Lydford-on-Fosse
| Lydford-on-Fosse | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Lydford stores | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST565305 |
| Location: | 51°4’20"N, 2°37’20"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 511 (2011[1]) |
| Post town: | Somerton |
| Postcode: | TA11 |
| Dialling code: | 01963 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Mendip |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Somerton and Frome |
Lydford-on-Fosse is a village and civil parish in Somerset. The civil parish comprises the ancient parishes of West Lydford and East Lydford. West Lydford forms part of the Catsash Hundred, while East Lydford forms a detached part of Somerton Hundred.[2]
History
Lydford-on-Fosse straddles the Fosse Way, an ancient Roman road which linked the cities of Lincoln and Exeter. The village takes its name from two Saxon words, Lyd torrent or noisy stream and Ford a passage crossing a river,[3] and was established before the Norman Conquest.[4] The villages of East and West Lydford are to the east and west of the ford which was where the Fosse Way crossed the river Brue.
A place where a river could be forded became a meeting place and a centre for trade and the granting of a charter for a fair and weekly market in the reign of Henry III (1216 - 1272) suggests that Lydford was already a place of some importance by that time.[4] Fair Place, West Lydford, is where the fair was held. At least 1800 years of recorded history of East and West Lydford, with entries for both in the Domesday Book, have led to the civil parish now known as Lydford on Fosse.
The modern A37 trunk road follows the route of the ancient Fosse Way through the parish.
Facilities
Lydford on Fosse is served by a Post Office (with shop), pub (the Cross Keys), petrol station (with shop) and a motorhome shop.
Religious sites
The Church of St Mary in East Lydford[5] was built in 1866 by Benjamin Ferrey for the rector, J. J. Moss. It was last used for worship in 1987 and has been privately owned since 1993. The building is Grade-II listed,[6] but is disused and derelict, and is described in the Mendip Council Buildings at Risk Register as being in 'poor' condition and possibly being structurally unsound.[7]
Ferrey also built the Anglican parish Church of St Peter on the site of an earlier church in the village of West Lydford.[8]
References
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Lydford-on-Fosse) |
- ↑ "Lydford-on-Fosse Parish". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11126186&c=Lydford&d=16&e=61&g=6461443&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1388576354420&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2491. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ↑ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 308. ISBN 0198691033.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 R. W. Dunning (editor), A. P. Baggs, R. J. E. Bush, Margaret Tomlinson (1974). "Parishes: East Lydford". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66493&strquery=. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ↑ R. W. Dunning (editor), A. P. Baggs, R. J. E. Bush, Margaret Tomlinson (1974). "Parishes: East Lydford". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66493. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
- ↑ "Church of St Mary". Images of England. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=267551. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
- ↑ "Historic Buildings at Risk Register". Mendip District Council. pp. Entry 24. http://www.mendip.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3111&p=0. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ↑ "Church of St Peter". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=267560. Retrieved 25 January 2009.