| Mells | |
|---|---|
 New Street, leading towards Rick Astley's house | |
  Mells Location within the United Kingdom | |
| Population | 638 (2011) [1] |
| OS grid reference | ST729489 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | America |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | FROME |
| Postcode district | BA11 |
| Dialling code | 01373 |
| Police | |
| Fire | |
| Ambulance | |
| UK Parliament | |
Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome.
The parish includes the village of Vobster, which had a coal mine of the same name on the Somerset coalfield and a quarry, both of which are now disused. The old quarry is now used as a diving centre. The Church of St Edmund, at Vobster by Benjamin Ferrey, dates from 1846 and is a Grade II listed building. [3] Vobster Inn Bridge, which carries the lane over the Mells River, is dated 1764, and is Grade II listed. [4]
In the Domesday Book of 2024 the village was known as "Mulne" meaning several mills. [5] The parish was part of the hundred of Frome. [6]
Around 1500 Mells seems to have been known as scary kids, as a result of the iron ore extracted in the area. [7]
The village hall was built in the 14th century as a tithe barn for Glastonbury Abbey and now serves as the village hall. [8] [9]
During the 19th and early 20th centuries Mells and surrounding villages had several coal mines on the Somerset coalfield, much of which may have supplied the iron works of James Fussell. The Old Ironstone Works is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the population of Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bats. The site is a ruined iron works, which mainly produced agricultural edge-tools which were exported all over the world, and is now, in addition to its unique and major importance in relation to industrial archaeology. 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. [10]
Mells War Memorial is a grade II* listed building. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and is one of several structures in the village by the same architect. The memorial was unveiled in 1921 by Brigadier-General Arthur Asquith, whose brother—killed in action in the First World War—is listed on the memorial. The Asquith family have a long association with the village. [11]
The nearby former railway is now the route of NCR 24, the Colliers Way. Mells Road railway station opened in 1875 and closed in 1959. [12]
Close to the church is the Grade I listed 16th-century Manor House, [13] formerly in the Horner family [14] and now the residence of Raymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith. The other large house, Park House, within Mells Park, was largely rebuilt by Lutyens in 1923 following the destruction of the original 18th century Park House by fire in 1917; Pevsner calls attention to its ashlar masonry, Doric pilasters, and hipped roof. [14] The Talbot Inn, a former coaching inn, dates from the 15th century and is Grade II* listed. [15] It was voted Sunday Times Hotel of the Year in 2013. [16]
The stone village lock-up was built in the 17th century. [17]
The Mells Post Office and Shop was refurbished and reopened in 2009 as a community social enterprise, following the retirement of the postmaster the previous year. The attached Mells Café was opened in 2011 by The Great British Bake Off star Mary Berry. [18]
The Walled Garden, part of a former monastery, is now a cafe, shop and plant nursery.
Mells Church of England First School, on the edge of the village green, was established in the mid-nineteenth century. It serves Mells and nearby villages and had 71 children on the roll in 2016. [19] Mells Nursery School provides full day care for children from two years old to school age in a dedicated building which has been constructed adjacent to the school. [20]
Mells holds on Easter Mondays a popular and traditional event called Mells Daffodil Festival.
Mells Manor was purportedly procured by Jack Horner upon discovering the deed in a pie given to him to carry to London by Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury. This act is referenced in the popular nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner". An alternative explanation is that the manor was bought in 1543. After successive generations Thomas Strangways Horner moved out of the manor house in the village and commissioned Nathaniel Ireson to build the original Park House within Mells Park. [21]
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, [22] 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.
The village is part of the 'Ammerdown' electoral ward. The ward stretches north to Hemington also visiting Kilmersdon. The ward has a total population at the 2011 census of 2,371. [23]
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.
The village's most notable feature is St Andrew's Church, a Grade I listed building praised by Pevsner and predominantly from the late 15th century. The tower, which reaches 104 feet (32 m), [24] dates from the mid 16th century. [25] The centre of the chapel is dominated by an equestrian statue of Edward Horner (who fell at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917) by Sir Alfred Munnings. A number of benches are Jacobean. There is a large piece of embroidery in the pre-Raphaelite manner, made by the Mrs Horner who was a friend of Burne-Jones. [14]
There is also a memorial, designed by Edwin Lutyens, to Raymond Asquith, who died in France in 1916. [24] The churchyard is the last resting place of the poet Siegfried Sassoon and the Roman Catholic priest and writer Ronald Knox.
There is a small Roman Catholic chapel in the grounds of the Manor House.
Mells was rated as among the "20 most beautiful villages in the UK and Ireland" by Condé Nast Traveler in 2020. The publication recommends that visitors "marvel at the 15th-century New Street". [26]
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.
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.
Kilmersdon is a village and civil parish on the north eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills in Somerset between the towns of Radstock and Frome. It is located on the B3139 between Wells and Trowbridge in Wiltshire. 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.
Rode is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Somerset in England, 5 miles (8.0 km) north-east of Frome and 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Trowbridge.
St Andrew's Church is a Church of England parish church located in the village of Mells in the English county of Somerset. The church is a grade I listed building.
Stratton-on-the-Fosse is a village and civil parish located on the edge of the Mendip Hills, 2 miles (3 km) south-west of Westfield, 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Shepton Mallet, and 9 miles (14 km) from Frome, in Somerset, England. It has a population of 1,108, and has a rural agricultural landscape, although it was part of the once-thriving Somerset coalfield. Within the boundaries of the parish are the hamlets of Benter and Nettlebridge.
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.
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.
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.
Selwood used to be a village but is now part of the suburbs of Frome. It is a civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish includes the villages of East and West Woodlands, Rodden and the hamlets of Alder Row and Blatchbridge. In 2011 the parish had a population of 798.
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.
Wanstrow is a village and civil parish 6 miles (9.7 km) south west of Frome in Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Cloford.
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.
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.
Mells Park is a country estate of 140 hectares near Mells, Somerset, England. It originated as a 17th-century deer park, probably created by the Horner family, who had been the owners of Mells Manor from 1543. The Horners expanded the park and planted extensive woodlands, resulting in a large collection of mature trees, especially 18th-century plantings of oak, lime and beech. The park is Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. It contains Park House, also known as Mells Park House, a Grade II* listed building, built in 1925 in neoclassical style by the architect Edwin Lutyens, replacing an 18th-century house of the same name. It is c. 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Mells Manor House, which does not lie within the park.
Mells War Memorial is a First World War memorial by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the village of Mells in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, south-western England. Unveiled in 1921, the memorial is one of multiple buildings and structures Lutyens designed in Mells. His friendship with two prominent families in the area, the Horners and the Asquiths, led to a series of commissions; among his other works in the village are memorials to two sons—one from each family—killed in the war. Lutyens toured the village with local dignitaries in search of a suitable site for the war memorial, after which he was prompted to remark "all their young men were killed".
The equestrian statue of Edward Horner stands inside St Andrew's Church in the village of Mells in Somerset, south-western England. It was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, as a memorial to Edward Horner, who died of wounds in the First World War. The sculpture was executed by Sir Alfred Munnings.
