Charterhouse, Somerset
| Charterhouse | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Charterhouse, looking west | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST497557 |
| Location: | 51°17’55"N, 2°43’20"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Bristol |
| Postcode: | BS40 |
| Dialling code: | 01761 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Mendip |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Wells |
Charterhouse, also known as Charterhouse-on-Mendip, is a hamlet in the Mendip Hills of Somerset.
This was long a mining village. Once it had a monastery, which developed the mines, but long before that though the Romans were here, mining for lead and silver in the Mendips, and the remains oa a Roman town have been excavated in Charterhouse.
Name
The name of the village is believed to come from the Carthusian order of Chartreuse in France, which was established in Witham (near Frome) in 1181. Witham Friary formed a cell at Charterhouse in 1283 with a grant to mine lead ore.[1][2][3]
History
There is evidence, in the form of burials in local caves, of human occupation since the late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age.[4]
The lead and silver mines at Charterhouse, were first operated on a large scale by the Romans, from at least AD 49.[5] At first the lead/silver industries were tightly controlled by the Roman military, but within a short time the extraction of these metals was contracted out to civilian companies, probably because the silver content of the local ore was not particularly high.[6] There was also some kind of 'fortlet' here in the 1st century, and an amphitheatre.[7] The Roman landscape has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[8]
After the dissolution of the monasteries, the estaes of Charterhouse were granted to Robert May who constructed a substantial house here and one of his descendants John May became High Sheriff of Somerset in 1602.[2]
There is further evidence of mine workings in the mediæval and Victorian periods,[9][10] some of which survives within the Blackmoor Nature Reserve owned by Somerset County Council. There is also evidence of a rectangular mediæval enclosure.[11]
Church
The parish church of St Hugh was built in 1908 by W.D. Caroe, on the initiative of the Rev. Menzies Lambrick,[12] from the former welfare hall for the lead miners.
The church is a Grade II* listed building.[13] A cross in the churchyard[14] and the churchyard wall[15] are also listed.
The roof-truss, screen, rood, and altar are all made of carved whitened oak.[12]
About the village
Charterhouse is within the Mendip Hills ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’, and the outdoor activity centre and headquarters of the Mendip Hills AONB is based at Charterhouse, with accommodation, classrooms and offices.
The area between Charterhouse and Cheddar Gorge including Velvet Bottom and Ubley Warren is covered by the Cheddar Complex Site of Special Scientific Interest’.
There are several caves in the limestone around the village including Manor Farm Swallet and Upper Flood Swallet.
See also
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Charterhouse, Somerset) |
References
- ↑ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Reid, Robert Douglas (1979). Some buildings of Mendip. The Mendip Society. ISBN 0-905459-16-4.
- ↑ "Autumn newsletter 2007" (PDF). Mendip Hills AONB. http://www.mendiphillsaonb.org.uk/publications/up_081015_autumn07_lo.pdf. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
- ↑ "Mendip Hills: An Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". Somerset County Council Archaeological Projects. http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_MendipAONB.pdf. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
- ↑ Havinden, Michael (1981). The Somerset Landscape. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-340-20116-9.
- ↑ "Major Romano-British Settlement Charterhouse on Mendip, Avon". Roman Britain.org. http://www.roman-britain.org/places/charterhouse.htm. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
- ↑ "Charterhouse". Big Roman Dig. http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/B/bigromandig/database/2_31.jsp?activityId=361. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
- ↑ Firth, Hannah (2007). Mendip from the air. Taunton: Somerset County Council. ISBN 978-0-86183-390-0.
- ↑ "Mendip Hills: An Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". Somerset County Council Archaeological Projects. http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/896B4/MendipAONB.pdf. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
- ↑ Gough, J.W. (1967). The mines of Mendip. Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles.
- ↑ Adkins, Lesley and Roy (1992). A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology. Wimborne, Dorset: Dovecote Press. pp. 37–39. ISBN 0-946159-94-7.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Staveacre, Tony (December 2006). "Christmas at Charterhouse". Mendip Times 2 (7): 8.
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (268094) Church of St Hugh
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (268095) Churchyard Cross in churchyard, Church of St Hugh
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (268096) Churchyard Wall to Church of St Hugh