Coleford, Somerset
| Coleford | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Holy Trinity Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST685495 |
| Location: | 51°14’39"N, 2°27’7"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 2,350 (2001) |
| Post town: | radstock |
| Postcode: | BA3 |
| Dialling code: | 01373 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Mendip |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Somerton and Frome |
Coleford is a village in Somerset, on the Mells River in the Mendip Hills five miles west of Frome.
Churches
The parish church is the Church of The Holy Trinity. It was built in 1831 by J Sperring.[1]
The Methodist Chapel is a little more recent having been built in 1865.[2]
History
Coleford was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Colford, meaning the hill ford, possibly from the Old French col and ford, or alternatively the coal ford, a ford over which charcoal was carried or by which it was burnt.[3][4] It is however a former coal mining area, and the 'cole' element may relate to mineral coal.
There are visible remains of a famous unfinished engineering project, the Dorset and Somerset Canal aqueduct, known locally as the 'Huckyduck', which was abandoned in 1803.[5]
The village once had several coal mines as part of the now closed Somerset coalfield. Just north of Coleford there were the collieries of Newbury and Mackintosh. Mackintosh opened in 1867 but closed in 1919, due to flooding. The Natural Stone products factory is built on the site of Newbury Colliery. This pit started around the beginning of the 19th century and closed in 1927. The Coal Barton mine was the scene of a firedamp explosion which killed nine miners in 1869
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1058736: Church of The Holy Trinity
- ↑ National Heritage List 1175643: Methodist Chapel
- ↑ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.
- ↑ Atthill, Robin (1976). Mendip: A new study. Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7297-1.
- ↑ Dunning, Robert (1983). A History of Somerset. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-461-6.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Coleford, Somerset) |