Heritage at Risk Register produced by English Heritage.
Cranmore is a village and civil parish east of Shepton Mallet, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Waterlip, East Cranmore and Dean.
Ditcheat is a village and civil parish 4.5 miles (7 km) south of Shepton Mallet, and 2.5 miles (4 km) north-west of Castle Cary, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. Besides the village, the parish has four hamlets: Wraxall, Lower Wraxall, Alhampton and Sutton.
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.
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.
Upton Noble is a village and civil parish on the River Frome. It is roughly 4.5 miles (7 km) north-east of Bruton, and 7 miles (11 km) from Frome town centre, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England.
Frome railway station serves a largely rural area of the county of Somerset in England, and is situated in the town of Frome. The station is located on a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long branch line which loops off the main line railway, which carries services on both the Reading to Taunton line and Bristol to Weymouth route. Most of the trains which take the loop line in order to serve Frome station are on the Bristol to Weymouth route, and most trains on the Reading to Taunton line by-pass the station on the main line. The station is 22.25 miles (36 km) south of Bath Spa on the Bristol to Weymouth line, it is owned by Network Rail and is operated by Great Western Railway.
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.
Mells Manor at Mells, Somerset, England, was built in the 16th century for Edward Horner, altered in the 17th century, partially demolished around 1780, and restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 20th century. The house, along with the garden walls, has been designated as a Grade I listed building, and is closely associated with the adjacent Church of St Andrew. The gardens are listed, Grade I, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in 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.
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.
Media related to Great Elm at Wikimedia Commons