Rode

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Rode
Somerset, Wiltshire

Village centre
Location
Grid reference: ST805540
Location: 51°17’5"N, 2°16’44"W
Data
Population: 1,025  (2011[1])
Post town: Frome
Postcode: BA11
Dialling code: 01373
Local Government
Council: Mendip

Rode, otherwise Road, is a village on the borders of Somerset and Wiltshire, located five miles north-east of Frome in the former county and five miles south-west of Trowbridge in the latter. The ancient parish forms part of the hundred of Frome.[2]

Facilities in the village include a village school, pre-school, shop/post office, physiotherapy and acupuncture clinic and a cricket club, which was founded in about 1895.

There used to be several mills in the village, one of which has now been converted into The Mill pub. Other pubs in Rode are The Cross Keys[3][4] and The Bell.[5] Until 1962, the village was home to Fussell's Brewery, which grew up behind the Cross Keys Inn. It continued to be used a bottling plant and distribution depot by Bass until 1992.[6] The site was eventually sold off to a housing developer despite strong opposition from residents, as was the old site of Rode Tropical Bird Gardens, an animal sanctuary and small zoo, which closed its doors to the public in 2001.[7]

History

The village appears as "Rode" in the Domesday Book, but the spelling was labile from an early date: it is "Roda" in assize rolls of 1201, "la Rode" in a charter roll of 1230; by the 18th Century "Road" was regarded as the usual form. This was reverted to the older spelling "Rode" by Somerset County Council in 1919.[8] The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon rod, meaning a clearing.[9] Rode rose to prominence as a trading centre on the borders of Wiltshire and Somerset, and later became a market town. The old village was positioned around St Lawrence's church along the main thoroughfare (known as Rode Major; now on the ordnance map as "Church Row"). However, many parts of the old village were damaged in a fire and the ruins can be seen in the field adjoining the church.[10]

Rode's prominence was greatest during the 16th and 17th centuries, when the wool milling industry boomed in the South West; a success due largely to the meandering nature of its rivers, which afforded the space for the construction of mill ponds and streams, and because of its close proximity to the international port of Bristol. At one point Rode was home to four or five wool mills which created great wealth for the village and funded the construction of many large houses in the village, such as Rode Manor, Langham House, Milfield House and Southfield House. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries the village centre thrived enough for Rode to be known as a market town.[11]

Possibly the greatest single moment in the milling industry of Rode was during the 18th century when a consortium of Rode mills won a competition to make Queen Charlotte's dress. In winning the prize a mill in the village invented the dye Royal Blue and received a certificate to sell it under that name.[12]

By the middle to the end of the 19th century, the wool mills of Rode were struggling, like many in the South West, as a result of both the industrial revolution and the invention of steam power, which caused mills to move to northern industrial centres.[13]

Rode is now largely a dormitory village, offering good access to Bristol, Bath, Trowbridge and Frome.[14]

The Murder at Road Hill House

Rode was the scene of one of the most infamous murders of the 19th century when Constance Kent was arrested by order of the town magistrates for the murder of her three-year-old half-brother at Road Hill House (now Langham House). The case was investigated by Detective Inspector Jack Whicher. Although released at her committal hearing, Kent was later to confess, was charged and received the mandatory death sentence. This was commuted to life imprisonment, of which she served twenty years.[15][16]

Church of St Lawrence, Rode

Religious sites

The Church of St Lawrence dates from the late 14th and early 15th century. It was restored in 1874 by Charles Edward Davis and is a Grade I listed building.[17] There is also a Baptist-Methodist chapel, dating from 1809, which has Grade II listed building status for the gates and walls.[18]

Christ Church at Rode Hill was built in 1824 but was declared redundant in 1995 and is now a house and violin shop.[19]

Landmarks

Rode is home to two village pumps,[20][21] a mounted plough, a wellhead pump,[22][23] an elaborate village sign,[24] a flagpole and a war memorial in the form of a cross.[25] The latter three are all placed on the village green.

A three-arch packhorse bridge crosses the River Frome. It is 48 inches wide and has a total span of 63 ft.[26]

References

  1. ↑ "Rode Parish". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11127990&c=Rode&d=16&e=61&g=6461166&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1388576956576&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2491. Retrieved 1 January 2014. 
  2. ↑ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/. Retrieved 8 October 2011. 
  3. ↑ "Cross Keys". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=267334. Retrieved 25 November 2006. 
  4. ↑ "The Cross Keys Pub and Restaurant in Rode, Frome". crosskeysrode.co.uk. http://www.crosskeysrode.co.uk/. 
  5. ↑ "The Bell Inn". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=267308. Retrieved 25 November 2006. 
  6. ↑ Ely, S.; Jones, B.. "Brewery History" (PDF). The Journal of the Brewery History Society. http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/122/Fussell.pdf. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
  7. ↑ "Tropical Bird Gardens, Rode". Zoos UK. http://www.zoosuk.zookeepers.co.uk./tropbirdrode.htm. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
  8. ↑ "Chronology of Rode". Rode History. http://www.avpu52.dsl.pipex.com/Chronology%20of%20Rode.html. Retrieved 13 June 2014. 
  9. ↑ Ekwall, 1936/1984, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names, p. 389.
  10. ↑ "Church Row Farm, Frome Road, Rode, Somerset: An Archaeological Evaluation" (PDF). Thames Valley Archaeological Services. http://www.tvas.co.uk/reports/pdf/CRF08-72ev.pdf. Retrieved 12 February 2011. 
  11. ↑ "Rode". A Vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=14540. Retrieved 12 February 2011. 
  12. ↑ "The Origin of Royal Blue". Rode History. http://www.avpu52.dsl.pipex.com/Royal%20Blue.html. Retrieved 12 February 2011. 
  13. ↑ "Rode". Information Britain. http://www.information-britain.co.uk/county8/townguideRode/. Retrieved 12 February 2011. 
  14. ↑ "Vision for Frome Baseline Study" (PDF). Vision for Frome. http://www.vision4frome.org.uk/documents/V4F-baseline-2008.pdf. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
  15. ↑ Crittall, Elizabeth (1965). "North Bradley". British History Online. University of London and History of Parliament Trust. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16111. Retrieved 26 July 2008. 
  16. ↑ Summerscale, Kate (2008). The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-8215-1. 
  17. ↑ "Church of St Lawrence". Images of England. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=267292. Retrieved 25 November 2006. 
  18. ↑ "Methodist Church". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=267333. Retrieved 28 March 2011. 
  19. ↑ "Christchurch House". Andrew Hooker Violins. http://www.aviolin.com/church.html. Retrieved 30 October 2015. 
  20. ↑ "rode pumps". villagepumps.org.uk. http://www.villagepumps.org.uk/rode.htm. 
  21. ↑ "The History of Rode, Somerset". rodevillage.com. http://www.rodevillage.com/history-of-rode/Visual%20signs%20of%20Rode's%20history.html. 
  22. ↑ MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF RODE PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2013
  23. ↑ Template:Cite av media
  24. ↑ Maurice Pullin. "2008 : Rode Village Sign (C) Maurice Pullin :: Geograph Britain and Ireland". geograph.org.uk. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/652323. 
  25. ↑ Good Stuff. "War Memorial - Rode - Somerset - England - British Listed Buildings". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-506871-war-memorial-rode-somerset. 
  26. ↑ Hinchliffe, Ernest (1994). Guide to the Packhorse Bridges of England. Cicerone. pp. 151-152. ISBN 978-1852841430. 

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