Chard
| Chard | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 St Mary the Virgin | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST325086 |
| Location: | 50°52’22"N, 2°57’31"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 13,020 (est.) |
| Post town: | Chard |
| Postcode: | TA20 |
| Dialling code: | 01460 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Somerset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Yeovil |
Chard is a town in Somerset, in the very south of the county, close to the Dorset border.
It is on the A30 road, 15 miles south-west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 13,000 and, at an elevation of 400 ft, it is the southernmost and highest town in Somerset. It is certainly not its prettiest, for here the legacies of industrialisation and road-building lie heavily upon the town.
Local folklore claims that the town has a very unusual feature; a stream runs along either side of Fore Street, of which the waters of one stream eventually flows into the Bristol Channel and the waters of the other to the English Channel.
Chard Reservoir, approximately a mile north-east of the town, is a Local Nature Reserve, and Snowdon Hill Quarry a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Major employers in the town include Numatic International Limited and the Oscar Mayer food processing plant.
The parish church is the Church of St Mary the Virgin, which dates from the late 11th century.
The name of the town was Cerden in 1065 and Cerdre in the Domesday Book of 1086. Before the Norman Conquest, Chard was held by the Bishop of Wells. The town's first charter was from King John in 1234. Textile manufacture was important in the Middle Ages.
Churches
The parish church is the Church of St Mary the Virgin, which dates from the late 11th century and was rebuilt in the 15th century. The tower contains two bells dating from the 1790s and made by Thomas Bilbie of the Bilbie family in Cullompton.[1] The three-stage tower has moulded string courses and an angle stair turret in the north-west corner. The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.[2] There is also a church room built in 1827.[3]
The Baptist Church in Holyrood Street was built in 1842.[4]
History
Chard's name was Cerden in 1065 and Cerdre in the Domesday Book of 1086 and it means "house on the chart or rough ground" (Old English: ceart + renn).[5] Before the Norman Conquest Chard was held by the Bishop of Wells.[6] The town's first charter was from King John and another from the bishop in 1234, which delimited the town and laid out burgage holdings in one-acre lots at a rent of twelve pence a year.[7]
Most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1577.[6][8] After this time the town was largely rebuilt including Waterloo House and Manor Court House in Fore Street which were built as a house and courtroom, and have now been converted into shops and offices.[9] Further damage to the town took place during the Civil War with both sides plundering its resources, particularly in 1644 when Charles I spent a week in the town.[6]
A 1663 will by Richard Harvey of Exeter established Almshouses which became Harvey's Hospital. These were rebuilt in 1870 largely of stone from previous building.[6][10] In 1685 Chard was one of the towns in which Judge Jeffreys held some of the Bloody Assizes after the failure of the Monmouth Rebellion in which 160 men from Chard joined the forces of the Duke of Monmouth. The subsequent hangings took place on Snowden Hill to the west of the town.[6] As elsewhere in this area, the 'finger-post' road-sign at this spot is painted red and is known as 'Red Post' to commemorate the executions.
There was a fulling mill in the town by 1394 for the textile industry.[6] After 1820 this expanded with the town becoming a centre for lace manufacture led by manufacturers who fled from the Luddite resistance they had faced in the Midlands. Bowden's Old Lace Factory[11] and the Gifford Fox factory[12] are examples of the sites constructed.
The Guildhall was built as a Corn Exchange and Guildhall in 1834 and is now the Town Hall.[13]
On Snowdon Hill is a small cottage which was originally a toll house built by the Chard Turnpike trust in the 1830s,[14] to collect fees from those using a road up the hill which avoided the steep gradient.[15]
Chard claims to be the birthplace of powered flight, as it was here in 1848 that the Victorian aeronautical pioneer John Stringfellow (1799–1883) first demonstrated that engine-powered flight was possible through his work on the Aerial Steam Carriage. James Gillingham (1839–1924) from Chard pioneered the development of articulated artificial limbs when he produced a prosthesis for a man who lost his arm in a cannon accident in 1863. Chard Museum has a display of Gillingham's work.[16]
Chard was a key point on the Taunton Stop Line, a Second World War defensive line consisting of pillboxes and anti-tank obstacles, which runs from Axminster north to the Somerset coast near Highbridge.[17] In 1938 a bomb-proof bunker was built behind the branch of the Westminster Bank. During the war it was used to hold duplicate copies of the bank records in case its headquarters in London was destroyed. It was also used to store the emergency bank note supply of the Bank of England.
About the town
At an altitude of 400 ft Chard is the highest town in Somerset, and is also the southernmost.[17] The suburbs include: Crimchard, Furnham, Glynswood, Henson Park and Old Town. Local folklore claims that the town has a very unusual and unique feature, a stream running along either side of Fore Street, one of which eventually flows into the Bristol Channel and the other eventually reaches the English Channel.[18] This situation changed when the tributary of the Axe was diverted into the Isle, however the gutter in Holyrood Street still flows into the River Axe and therefore it is still true it lies on the watershed and that two gutters within the down eventually drain into the Bristol Channel and the English Channel.[19]
The 91-acre Chard Reservoir, around a mile north-east of the town, is a Local Nature Reserve. It is used for dog walking, fishing and birdwatching, with a bird hide having been installed.[20] Species which are spotted regularly include Herons, Kingfishers, Cormorants, Grebes, ducks and also a wide range of woodland songbirds. Others include the Great white egret, Cattle egret, and Spotted redshank.[21]
Snowdon Hill Quarry is a 1.3-acre geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the western outskirts. The site shows rock exposures through the Upper Greensand and Chalk, containing fossil crustaceans which are both unique and exceptionally well-preserved making it a key locality for the study of palaeontology in Britain. The unit has been dated to the subdivision of the Chalk known as the Turrilites acutus Zone, named after one of the characteristic fossils,[22] which was laid down in the Middle Cenomanian era between 99.6 ± 0.9 and 93.5 ± 0.8 million years ago.
There are also caves in Chard, first recorded in a charter of 1235 as being used by stonemasons, which provided local building stone. The cave is smaller than when it was used as a quarry as part of the roof has fallen in but a cave 20 feet below ground still exists with the remains of the supporting pillars left when it was being worked.[19]
Economy
Chard is the home of Numatic International Limited, notable for their 'Henry' vacuum cleaners. The company employs over 700 people. In contrast to competitors such as Hoover and Dyson, the firm continues to manufacture in Britain. The site produces over 4,000 products a day.
One of the other large employers in Chard is Oscar Mayer. Oscar Mayer has historically employed many Portuguese and, more recently, Polish workers.
Sport
- Football: Chard Town FC
- Rugby: Chard RFC, formed in 1876
- Hockey: Chard Hockey Club, established in 1907
There are also facilities for cricket, tennis, bowls, and golf.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Chard) |
- The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey: Chard
References
- ↑ Moore, James; Roy Rice & Ernest Hucker (1995). Bilbie and the Chew Valley clock makers. The authors. pp. 102–104. ISBN 0-9526702-0-8.
- ↑ National Heritage List 11383557: Church of St Mary the Virgin
- ↑ National Heritage List 11383558: Church Room
- ↑ National Heritage List 11144715: Baptist Church
- ↑ Watts, Victor (2010). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names (1st paperback ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Bush, Robin (1994). Somerset: The complete guide. Wimbourne: Dovecote Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 1-874336-26-1.
- ↑ Havinden, Michael. The Somerset Landscape. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 114. ISBN 0-340-20116-9.
- ↑ Leete-Hodge, Lornie (1985). Curiosities of Somerset. Bodmin: Bossiney Books. p. 93. ISBN 0-906456-98-3.
- ↑ National Heritage List 11463396: Waterloo House and Manor Court House
- ↑ National Heritage List 11144709: Harvey's Hospital
- ↑ National Heritage List 11383553: Bowden's Old Lace Factory
- ↑ National Heritage List 11144718: Factory Building,formerly of Gifford Fox and Company Limited
- ↑ National Heritage List 11144698: The Guildhall
- ↑ National Heritage List 1197472: Snowdon Turnpike Cottage
- ↑ Warren, Derrick (2005). Curious Somerset. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-0-7509-4057-3.
- ↑ "Pioneers in Artificial Limbs". Chard Museum. http://www.chardmuseum.co.uk/Pioneers_in_Artifical_Limbs/. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Welcome to Chard". Chard Town Council. http://www.chard.gov.uk/Core/ChardTownCouncil/Pages/Default.aspx. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ↑ "South Somerset's Market Towns". Visit Somerset. http://www.visitsouthsomerset.com/media/64085/market_towns_2011_pdf.pdf. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Warren, Derrick (2005). Curious Somerset. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-7509-4057-3.
- ↑ "Chard Reservoir Nature Reserve". Chard Reservoir Nature Reserve. http://www.chardres.totalserve.co.uk/. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ↑ "Chard Reservoir". South Somerset Council. http://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=9895. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ↑ "SSSI citation sheet for Snowden Hill Quarry". English Nature. http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000450.pdf. Retrieved 30 June 2010.