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'Blagdon' is a village and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary authority in England. According to the 2001 census it has a population of 1,172. The village is about 12 miles east of Weston-super-Mare within the Chew Valley.
According to Robinson it was called ''Blachedon'' in the 1086 Domesday Book and that the name comes from the Old English ''bloec'' and ''dun'' meaning 'the black or bleak down'.[1]
Geography
When describing Blagdon the names of the three former separate settlements that merged together to form Blagdon are usually used: West End, East End, and Street End.
The village is located on the northern edge of the Mendip Hills on the A368, overlooking Blagdon Lake. The headquarters of organic dairy company Yeo Valley Organic are located in the village.
Government and politics
Blagdon and Churchill Ward is represented by one councillor on the North Somerset Unitary Authority which has responsibilities for services such as education, refuse, tourism etc. The village is a part of the Weston-super-Mare constituency which elects one MP to the Westminster Parliament and part of the South West England constituency which elects seven members to the European Parliament.
Demographics
According to the 2001 Census the Blagdon and Churchill Ward, had 1,423 residents, living in 594 households, with an average age of 41.9 years. Of these 75% of residents describing their health as 'good', 19% of 16-74 year olds had no qualifications; and the area had an unemployment rate of 1.2% of all economically active people aged 16-74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, it was ranked at 24,228 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived.[2]
Facilities
The West End has much of the facilities and services of Blagdon, including its Fire station, Village Shop and Post Office, Butcher's, Body & Soul Beauty Salon, Doll's House Shop(Cobblers Collectables), The Mead and Children's Play area, tennis courts and football and rugby pitches. In the East End there is Blagdon Primary School and Blagdon Police Station.
Pubs
Blagdon has four Pubs currently, the Seymour Arms & Queen Adelaide (West End)[1] and the New Inn and the Live and Let Live (East End). Additionally, the Village Club has a bar and is a social centre. The New Inn is a Grade II listed building ()
Churches
Blagdon Church
St Andrew's Church (Church of England) has a 116 foot high tower with pinnacles and a cusped lozenge pattern parapet, with a stair turret spirelet in the north east corner.[3]. The tower was built in 1907–1909 by Lord Winterstoke (of the Wills tobacco family)[4] It is a Grade II
★ listed building () The lychgate to the east of the church is also a Grade II listed building in its own right. () Above the door are four primitive Norman carvings which survived three rebuildings.[5]
Methodist Church and Baptist Chapel.
Doctors
The closest doctors are in the nearby villages of Wrington and Churchill.
Other facilities
Blagdon has frequent visits from the mobile library, and a mobile fishmonger serves Blagdon.
Transport
Public buses
Blagdon is served by several bus services going to Bristol, Bath, Wells and Weston-super-Mare.
Minibus
A Blagdon Minibus is available for groups to use at a small charge.
Roads
The A368 to Bath goes through Blagdon.
Rail
The nearest railway station is Yatton.
Social
Blagdon has many clubs and organisations including:
★ The local History Group
★ W.I
★ Luncheon Club
★ J-Team (for children)
★ Scouts and Guides
★ Tennis, football, cricket and rugby clubs
History
The name "Blagdon" is probably from the Saxon 'Blac' and 'Down' meaning 'cold' or 'bleak'.
Romans, Saxons and Normans
There was a Roman presence in Blagdon from about A.D. 49 until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain. Several Roman coins and bits of Roman pottery have been found in the village. There were lead and silver workings in Charterhouse, about a mile and a half to the south, up the hill, so it is likely that the wealthier supervisors had their houses away from the toxic smoke in the village.
Wade and Wade in their 1929 book "Somerset" suggest traces of Roman mines (such as tools and pigs of lead) have been found at Blagdon.[6]
In the Domesday Book, Blagdon is recorded as being held by Serlo de Burci in 1086. Also mentioned in the Domesday Book is that the land in Blagdon was over 2,000 acres (8 km²), including 200 acres (0.8 km²) of woodland.
After this period Blagdon passed to Serlo's grandson, Robert fitz Martin. In 1154, Robert gave St Andrews Church and other land from around the East End of the village to the monks of Stanley in Wiltshire. It was common for wealthy landowners to donate land to monasteries to prove their wealth. It is unlikely the monks spent much time in the village, they probably just rented out the land and took the income from it until the dissolution of the monasteries, at which point ownership of these lands would revert back to the village. The senior branch of the FitzMartin's would retain ownership of lands in Blagdon till the 1340s, after which it passed to their heir, James, Baron Audley.
Medieval times
Little is known about Blagdon's history past this point into Medieval times. There are several houses in the village dating from medieval times and earlier. The houses facing on to Bell Square (in the North corner of the West End) date from the fourteenth century.
The shape of some of the existing fields suggest they are of medieval origin.[7]
Blagdon in the twentieth century
In 1901 the Wrington Vale Light Railway reached Blagdon. It closed to passengers just 31 years later in 1932. Part of the line remained for freight only, but this closed in 1962.
Famous residents
Augustus Montague Toplady
★ John Langhorne (1735–1779)
★ Augustus Montague Toplady (1740–1778)
Listed buildings
There are several Grade II listed buildings:
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References
1. Somerset Place Names, , Stephen, Robinson, The Dovecote Press Ltd, 1992,
2. Neighbourhood Statistics LSOA North Somerset 024D Blagdon and Churchill
3. The Buildings of England : North Somerset and Bristol, Pevsner, Nikolaus, , , Penguin Books, 1958, ISBN 0-14-071013-2
4. Avon Villages, Mason, Edmund J. & Mason, Doreen, , , Robert Hale Ltd, , ISBN 0-7091-9585-0
5. Mendip: A new study, , Robin, Atthill, David & Charles, 1976,
6.
7. Mendip Hills An Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Bibliography
★ Blagdon Village Website
★ Blagdon Village Plan Document
External links
★ Blagdon Village Website
★ Blagdon Primary School
★ Information on Fishing at Blagdon Lake
★ Blagdon Valley Gun Club — Clay Pigeon Shooting
★ Blagdon Cricket Club
★ Photos of Blagdon in 3d (Anaglyphs)
★ Blagdon Rainbow Guides
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