Downhead

Coordinates: 51°12′43″N 2°26′38″W / 51.212°N 2.444°W / 51.212; -2.444
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Downhead
Brown stone building with porch and tiled roof. Square tower to left hand end.
Parish church
Downhead is located in Earth
Downhead
Downhead
Location within
Population88 (in 2011)[1]
OS grid referenceST691459
Unitary authority
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSHEPTON MALLET
Postcode districtBA4
Dialling code01749
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
51°12′43″N 2°26′38″W / 51.212°N 2.444°W / 51.212; -2.444

Downhead is a village and civil parish just south of Leigh-on-Mendip and 5 miles (8 km) north east of Shepton Mallet, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Tadhill.

History

South west of the village is

hill fort enclosure. The hill fort is considered to be medieval as it is on the site of earlier earthworks.[2]

The parish of Downhead was part of the

Hundred.[3]

The village was recorded as Dunehevede, meaning the top of the down, in 1196. The manor was given to

Æthelwulf of Wessex, but by 1066 was held under the abbey by Erneis. By the early 18th century the estate was held by the Portmans of Orchard Portman.[4]

One source states that Tadhill or Toad Hill was a medieval settlement.[4]

Downhead Basalt Quarry, to the west of the village, opened before 1904 and ceased basalt mining in 1925. It was serviced by a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge railway.[5]

Governance

The

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 of interest to the parish council.

The parish is in the area of Somerset Council, a unitary authority, which is responsible for all other local government matters. It was previously part of Shepton Mallet Rural District and then, from 1974 until 2023, the non-metropolitan district of Mendip.[6]

It is also part of the

county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
.

Geography

Downhead is close to the

shales, but Devonian Portishead Beds outcrop along the northern valley. There is a range of unusual flora and fauna.[7]

Religious sites

William Bilbie of Chew Stoke. In 2007, funding from the levy on nearby quarries was obtained to pay for repair and restoration of the bells.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Parish Population Statistics" (PDF). ONS Census 2001. Somerset County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
  2. Somerset County Council
    . Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  3. ^ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  4. ^
    ISBN 1-874336-26-1
    .
  5. ISBN 1-904474-76-4
    .
  6. ^ A Vision of Britain Through Time : Shepton Mallet Rural District Archived 23 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Asham Woods" (PDF). English Nature. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2006.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Church of All Saints (1174065)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 May 2007.
  9. ^ "Let the Bells ring. May 2007". Mendip Times. Retrieved 2 May 2007.
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