Midsomer Norton

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Midsomer Norton
Somerset

The High Street in Midsomer Norton
Location
Grid reference: ST664540
Location: 51°17’3"N, 2°28’54"W
Data
Population: 10,458  (2001)
Post town: Radstock
Postcode: BA3
Dialling code: 01761
Local Government
Council: Bath & NE Somerset
Parliamentary
constituency: 		North East Somerset

Midsomer Norton is a pretty rural town near the Mendip Hills in Somerset, 10 miles south-west of Bath, 10 miles north-east of Wells, 10 miles north-west of Frome, and 16 miles south-east of Bristol. It is a small town whose shape and nature are formed around the River Somer which runs the length of the town centre.

The long history of Midsomer Norton can be seen through a number of early churches which remain, but really started to grow and become a transport hub with the development of the Somerset coalfield.

Midsomer Norton and two neighbouring villages, Radstock and Westfield which lie to the east and south-east respectively form the conurbation of Norton Radstock, but Midsomer Norton has grown apart from its neighbours.

Midsomer Norton provides shopping and service industries for the surrounding areas and supports several music venues and bands. The town has four primary schools and two large secondary schools. Midsomer Norton is home to a leisure centre, several sports clubs and provides youth opportunities such as Scouts and Guides. It has been the birthplace or home to several notable people.

The ancient parish is within the Chewton Hundred.

History

The River Somer in Midsomer Norton

"Norton" means 'north village' from the Old English, while the use of its forename to distinguish it from other 'Nortons' is of late origin and not mentioned until 1334.[1] Sources point to the town being situated midway between two branches of the Somer river; the Somer itself and Wellow Brook, which joins the Somer a short distance to the east near Radstock.[1]

John Wesley wrote of the appalling local road conditions which ensured it was reachable "only in midsummer." As Simon Winchester notes in his book The Map that Changed the World "...the roads on this part of Somerset were atrocious, thick with mud and as rough as the surface of the moon".[2]

In some church records the town is referred to as 'Norton Canonicorum' ("Canons' Norton".[3][4]

Following the Norman Conquest William the Conqueror gave large parts of north Somerset, including the manor or Norton to Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances, and Norton was held under him by Ulveva. From about 1150 until 1300 the manor was held by Alured de Lincoln. From 1387 the manor was held by the family of Thomas West, 1st Baron West and his descendants.[5]

The Duchy of Cornwall owned most of the mineral rights around Midsomer Norton and various small pits opened around 1750 to exploit these. Coal mining in the Somerset coalfield gave the town and area its impetus as an industrial centre.

Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Centre in an old goods shed

Around 1866 an obelisk monument with two marble plaques, was built at the site of St Chad's well, by mother of Frederick Stukeley Savage for the benefit of the poor. The obelisk was in the grounds of Norton House, however the house has since been demolished.[6]

For many years the coalmines provided employment for local men until they ceased operations in the 1960s, around the same time that the town's two railway stations also closed. Afterwards, good employment opportunities still remained for the town with elements of the print industry, and although some of these plants have also now begun to close, overall employment levels in the area remain very high.

Town Hall

The Town Hall

The Palladian town council offices were built in the mid to late 18th century.[7] Thomas Harris Smith was responsible,[8] and turned to an Italianate style when he built the hall in 1860.

Landscape

The main geological feature in this area of the Mendip Hills south of Hallatrow consists of Supra-Pennant Measures which includes the upper coal measures and outcrops of sandstone. The relics of the industrial past are very evident within the area, including the distinct conical shape of the Old Mills batch overlooking the town.[9] Midsomer Norton lies on the River Somer which rises to the west of Chilcompton and on the Wellow Brook which rises near the village of Ston Easton. The town therefore occupies two valleys of the Mendip Hills and these merge west of Radstock, whence the combined waters of the valleys flow east as the River Somer to the River Avon near Midford.

On the southern fringes of the town is the Silver Street Local Nature Reserve. It contains a broad-leafed woodland around several ponds and a grassland field. The woodland is leased to the Somerset and Dorset Heritage Railway Trust by the council and the meadow in the stewardship of Somervale School.[10]

Flood alleviation scheme

For many years, the centre of Midsomer Norton was prone to flooding. Sometimes several times a year, the Somer rose up during prolonged rainfall and flooded shops, particularly where the high street is at its lowest point in the middle between Martin's newsagent and the former Palladium cinema.[11]

To prevent future deluges, a major flood alleviation tunnel — completed in 1977 - was constructed beneath the high street to remove excess water when the town centre was threatened with flooding. The infrastructure comprises a sluice gate situated at the top of the high street near Somervale School through which the water is carried under the town via a pre-cast concrete culvert several yards in diameter to an outlet further downstream at Rackvernal. Since it began operation, no flooding has occurred to the high street and an Environment Agency report confirms that the relief scheme remains in good condition and continues to serve to its 100-year standard.[12]

Despite the success of the scheme, some outlying areas of the town are now rated at increased risk of flooding from Wellow Brook due to climate change and the increased provision of housing in the vicinity built on the floodplain. In 2008 a new monitoring station was installed at nearby Welton through which data on water pressure and flood levels can be collected via metal tubes placed in the river linked to a telemetry box. This facility is now providing the Environment Agency with extremely useful information for use in future assessments of flood risk.[11]

Industry and commerce

The spoil heap, or batch

For hundreds of years mining was an important industry for the area, and there were a number of mines in Midsomer Norton.  e.g. Old Mills, Norton Hill,[13] and Welton.[14][15] However the seams were thin and with the hilly nature around, not easily worked.[16] Generations of miners who worked in the difficult conditions of the local collieries are remembered at the Radstock Museum. The coming of the railways, particularly the Bath extension of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&D) in 1874, transformed the conveyance of coal out of the area.

The last pit in the town, at Norton Hill, closed in 1966.[17] Despite modernisation in the early 1960s, this final pit lapsed into unprofitability due to local geological difficulties and manpower shortages.[18]

Midsomer Norton traditionally hosted other industries and became a major manufacturing centre for printing and packaging.[19] Some 2,000 people (27% of total employment) work in this industry locally. Following the decline of mining, these companies expanded on local trading estates and in Welton.[19] The sites of the disused collieries in the area have subsequently been developed for light industry.[9]

In recent years some of the larger firms have disappeared or relocated, with poor transport links being cited as a handicap.[20] A large packaging company, Alcan Mardon closed in 2006, although the social club remains.[21] Another extremely important plant, Polestar Purnell, based in nearby Paulton also closed the same year with the loss of 400 jobs.[22] In August 2011, the town's largest remaining employer, Welton, Bibby & Baron, the largest producer of recyclable paper bags in Europe, announced the closure of its site in Welton, which it occupied for 150 years. The company, known locally as 'Welton Bag' plans to move to larger premises at Westbury in Wiltshire, but promises to transfer all 400 jobs to the new site.[23]

The business parks remain busy however, and the town and environs has its share of national trading companies including supermarkets and retail outlets. The town's High Street has free parking. Many inhabitants commute to Bath and Bristol for employment and shopping.[24]

Appearance in literature and popular culture

Midsomer Norton's railway station has been memorialised, along with many other stations, in a famous song associated with railway closures, Slow Train, lyrics by Michael Flanders, music by Donald Swann:-

“ No more will I go to Blandford Forum and Mortehoe, on the slow train from Midsomer Norton and Munby Road

No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat, at Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street

We won't be meeting you, on the slow train …

”

Children's author Roald Dahl, before he became famous for his writing, used to sell kerosene in Midsomer Norton and the surrounding area in the 1930s. He described the experience vividly in his autobiographical work Boy: Tales of Childhood (published 1984):

“ My kerosene motor-tanker had a tap at the back and when I rolled into Shepton Mallet or Midsomer Norton or Peasedown St John or Huish Champflower, the old girls and the young maidens would hear the roar of my motor and would come out of their cottages with jugs and buckets to buy a gallon of kerosene for their lamps and their heaters. It is fun for a young man to do that sort of thing. Nobody gets a nervous breakdown or a heart attack from selling kerosene to gentle country folk from the back of a tanker in Somerset on a fine summer's day. ”

The Waugh family connection with Midsomer Norton began when Dr Alexander Waugh, father of Arthur Waugh and grandfather of Evelyn Waugh and Alec Waugh moved to Island House, which had been built in the early 18th century,[25] in The Island in the centre of the town in 1865. The family later moved to a house in Silver Street. As a boy, Evelyn Waugh spent his summer holidays in Midsomer Norton with his maiden aunts. He later described his visits there: "I suppose that in fact I never spent longer than two months there in any year, but the place captivated my imagination as my true home never did".[26]

Churches

St John the Baptist

The parish church is the Church of St John the Baptist. It has a tower dating from the 15th century, although the upper stages are from the 17th century, but the rest was rebuilt in Gothic style by John Pinch the younger in 1830-1831 and was extended in the 20th century with new chancel and lady chapel. It is a Grade II* listed building.[27] The churchyard includes a memorial to the 12 miners killed in 1839 when their rope was severed.[28]

St John's is part of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. The Patronage vests in Christ Church, Oxford.

The old Priory, which is now a hotel and restaurant,[29] dates from the early to mid 17th century.[30] Another old building is the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost, which is a 15th-century tithe barn converted by the famous architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It is a Grade II* listed building.[31] There are also Benedictine monks at nearby Downside Abbey.

The Methodist Church in the town's High Street celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 2009.[32] In 1746, John Wesley's travelling preachers, based in Bristol were invited in the mid 1700s to support the local society, the man himself first coming in 1767.[33] By the middle of the 1800s, the congregation had outgrown the original chapel erected in 1775 in Rackvernal Road (now demolished). In the 1990s, the present church building and adjoining hall were totally refurbished and linked, the facilities being well used by the local community. Local Methodists are part of the Bristol District of the Methodist Church and in the North East Somerset & Bath Circuit.

  • Church of England: St John The Baptist
  • Baptist: Midsomer Norton Baptist Church
  • Methodist: Midsomer Norton Methodist Church
  • Salvation Army: citadel at Stones Cross
  • Roman Catholic: Church of the Holy Ghost

Big Society

Midsomer Norton hosts the only unofficial carnival on the West Country Carnival circuit, usually on the second Thursday in November. At one time, floats travelled through the main High Street but road improvements put paid to the larger vehicles. Nowadays, the procession is held on the main Fosseway through Westfield.

There is a successful Scout group, the 1st Midsomer Norton Scout Group based at Radstock Road, providing scouting to around 140 boys and girls a week, and a similarly popular Guide group a short distance away at Rock Hall.[34]

The local University of the Third Age was founded in the 1990s. Regular Speaker Meetings are held in the Somer Centre. There are a number of interest groups who also arrange outings to shows and the occasional continental holiday.

Music

Midsomer Norton's main live music venue is The Wunderbar. It is a small bar located in the cellar of an estate agency on the High Street, which has been open since October 1994 and hosts regular concerts by local bands and regional touring acts as well as 'open mic' events. It plays host to is own internet radio station.

Regular concerts and events are held in the town and local leisure centres. Choir concerts (male voices in particular) command a local following. The Lions Club locally promotes such attractions usually held in the parish church or the Methodist church.

There are a number of thriving local brass bands. In 2006 Midsomer Norton hosted the European Open Marching and Show Band Championship which saw many bands from all over Europe visit the town.[35][36]

Leisure

The Palladium

The Palladium cinema was opened as the Empire in 1913 in a building which had previously been a brewery. It closed in 1993 and attempts have been made to turn it into a club and shops.[37][38]

Sport

South Wansdyke Leisure Centre

In 2002 the World Professional Billiards Championship was held at the Centurion Hotel, part of L&F Jones, Midsomer Norton.[39][40]

Media

  • Newspapers:
    • The Midsomer Norton, Radstock & District Journal
    • The Somerset Guardian
  • Radio: Somer Valley FM (97.5FM and online)
  • Web: A community website on local issues is called Midsomer Norton People.[41]

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Midsomer Norton)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Robinson, Stephen (2007). Somerset Place Names. Dovecote Press. p. 102. ISBN 1-874336-03-2. 
  2. ↑ Winchester, Simon (2002). The Map That Changed the World: A Tale of Rocks, Ruin and Redemption. Penguin. pp. 55. ISBN 978-0-14-028039-5. 
  3. ↑ Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1907 - Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Dean & Chapter of Wells
  4. ↑ "Bishop: Berkeley, Gilbert". Clergy of the Church of England Database. http://www.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/bishops/DisplayBishop.jsp?ordTenID=30. Retrieved 14 March 2010. 
  5. ↑ Robinson, W.J. (1915). West Country Churches. Bristol: Bristol Times and Mirror Ltd. pp. 48–53. 
  6. ↑ "Midsomer-Norton Monument and St Chad's Well". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=31954. Retrieved 30 January 2010. 
  7. ↑ National Heritage List 1016938: Council Offices
  8. ↑ "Midsomer-Norton Town Hall". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=31949. Retrieved 30 January 2010. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Rural Landscapes — Area 8 Farrington Gurney Farmlands". Bath and North East Somerset Council. http://www.highlittletonhistory.org.uk/mining.html. Retrieved 10 December 2006. 
  10. ↑ "Silver Street Local Nature Reserve, Midsomer Norton". Avon local nature reserves. http://www.avonlocalnaturereserves.org.uk/reserve.asp?id=9. Retrieved 15 March 2010. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Regeneration land 'at risk of flooding'". Somerset Guardian. 22 October 2008. http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Regeneration-land-risk-flooding/story-12312977-detail/story.html. Retrieved 7 August 2011. 
  12. ↑ "Bath and North East Somerset Flood Risk Management Strategy Report Final Report June 2010" (PDF). Bath and North East Somerset Council. http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Environment%20and%20Planning/Flood%20Risk%20Management%20Strategy%20Final%20Report.pdf. Retrieved 7 August 2011. 
  13. ↑ "List of Mines in Great Britain and the Isle of Man, 1908". Coal Mining Resource Centre. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cmhrc/lom08glos.htm. Retrieved 12 November 2006. 
  14. ↑ "Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd". http://www.pdmhs.com/1896%20Lists/1896-68.htm. Retrieved 10 March 2010. 
  15. ↑ "Camerton". Flickr. http://www2.flickr.com/photos/fray_bentos/137850671/in/set-72057594120295305/. Retrieved 12 November 2006. 
  16. ↑ Whitlock, Ralph (1975). Somerset. B.T. Batsford. pp. 69. ISBN 0-7134-2905-4. 
  17. ↑ Collier, Peter (1986). Coliers Way — The Somerset Coalfield. Ex Libris Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-948578-05-X. 
  18. ↑ Down and Warrington, C.G. and A.G. (1972). The History of the Somerset Coalfield. David and Charles. p. 222. ISBN 0-7153-5406-X. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Radstock and Midsomer Norton in focus". Business Matters in Bath and North East Somerset. Bath & North East Somerset Council. 2008. http://www.business-matters.biz/site.aspx?i=pg67. Retrieved 14 March 2010. 
  20. ↑ "Bath and North East Somerset Core Strategy Launch document". Bath and North East Somerset Council. 2007. pp. 43. http://consultations.bathnes.gov.uk/inovem/gf2.ti/f/54018/1231909.1/pdf/-/Core%20Strategy%20Launch%20document%20final%20draft.pdf. Retrieved 7 February 2010. 
  21. ↑ Purnell & Sons
  22. ↑ BBC News 1 January 2006: End of the line for print workers
  23. ↑ The Somerset Guardian 11 August 2011
  24. ↑ "Bath and North East Somerset Core Strategy Launch document". Bath and North East Somerset Council. 2007. pp. 23. http://consultations.bathnes.gov.uk/inovem/gf2.ti/f/54018/1231909.1/pdf/-/Core%20Strategy%20Launch%20document%20final%20draft.pdf. Retrieved 7 February 2010. 
  25. ↑ National Heritage List 1016479: Island House
  26. ↑ The Midsomer Norton, Radstock and District Journal, Thursday 24 September 2009
  27. ↑ National Heritage List 1019101: Midsomer Norton
  28. ↑ Scott, Shane (1995). The hidden places of Somerset. Aldermaston: Travel Publishing Ltd. p. 20. ISBN 1-902007-01-8. 
  29. ↑ "The Moody Goose at the Old Priory". The Moody Goose at the Old Priory. http://www.moodygoose.co.uk/. Retrieved 30 January 2010. 
  30. ↑ National Heritage List 1018609: The Priory
  31. ↑ National Heritage List 1018545: Midsomer Norton
  32. ↑ "Midsomer Norton Methodist Church Centre". Midsomer Norton Methodist Church Centre. http://www.msnmcc.org/Indexa.htm. Retrieved 18 February 2009. 
  33. ↑ "School History". Midsomer Norton Primary School.. http://www.midsomernorton.bathnes.sch.uk/School_History.htm. Retrieved 12 March 2010. 
  34. ↑ "1st Midsomer Norton Scout Group". 1st Midsomer Norton Scout Group. http://www.nortonscouts.net/. Retrieved 23 September 2011. 
  35. ↑ "1st Hook Scout & Guide Band". 1st Hook Scout & Guide Band. http://polaris.king.ac.uk/firsthookscouts/band.htm. Retrieved 7 February 2010. 
  36. ↑ "Romford Drum & Trumpet Corps win 4 gold medals at European championships". Romford Drum & Trumpet Corps. http://www.rdtc.org/news/images/euro.htm. Retrieved 7 February 2010. 
  37. ↑ "Memories of nights at Palladium wanted". Somerset Guardian (Thbis is Somerset). 20 May 2009. http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/guardian/news/Memories-nights-Palladium-wanted/article-1006555-detail/article.html. Retrieved 30 January 2010. 
  38. ↑ "Palladium Cinema". Cinema Treasures. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/28883/. Retrieved 30 January 2010. 
  39. ↑ Sethi, Geet (18 May 2002). "Advantage Nalin Patel". The Hundu. http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/05/19/stories/2002051902852000.htm. Retrieved 30 January 2010. 
  40. ↑ "Russell crowns himself with glory". Potting it right -- Geet Sethi Column. Sportstar. 22 June 2002. http://www.tssonnet.com/tss2525/25250780.htm. Retrieved 30 January 2010. 
  41. ↑ Midsomer Norton People
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