Oakhill is a village in the

Mendip Mendip may refer to: *Mendip District, a local government district of Somerset, England * Mendip Hills, a group of hills in Somerset, England ** Mendip Way, a footpath across the Mendip Hills **Mendip TV Mast, a transmitter in the Mendips area *For ...

district of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England, in

Ashwick Ashwick is a village in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, about three miles north of Shepton Mallet and seven miles east from Wells. It has also been a civil parish since 1826. The parish had a population of 1,352 according to the 201 ...

parish approximately north of Shepton Mallet. It lies between the A37 and the A367 (which is part of the ancient Fosse Way). Oakhill is today is mainly a commuter village of in size, and is notable for former activities which including brewing. The village contains a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

primary school and a surgery, as well as a public house, the Oakhill Inn. Little London is the name given to a cluster of houses at the western end of the village. It is sometimes referred to by tradespeople etc. as a settlement in itself for the purpose of location, because of the elongated character of the village. Oakhillmethodist

History

A brewing industry led to the growth of the village, and as a result a parish church, All Saints, was built in 1861 to a design by

J. L. Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency ...

to provide a place of worship for the inhabitants, who previously had belonged to the parishes of Ashwick or Shepton Mallet, the boundary between which ran down the High Street. Its own small ecclesiastical parish was set up, with boundary stones marked OASCC (Oakhill All Saints Consolidated Chapelry). The village borders with the civil parish village of

. The 1825 Methodist chapel was once not the only such place of worship. There was also an Independent Chapel, built in 1872 to an ambitious design to replace a smaller Congregational chapel at Little London, and often dubbed locally the Little Cathedral. It is now converted to two dwellings, the Bell Tower (this was originally erected before the rest of the building) and the Round House. The now demolished mansion of Ashwick Grove was arguably closer to Oakhill than its neighbour. The mansion was the home of

John Billingsley John Billingsley (, born May 20, 1960) is an American actor best known for his role as Doctor Phlox on the television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life and education Billingsley was born in Media, Pennsylvania, and subsequently liv ...

of Ashwick, the grandson of Nicholas Billingsley the younger, a

dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

who was minister at Ashwick from 1699 to 1729. Billingsley is most remembered in the village as the owner of the

Oakhill Brewery Oakhill Brewery was a brewery in Oakhill, Somerset, England, that was founded in 1761 by John Billingsley (agriculturist), John Billingsley. History In its heyday the Oakhill Brewery was a major producer, known for Oakhill Invalid Stout. In 1904, ...

, established in 1761, and known for its Oakhill Invalid Stout. The brewery owned two public houses in the village, the White Horse and the Moon, and the present Oakhill Inn, first mentioned in 1802, is probably the successor of one of these. The village had its own narrow-gauge railway, built in 1904, to take beer barrels to the Somerset & Dorset Railway at nearby

Binegar Binegar is a small village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is located on the A37 road, A37, east of Wells, Somerset, Wells, between Shepton Mallet and Chilcompton. Its population in 2011 was 313. Binegar and ...

. The railway had a 2'6" gauge and operated two 0-4-0T locomotives, the 'Mendip' and the 'Oakhill', which were painted in an olive green livery. Traces of the railway can still be seen in the surrounding area. The railways made a brief reappearance in the village of Oakhill in the 1980s, albeit in a miniature form. In the grounds of Oakhill Manor, the manor's owner, Walter Harper, opened a 'ride on' replica collection to the public. Among the engines, which towed thousands of people during their time there, was a 'Pacific' replica locomotive called Robin Hood. Oakhill Manor closed its doors to the public in 1985 and the engines were dispersed around the country. William Braine, an explorer on

Franklin's lost expedition Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, and , and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sect ...

to find the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...

, was born in the village. In June 2022, the BBC noted that Oakhill residents were hosting a considerable number of refugees under the UK government's Homes for Ukraine scheme: 30 people who were sponsored by over ten families.

References

External links

{{Mendip Hills Villages in Mendip District