Washford is a village on the

Washford River The Washford River rises at near Luxborough in the Brendon Hills and flows through Somerset to the Bristol Channel at Watchet. The river valley passes through the Cleeve Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest, and close to Cleeve Abbey ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Old Cleeve,

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. The village is next to Cleeve Abbey, one of the best-preserved

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

monasteries in England. It centred in a valley close to the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

on the A39 road east of the resort town of

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

and southwest of the port of Watchet. The village lies on the route of the

Somerset Way ( 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_ ...

and

Celtic Way The Celtic Way is a long-distance walk from West Wales, through South Wales and into Wessex and the West of England in the United Kingdom. The route is and visits more than one hundred pre-historic sites through its route. The route The rout ...

Exmoor Option.

History

Geography

Washford is southeast of Old Cleeve. The parish is in

West Somerset West Somerset was a local government district in the English county of Somerset. The council covered a largely rural area, with a population of 34,900 in an area of ; it was the least populous non- unitary district in England. According to f ...

local government district and Somerset shire county.

Washford railway station Washford railway station is a station on the West Somerset Railway, a heritage railway in England. The station is situated in the village of Washford, which is itself within the civil parish of Old Cleeve in the county of Somerset. History T ...

is a station on the

West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset County Council; the railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc); which is ...

, a

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

-operated

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

. The station is the headquarters of the Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust and contains a number of historic artefacts from the

Somerset and Dorset Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreec ...

. The village also had a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the West Somerset Mineral Railway. Since 1933 there has been a

broadcasting station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

at Washford. The front parts of the old transmitter building are now part of the

Tropiquaria Tropiquaria Zoo is a small tropical house and zoo in West Somerset, England. It is located from Taunton and from Minehead. It is based in a 1930s art deco BBC radio transmitter hall of Washford transmitting station, which is now a Grade II lis ...

wildlife park and house their tropical hall, aquarium, the

Washford Radio Museum Washford Radio Museum has been re-located to 'The Radio Museum' at the former Anchor Inn, 5, Anchor Street, Watchet, Somerset, TA23 0AZ. References External links - official site and photos Museums in Somerset Telecommunications museums G ...

and the Shadowstring Puppet Theatre. Washford has a primary school, Old Cleeve Church of England School, which currently educates about 100 three- to nine-year-old children. Washford has a few shops, including a post office and a hairdresser.

Landmarks

Washford has a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel, which is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The village of Washford has two inns: the Washford Inn and the White Horse Inn, which is a free house. By the river and preserved

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

is Abbey Mill House, which is 18th-century and is also a listed building.House

References

External links

Washford Inn – pub and hotel

White Horse Inn – pub with accommodation

{{West Somerset Villages in West Somerset