Mendip District

Mendip was a local government district of Somerset in England. The district covered a largely rural area of with a population of approximately 112,500, ranging from the Wiltshire border in the east to part of the Somerset Levels in the west. The district took its name from the Mendip Hills. The administrative centre of the district was Shepton Mallet but the largest town was Frome.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 by a merger of the municipal boroughs of Glastonbury and Wells, along with Frome, Shepton Mallet, and Street urban districts, and Frome Rural District, Shepton Mallet Rural District, Wells Rural District, part of Axbridge Rural District and part of Clutton Rural District.

On 1 April 2023, the district was abolished and became part of Somerset Council, a unitary authority.

Toponymy Several explanations for the name Mendip have been suggested. Its earliest known form is Mendepe in 1185. One suggestion is that it is derived from the medieval term . However, A D Mills derives its meaning from Celtic , meaning mountain or hill, with an uncertain second element, perhaps Old English in the sense of upland, or plateau.Dictionary of English Place Names

An alternative explanation is that the name is cognate with Mened (Welsh ), a Brythonic term for upland moorland. The suffix may be a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon , meaning a valley. Possible further meanings have been identified. The first is 'the stone pit' from the Celtic and in reference to the collapsed cave systems of Cheddar. The second is 'Mighty and Awesome' from the Old English and .

Governance

Until 2023, Mendip district fell under the jurisdiction of Mendip District Council. At the 2019 local elections, no party gained overall control. PartySeatsNet Gain/LossLiberal Democrat22 +11Conservative10 -22Green10 +7Independent5 +4

As of March 2022, the council had 23 Liberal Democrats, 12 Conservatives, 10 Greens, and 2 Independents.

Abolition On 1 April 2023, the council was abolished and replaced by Somerset Council, a unitary authority for the area previously served by Somerset County Council. Elections for the new council took place in May 2022, and it ran alongside Mendip and the other councils until their abolition in April 2023.

Settlements

The five main settlements of the former Mendip council were Frome, Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet, Street and Wells. Frome, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet were the only towns in the district, with Wells having city status and Street maintaining its status as a village despite a population in excess of 11,000.

Other villages and hamlets included:

Ashwick Baltonsborough – Batcombe – Beckington – Binegar – Bleadney – Bowlish – Buckland Dinham – Burcott – Butleigh – Butleigh Wootton Chantry – Charterhouse – Chelynch – Chesterblake – Chewton Mendip – Chilcompton – Coleford – Coxley – Cranmore – Croscombe Dean – Dinder – Ditcheat – Doulting – Draycott – Dulcote East Lydford – East Pennard – Easton – Emborough – Evercreech Farleigh Hungerford – Faulkland Godney – Great Elm – Green Ore Henton – Highbury – Holcombe – Hornblotton – Horrington – Huxham Green Kilmersdon Lamyatt – Leigh-on-Mendip – Leighton – Litton – Lydford-on-Fosse Maesbury – Meare – Mells Nettlebridge – North Wootton – Norton St Philip – Nunney Oakhill – Oldford Pilton – Polsham – Prestleigh – Priddy – Pylle Rode – Rodney Stoke Southway – Standerwick – Ston Easton – Stratton-on-the-Fosse – Stoke St Michael – Stoney Stratton Thrupe – Trudoxhill Upton Noble Vobster Walton – Wanstrow – Waterlip – West Compton – West Lydford – West Pennard – West Woodlands – Westbury-sub-Mendip – Westcombe – Westhay – Whatley – Wookey – Wookey Hole – Worminster – Witham Friary Yarley

Parishes Image Name Status Population Former local authority Coordinates Refs AshwickCivil parish 1,352 Shepton Mallet Rural District Baltonsborough Civil parish 864 Wells Rural District Batcombe Civil parish 439 Shepton Mallet Rural District Beckington Civil parish 983 Frome Rural District Berkley Civil parish 344 Frome Rural District BinegarCivil parish 313 Shepton Mallet Rural District Buckland Dinham Civil parish 381 Frome Rural District Butleigh Civil parish 823 Wells Rural District Chewton Mendip Civil parish 585 Wells Rural District Chilcompton Civil parish 2,062Clutton Rural District Coleford Civil parish 2,313 Frome Rural District Cranmore Civil parish 667 Shepton Mallet Rural District Croscombe Civil parish 603Shepton Mallet Rural District Ditcheat Civil parish 725 Shepton Mallet Rural District Doulting Civil parish 618 Shepton Mallet Rural District East Pennard Civil parish 348Shepton Mallet Rural District Emborough Civil parish 148 Shepton Mallet Rural District Evercreech Civil parish 2,334 Shepton Mallet Rural District Frome Town 26,203 Frome Rural DistrictFrome Urban District Glastonbury Town 8,932Glastonbury Municipal Borough Godney Civil parish 237 Wells Rural District Great Elm Civil parish 171 Frome Rural District Hemington Civil parish 640 Frome Rural District Holcombe Civil parish 947 Shepton Mallet Rural District Kilmersdon Civil parish 541 Frome Rural District Lamyatt Civil parish 183Shepton Mallet Rural District Leigh-on-Mendip Civil parish 514 Frome Rural District Litton Civil parish 240 Clutton Rural District Lullington Civil parish 162 Frome Rural District Lydford-on-FosseCivil parish 511 Shepton Mallet Rural District Meare Civil parish 1,304 Wells Rural District Mells Civil parish 638 Frome Rural District North WoottonCivil parish 317 Wells Rural District Norton St Philip Civil Parish 858 Frome Rural District Nunney Civil parish 844 Frome Rural District Pilton Civil parish 998 Shepton Mallet Rural District Priddy Civil parish 624 Wells Rural District Pylle Civil parish 160 Shepton Mallet Rural District Rode Civil parish 1,025 Frome Rural District Rodney Stoke Civil parish 1,326 Wells Rural District – Selwood Civil parish 798 Frome Rural District Sharpham Civil parish 130 Wells Rural District Shepton Mallet Town 10,369 Shepton Mallet Urban District St Cuthbert Out Civil parish 3,749 Wells Rural District Stoke St Michael Civil parish 926 Shepton Mallet Rural District Ston Easton Civil parish 550 Clutton Rural District Stratton on the Fosse Civil parish 1,108 Shepton Mallet Rural District Street Civil parish 11,805 Street Urban District Tellisford Civil parish 182 Frome Rural District Trudoxhill Civil parish 423 Frome Rural District Upton Noble Civil parish 128Frome Rural District Walton Civil parish 1,106 Wells Rural District Wanstrow Civil parish 489 Frome Rural District Wells City 10,536 Wells Municipal Borough West Bradley Civil parish 277 Shepton Mallet Rural District West Pennard Civil parish 670 Wells Rural District Westbury Civil parish 801 Wells Rural District Whatley Civil parish 245 Frome Rural District Witham Friary Civil parish 399 Frome Rural District Wookey Civil parish 1,311 Wells Rural District

Transport

Major roads A37 from Bristol to Yeovil A361 from the M5 to Frome A371 from Weston-super-Mare to Wincanton A39 from Bath to Bridgwater

Railway stations Frome, served by Great Western Railway on the Heart of Wessex Line and Reading to Taunton Line Served by the East Somerset Railway: Cranmore Cranmore West Merryfield Lane Mendip Vale

Mendip District

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