Mells, Somerset

Coordinates: 51°14′20″N 2°23′20″W / 51.2390°N 2.3888°W / 51.2390; -2.3888
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mells
Avon and Somerset
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Somerset
51°14′20″N 2°23′20″W / 51.2390°N 2.3888°W / 51.2390; -2.3888

Mells is a village and

civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome
.

Vobster

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]

History and description

In the

Frome.[6]

Around 1500 Mells seems to have been known as Iron Burgh, as a result of the iron ore extracted in the area.[7]

The

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

Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is included in the Heritage at Risk Register produced by English Heritage.[10]

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

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

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

Daffodil
Festival.

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]

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 the responsibility of the council.

The village falls within the

crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism
.

waste disposal
and strategic planning.

The village is part of the 'Ammerdown'

2011 census of 2,371.[23]

It is also part of the

first past the post
system of election.

Religious sites

The village's most notable feature is

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.

Tourism

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]

Notable people

Gallery

References

  1. ^ "Mells Parish". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Mells & Vobster, Somerset". Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Edmund (1058289)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
  4. ^ Historic England. "Vobster Inn Bridge (1058290)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
  5. ^ Robinson, W.J. (1915). West Country Churches. Bristol: Bristol Times and Mirror Ltd. p. 37.
  6. ^ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  7. ISBN 0-575-03453-X
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0715372975
    .
  9. ^ Historic England. "Mells Village Hall (1058313)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  10. ^ "South West England". Heritage at Risk. English Heritage. p. 183. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  11. ^ Historic England. "Mells War Memorial (1058315)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  12. ^ Historic England. "Mells Road Station (502939)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  13. ^ Historic England. "Mells Manor (1058351)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 May 2006.
  14. ^
    ISBN 0-14-071013-2
    .
  15. ^ Historic England. "The Talbot Inn (1058314)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 May 2006.
  16. ^ "Ultimate 100 British hotels" (PDF). Sunday Times. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  17. ^ Historic England. "Lock-up (1058320)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  18. ^ "Mells Cafe". Mells Village. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  19. ^ "Mells Church of England First School" (PDF). Ofsted. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Mells Nursery". Mells Nursery. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  21. ISBN 978-0-86183-390-0
    .
  22. ^ "Frome RD". A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  23. ^ "Ammerdown ward 2011". Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  24. ^
    ISBN 0-906456-98-3
    .
  25. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Andrew (1295876)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 May 2006.
  26. ^ "THE 20 MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN THE UK AND IRELAND, 20 October 2020". 20 October 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  27. ^ "Durham Mining Museum - Norton Hill Colliery Co".
  28. ^ Self, Cameron. "Siegfried Sassoon 1886-1967". poetsgraves.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mells.
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