Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in
North Somerset
North Somerset is a unitary authorities of England, unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non ...
, England. It lies by 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 ...
south-west of
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
between
Worlebury Hill
Worlebury Hill is the name given to an upland area lying between the flatlands of Weston-super-Mare and the Kewstoke area of North Somerset, England. Worlebury Hill's rises from sea level to its highest point of , and the western end of the hill ...
and
Bleadon Hill
Bleadon Hill () is a 13.52 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest just north of the village of Bleadon, North Somerset, notified in 1999.
The site is a Geological Conservation Review site, as it shows a low ridge of calcite-ceme ...
. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon, West Wick, Worlebury, Uphill and
Worle
Worle ( ) is a large village in North Somerset which is joined to the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare on its western edge. It, however, maintains a very separate identity, and may now be bigger than its more famous neighbour. Worle pre-dates ...
. Its population at the 2011 census was 76,143.
Since 1983, Weston has been
twinned with
Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...
in Germany.
The local area has been occupied since the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
. It was still a small village until the 19th century when it developed as a seaside resort. A
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
and two piers were built. In the second half of the 20th century it was connected to the
M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...
but the number of people holidaying in the town declined and some local industries closed, although the number of day visitors has risen.
Attractions include
The Helicopter Museum
The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the fo ...
,
Weston Museum
Weston Museum is a museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. It was established in 1861. and is home to North Somerset Council museum collection with exhibits relating to Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding area from 400 milli ...
, and the
Grand Pier. Cultural venues include
The Playhouse, the
Winter Gardens and the
Blakehay Theatre.
The Bristol Channel has a large
tidal range
Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun and the rotation of Earth. Tidal range depends on time and location.
...
; the low tide mark in
Weston Bay
Weston Bay is an inlet of the Bristol Channel in North Somerset, England.
It lies between Brean Down, which is now owned by the National Trust, is rich in wildlife, history and archaeology, and has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Int ...
is about from the seafront. The beach is sandy but low tide reveals areas of thick mud which are very dangerous to walk on. The mouth of the
River Axe is at the south end of the beach. To the north of the town is
Sand Point which marks the upper limit of the Bristol Channel and the lower limit of the
Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...
. This is also the site of the
Middle Hope
Sand Point in Somerset, England, is the peninsula stretching out from Middle Hope, an biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It lies to the north of the village of Kewstoke, and the stretch of coastline called Sand Bay ...
biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...
(SSSI). In the centre of the town is
Ellenborough Park, another SSSI due to the range of plant species found there.
Toponymy
''Weston'' comes from the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
for the west ''tun'' or settlement; ''super mare'' is
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "above sea"
and was added to distinguish it from the many other settlements named Weston in the
Diocese of Bath and Wells
The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England.
The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the C ...
.
Prior to 1348 it was known as Weston-juxta-Mare ("beside the sea"). The name was changed by
Ralph of Shrewsbury
Ralph of Shrewsbury (died 1363) was an English medieval bishop and university chancellor.
Life
From 1328 to 1329, Ralph was Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
On 2 June 1329 Ralph was elected Bishop of Bath and Wells and consecrated on 3 ...
, who was the
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.
The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...
. Between the 14th and 17th centuries the "super Mare" part of the name disappeared and it was just known as Weston, although in 1610 it was recorded as Weston on the More; ''môr'' being the Welsh word for sea.
History
Early history
![Worlebury Camp Somerset Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Worlebury_Camp_Somerset_Map.jpg)
Weston's oldest structure is
Worlebury Camp
Worlebury Camp (also known as Worlebury Hillfort) is the site of an Iron Age hillfort on Worlebury Hill, north of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England. The fort was well defended with numerous walls, embankments and ditches around the site. ...
, on
Worlebury Hill
Worlebury Hill is the name given to an upland area lying between the flatlands of Weston-super-Mare and the Kewstoke area of North Somerset, England. Worlebury Hill's rises from sea level to its highest point of , and the western end of the hill ...
, dating from the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
.
Castle Batch
Castle Batch was a fortification at Worle that once stood overlooking the town of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England.
Details
Castle Batch was a motte constructed by the Norman lord Walter of Douai between the Norman conquest of England in 1 ...
was a castle that once stood overlooking the town. The present site has an earthwork mound of in diameter which is believed to be the remains of a
motte
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
.
The parish was part of the
Winterstoke
The Hundred of Winterstoke is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which ac ...
Hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
.
The medieval church of St John was demolished in 1824 and rebuilt on the same site,
though a stump of the medieval preaching cross survives by the exterior south wall. The former rectory is a 17th-century structure with later additions. Though it remains adjacent to the church, it has not been a parsonage house since the end of the 19th century. Today it is known as Glebe House and is divided into flats.
The Old Thatched Cottage restaurant on the seafront carries the date 1774; it is the surviving portion of a summer cottage built by the Revd. William Leeves of
Wrington
Wrington is a village and a civil and ecclesiastical parish on the north slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England. Both include nearby Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river, about east of Weston-super-M ...
.
19th century
![Weston-Super-Mare 1890s 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Weston-Super-Mare_1890s_2.jpg)
Early in the 19th century, Weston was a small village of about 30 houses, located behind a line of sand dunes fronting the sea, which had been created as an early sea wall after the
Bristol Channel floods of 1607.
The Pigott family of
Brockley
Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross.
History
The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood ...
, who were the local Lords of the Manor, had a summer residence at Grove House. Weston owes its growth and prosperity to the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
boom in seaside holidays. Construction of the first hotel in the village started in 1808; it was called "Reeves" (now the Royal Hotel).
Along with nearby
Burnham-on-Sea
Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort.
...
, Weston benefited from proximity to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
,
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
and
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
. The first attempt at an artificial harbour was made in the late 1820s at the islet of Knightstone and a slipway built from Anchor Head towards Birnbeck Island.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
and his family lived in Weston, at Swiss Villa (towards the north end of Trevelyan road), while he was supervising the construction of the
Bristol and Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied with ...
in the area. With the opening of the railway in 1841, thousands of visitors came to the town from Bristol, the
Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
and further afield, on works outings and
bank holiday
A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...
s. Mining families also came across 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 ...
from South Wales by
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...
. To cater for them,
Birnbeck Pier
Birnbeck Pier, also known as the 'Old Pier', is a pier situated on the Bristol Channel in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, approximately south-west of Bristol. It is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an islan ...
was completed in 1867, offering in its heyday
amusement arcade
An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as cl ...
s, tea rooms,
amusement ride
Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment.
Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...
s and a
photographic
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed i ...
studio. It is now in a derelict state and has been added to
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
's
Buildings at Risk Register, but visitors can still admire its structure from behind barbed wire. It was designed by
Eugenius Birch
Eugenius Birch (20 June 1818 – 8 January 1884) was a 19th-century English seaside architect, civil engineer and noted builder of promenade-piers.
Biography
Both Eugenius and his elder brother, John Brannis (born 1813), were born in Gloucester ...
with ironwork by the Isca Foundry of
Newport,
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
. It 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 ...
.
Large areas of land were released for development from the 1850s onwards. Large detached villas, for the middle classes, were built on the southern slopes of Worlebury Hill. Semi-detached and terraced housing was built on the low "moorland" behind the sea front in an area known as South Ward. Many of these houses have now been converted into
bedsit
A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. Bedsits are included in a legal category ...
s. Most of the houses built in the Victorian era are built from stone and feature details made from
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...
, influenced by local architect
Hans Price
Hans Price (1835–1912) was the architect responsible for much of the development of Weston-super-Mare, in North Somerset, England, during the Victorian era.
Life
Hans Fowler Price was born in St James's parish, Bristol. He studied under Thomas ...
.
In 1885, the first transatlantic telegraph cable of the
Commercial Cable Company
The Commercial Cable Company was founded in New York in 1884 by John William Mackay and James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
Their motivation was to break the then virtual monopoly of Jay Gould on transatlantic telegraphy and bring down prices (particularl ...
was brought ashore and the company started a long association with the town, ending in 1962.
Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...
, the inventor of wireless telegraphy, successfully transmitted radio signals across the Bristol Channel in the spring of 1897, from Penarth (near Cardiff) to
Brean Down
Brean Down is a promontory off the coast of Somerset, England, standing high and extending into the Bristol Channel at the eastern end of Bridgwater Bay between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea.
Made of Carboniferous Limestone, it is a c ...
(just south west of Weston, on the other side of the
River Axe).
A second railway, the
Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway
The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway (WC&PR) was a standard gauge light railway in Somerset, England. It was conceived as a tramway in the 1880s, opening between the coastal towns of Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon in 1897 and compl ...
, opened on 1 December 1897, connecting Weston to
Clevedon
Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 i ...
.
[Maggs, Colin G. (1990). ''The Weston Clevedon & Portishead Light Railway'': The Oakwood Press. .] The terminus station was at Ashcombe Road. The railway was extended to
Portishead on 7 August 1907 but was closed in 1940.
[
]
Architecture
Much of the character of the buildings in the town derives from the use of local stone, much of it from the Town Quarry. Notable among the architects working in the 19th century was Hans Price
Hans Price (1835–1912) was the architect responsible for much of the development of Weston-super-Mare, in North Somerset, England, during the Victorian era.
Life
Hans Fowler Price was born in St James's parish, Bristol. He studied under Thomas ...
(1835–1912). Many examples of his work are still to be seen: the Town Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, the ''Mercury'' Office, the Constitutional Club (originally the Lodge of St Kew), villas and numerous other domestic dwellings. The Odeon Cinema
Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name of ...
by Thomas Cecil Howitt
Thomas Cecil Howitt, OBE (6 June 1889 - 3 September 1968) was a British provincial architect of the 20th Century. Howitt is chiefly remembered for designing prominent public buildings, such as the Council House and Processional Way in Nottingh ...
is notable for fully retaining many Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
features both internally and externally, and retaining its original theatre organ
A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s.
Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements o ...
, a Compton
Compton may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district
* Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton
* Compton, Que ...
from 1935. It is believed to be the only cinema organ in the West Country left working in its original location and is still in regular use. Other organs by Compton in Weston-super-Mare can be found at Victoria Methodist Church and All Saints' Church by George Bodley
George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watt ...
(modelled on that in Downside Abbey
Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged eleven to eighteen. Both t ...
).
20th century
Local traders, unhappy that visitors were not coming as far as the centre of the town, built a new pier closer to the main streets. Opened in 1904, and known as the Grand Pier, it was designed to be long. Further development occurred after World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, with the Winter Gardens Pavilion in 1927, the open air pool
In British English, a lido ( , ) is a public outdoor swimming pool and surrounding facilities, or part of a beach where people can swim, Sunbathing, lie in the sun, or participate in water sports. On a cruise ship or ocean liner, the lido de ...
, with its arched concrete diving board, and an airfield
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
dating from the inter-war period. Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
influences can be seen in much of the town's architecture from this period.
During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
over 10,000 official evacuees were accommodated in the town, however only 130 spent four or more years in the town. The area was also home to war industries, such as aircraft and pump manufacture, and a Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
station at RAF Locking
RAF Locking was a Royal Air Force station near the village of Locking and about 3 miles from Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England.
No 5 School of Technical Training
RAF Locking was opened as a training unit in 1939 as No.5 School o ...
. The town was also on the return route of bombers targeting Bristol and was itself bombed by the Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
. The first bombs fell in June 1940, but the worst attacks were in January 1941 and in June 1942. Large areas of the town were destroyed, particularly Orchard Street and the Boulevard. On 3 and 4 January 1941, incendiary bombs
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
fell on the town. The Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
set up a " Q-station" decoy at Bleadon
Bleadon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is about south of Weston-super-Mare and, according to the 2011 census, has a population of 1,079.
History
Bleadon was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Bledone'', meaning 'c ...
in an attempt to divert the bombers to an unpopulated area. In all 110 civilians lost their lives through enemy action in the borough. In the later part of the war, United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
troops were billeted in the area, but they were relocated in the run-up to D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
.
RAF Weston-super-Mare
Royal Air Force Weston-super-Mare or more simply RAF Weston-super-Mare is a former Royal Air Force station which was located on a civilian airfield in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England.
It was set up as a municipal civilian airport in the 19 ...
was opened in 1936 by No. 24 Group, with a single tarmac runway. It served as a flying candidates selection and initial training facility, and as a relief airport during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, latterly as the Polish Air Force
The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mil ...
Staff College from April 1944 to April 1946. After the war it served as a logistics supply station, with helicopter makers Westland Helicopters
Westland Helicopters was a British aircraft manufacturer. Originally Westland Aircraft, the company focused on helicopters after the Second World War. It was amalgamated with several other British firms in 1960 and 1961.
In 2000, it merged w ...
on site until closure in 1987. Today there is an operational heliport
A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...
on site used occasionally by the RAF Search and Rescue
The Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force (SARF or SAR Force) was the Royal Air Force organisation which provided around-the-clock aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands, from 1986 until 201 ...
service. The former Westland site, which closed in 2002, houses the Helicopter Museum
The Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, is a museum featuring a collection of more than 80 helicopters and autogyros from around the world, both civilian and military. It is based at the southeastern corner of the fo ...
featuring examples of Westland aircraft. Pride of place is given to an immaculate Westland Wessex
The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34 (in US service known as Choctaw). It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main changes ...
HCC Mk.4, formerly of the Queen's Flight
Air transport of the British royal family and government is provided, depending on the circumstances and availability, by a variety of military and civilian operators. This includes an Airbus Voyager of the Royal Air Force, No. 10 Squadron an ...
.
Residential areas outside the town centre include the Oldmixon, Coronation, and Bournville housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States a ...
s, built in the mid to late 20th century. Newer housing has since been built towards the east of the town in North Worle and Locking Castle, nearer to the M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...
.
Weston-super-Mare has expanded to include the established villages of Milton, Worle
Worle ( ) is a large village in North Somerset which is joined to the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare on its western edge. It, however, maintains a very separate identity, and may now be bigger than its more famous neighbour. Worle pre-dates ...
, Uphill
Uphill is a village in the civil parish of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England, at the southern edge of the town, on the Bristol Channel coast.
History
Bone and stone tools found in caves at Uphill provide evidence of human activity i ...
, Oldmixon, West Wick and Wick St. Lawrence
Wick St. Lawrence is a civil parish and village in Somerset, England. It falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The population of the parish, which includes Bourton, Icelton and Ebdon, in the 2011 census was 1,331.
History
The pa ...
, as well as new areas such as St. Georges and Locking Castle.
In 1986, Weston General Hospital
Weston General Hospital is an NHS district general hospital in the town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, operated by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. , the hospital had 261 beds and around 1,800 clinical and ...
was opened on the edge of Uphill
Uphill is a village in the civil parish of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England, at the southern edge of the town, on the Bristol Channel coast.
History
Bone and stone tools found in caves at Uphill provide evidence of human activity i ...
village, replacing the Queen Alexandra Memorial Hospital on The Boulevard, which was opened in 1928.
21st century
Around 2000, the town saw a growth in residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment centres, with attendant crime and social problems. These problems were highlighted by Weston's councillors and newspapers, and by the Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP), John Penrose
John David Penrose (born 22 June 1964) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Weston-super-Mare since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion at the Home Office fr ...
during his maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
in 2005. By 2009, Weston was home to around 11% of drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general inte ...
places in the UK, and North Somerset Council
North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Cou ...
proposed an accreditation system examining the quality of counselling, staff training, transparency of referral arrangements, along with measures of the treatment's effectiveness and site inspections. By 2012, there had been a significant reduction in the number of rehabilitation facilities in the town, with the number of patient beds having nearly halved.
A structure known as ''Silica'' was installed at Big Lamp Corner during 2006. It is a piece of public art, an advertising sign, a retail kiosk selling newspapers and hot food, as well as a bus shelter. It has been criticised by local residents who liken it to a carrot or a space ship, although it is meant to symbolise man's harmony with the sea. This was part of North Somerset Council's ongoing civic pride initiative that has sought to revitalise Weston-super-Mare's public spaces, which had suffered a period of decline. Other public space improvements have been made throughout the town such as improvements to the street scene in Grove Park Village.
On 28 July 2008, the pavilion at the end of the Grand Pier was completely destroyed by a fire. Eleven fire engines and 80 firefighters could not contain the blaze, which is believed to have started in the north-east tower of the Pavilion. A competition was held to design a new pavilion, and the project was awarded to the winning architect Angus Meek Architects of Bristol. Construction work began on the pier and new pavilion in 2009, and it was scheduled to reopen in July 2010, after a £39 million rebuilding programme. After continuing problems and setbacks, with the pier not opening until a formal opening ceremony on 23 October 2010, the overall costs reached £51 million. During the same period there was a £34 million redevelopment of the promenade, including refurbishment of the Marine Lake and pedestrianisation of Pier Square. As part of the work, a scour protection apron and splash wall were added as part of flood prevention measures.
In March 2017 Weston-super-Mare was chosen as one of the 10 successful bids for the first phase of the creation of Heritage Action Zones (HAZ) a scheme where Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
works with local partners in places with significant historic environment to use that heritage to help build economic growth and other opportunities in the locality. Over a three year period the Heritage Action Zone aimed to boost economic growth and researched Weston's heritage and urban development, by reviewing Weston's listed buildings, using aerial photographs
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...
, undertaking a historic characterisation of Weston-super-Mare, its land and sea environs and a report on the architecture of the town, which culminated with the publication of a new book ''Weston-super-Mare The town and its seaside heritage''.
In November 2021, it was announced that North Somerset Council had agreed to purchase Birnbeck Pier from its owners and planned to restore it with additional funding from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...
(RNLI), Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
, and others.
Governance
Municipal history began in 1842 when a Local Act was obtained for "paving, lighting, watching, cleansing and otherwise improving the Town of Weston-super-Mare in the County of Somerset and for establishing a Market therein" under the jurisdiction of eighteen appointed Commissioners. Town Commissioners gave way to an Urban District Council
In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...
in 1894, and then in 1937 the town received its Royal Charter as a municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, it was merged into the Woodspring district of the Avon County Council
Avon County Council was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Avon in south west England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1974 and was abolished on 1 April 1996 at the same time as the county. The county council was based at Av ...
, and became a Charter trustees In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established. Duties are ...
town. Weston-super-Mare regained its town council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
in 2000, becoming a 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 ...
. The island of Steep Holm
Steep Holm ( cy, Ynys Rhonech, ang, Ronech and later ) is an English island lying in the Bristol Channel. The island covers at high tide, expanding to at mean low water. At its highest point it is above mean sea level. Administratively it ...
is part of the civil parish of Weston-super-Mare.
Before 1 April 1974, Weston-super-Mare came under the administration of Somerset County Council
Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county.
On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...
. When Avon was split up in 1996, it became the administrative headquarters of the unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
of North Somerset
North Somerset is a unitary authorities of England, unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non ...
, one of the successor authorities, which remains part of the ceremonial county
The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...
of Somerset.
There are 11 electoral wards
The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and distri ...
in Weston.
The MP for the Weston-super-Mare parliamentary constituency is John Penrose
John David Penrose (born 22 June 1964) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Weston-super-Mare since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion at the Home Office fr ...
of the Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, who won the seat from Liberal Democrat Brian Cotter (now Lord Cotter
Brian Joseph Michael Cotter, Baron Cotter (born 24 August 1936) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Weston-super-Mare from 1997 to 2005.
Early life
Born in London, the son of a doctor from Wes ...
) in the 2005 General Election.
Geography
The mainly flat landscape of Weston is dominated by Worlebury Hill
Worlebury Hill is the name given to an upland area lying between the flatlands of Weston-super-Mare and the Kewstoke area of North Somerset, England. Worlebury Hill's rises from sea level to its highest point of , and the western end of the hill ...
, 109 metres (357 ft), which borders the entire northern edge of the town, and Bleadon Hill
Bleadon Hill () is a 13.52 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest just north of the village of Bleadon, North Somerset, notified in 1999.
The site is a Geological Conservation Review site, as it shows a low ridge of calcite-ceme ...
, 176 metres (577 ft) which together with the River Axe, and Brean Down
Brean Down is a promontory off the coast of Somerset, England, standing high and extending into the Bristol Channel at the eastern end of Bridgwater Bay between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea.
Made of Carboniferous Limestone, it is a c ...
at Uphill
Uphill is a village in the civil parish of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England, at the southern edge of the town, on the Bristol Channel coast.
History
Bone and stone tools found in caves at Uphill provide evidence of human activity i ...
form its southern border. In the centre of the town is Ellenborough Park a Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
due to the range of plant species found there.
The beach of Weston Bay
Weston Bay is an inlet of the Bristol Channel in North Somerset, England.
It lies between Brean Down, which is now owned by the National Trust, is rich in wildlife, history and archaeology, and has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Int ...
lies on the western edge of the town. The upper part is sandy, but the sea retreats a long way at low tide, exposing large areas of mud flats (hence the colloquial name of Weston-super-Mud). The tidal range in this part of 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 ...
is great, and since beach and mud flats are on a gentle slope, it is inadvisable to try to reach the sea at low tide, as the sand gives way to deep mud which has often resulted in loss of life over the years. Driving on the beach is permitted in certain areas, but occasionally the drivers are caught unawares as they drive too close to the sea and break through the sand into the underlying mud, and are then stuck.
The tidal rise and fall in the Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...
and Bristol Channel can be as great as , second only to Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...
in Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrador, ...
. This tidal movement contributes to the deposition of natural mud in bays such as Weston. There has been concern about pollution levels from industrial areas in Wales and at the eastern end of the Bristol Channel; however this tends to be diluted by the Atlantic waters. There are measurable levels of chemical pollutants, and little is known about their effects. Of particular concern are the levels of cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...
and to a lesser degree residual pesticides and hydrocarbons.
Just to the north of the town is Sand Point which marks the lower limit of the Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...
and the start of 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 ...
. It is also the site of the Middle Hope
Sand Point in Somerset, England, is the peninsula stretching out from Middle Hope, an biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It lies to the north of the village of Kewstoke, and the stretch of coastline called Sand Bay ...
biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...
.
Climate
Along with the rest of South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...
, Weston has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately . Seasonal temperature variation
Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum insolation (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the minimu ...
is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately . In winter mean minimum temperatures of are common. In the summer the Azores high
The Azores High also known as North Atlantic (Subtropical) High/Anticyclone or the Bermuda-Azores High, is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure typically found south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Hor ...
pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convect ...
cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. In December 1998 there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...
. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around . About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.
Demography
According to the United Kingdom Census 2011
A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...
, the population of Weston-super-Mare is 76,143.[ This makes it the largest settlement in North Somerset, which has a total population of 188,564. 20.1% of the town's population are aged 65 or over, compared with the national average of 16.5%.] By 2017 the population was estimated at 88,000.
96.5% of the population are white, compared with 86% nationally.
In 1831 the town population was 1,310, and in 1801 just 138. In 2001, the town comprised 34,441 households, while in 1829 it comprised just 250. The vast majority (96.5%) of the population described themselves as white in the 2011 census. 58.2% are Christian, with 32.4% describing themselves as having no religion. No other religious groups achieved as much as 0.5%.
Economy
Since the 1970s, Weston has suffered a decline in popularity as a holiday destination, as have most British seaside resorts, due to the advent of cheap foreign holidays and the demise of the traditional "works holidays" of heavy and manufacturing industries elsewhere in UK. The town had become a centre of industries such as helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
production, and maintenance at the GKN
GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...
Westland factory until its closure in 2002, however the company still retains a design office under the name GKN Aerospace Engineering Services at the Winterstoke Road site. Road transport links were improved with the M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...
running close by, and the town now supports light industries and distribution depots, including Lidl
Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...
's distribution centre for its southern based stores, and is also a dormitory town
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. Vutrix, one of the largest semiconductor and video/audio distribution equipment companies in the television broadcasting industry, is based in the town. Two of the town's largest employers are the local council and Weston College
Weston College of Further and Higher Education is a general college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. It provides education and vocational training from age 14 to adult. The college provided education to ...
, which has recently begun to offer university degrees as a secondary campus of Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshire.
The instit ...
.
Tourism
Weston-super-Mare is a tourist destination, with its long sandy beach, Helicopter Museum, Weston Museum
Weston Museum is a museum in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. It was established in 1861. and is home to North Somerset Council museum collection with exhibits relating to Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding area from 400 milli ...
, Grand Pier and seasonal Wheel of Weston. A 2009 survey by Visit England
VisitEngland is the official tourist board for England.
Before 1999 it was known as the English Tourist Board and between 1999 and 2009 as the English Tourism Council. In 2003, it merged with the British Tourist Authority to form VisitBritain bef ...
placed the Grand Pier in the top ten free attractions in England. However, as of 2014, the pier charges for admission. On the Beach Lawns was a miniature railway
A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...
operated by steam and diesel locomotives, which closed in 2012. The Paddle Steamer ''Waverley'' and MV ''Balmoral'' offer day trips from Knightstone Island to various destinations along 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 ...
and Severn estuary
The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...
.
Since the 1970s the number of visitors staying for several nights in the town has decreased, but the numbers of day visitors has increased. In 1995 there were 4 million visitors but by 2005 this had risen to 5.3 million. In 2007 69% of visitors to the resort were day visitors, compared to 58% in 2005. The 2005 survey showed that day visitors stay in Weston-super-Mare for an average of six hours whilst overnight visitors stay for an average of five nights. The largest percentage of visitors (22%) were from the West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
. Weston was found to attract two distinct groups: "grey tourists" over the age of 60 and families with young children.
The Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
Tropicana Tropicana may refer to:
Companies
*Tropicana Entertainment, a former casino company that owned several Tropicana-branded casinos
*Tropicana Products, a Chicago-based food company known for orange juice
Hotels and nightclubs
*Tropicana Casino & Re ...
, once a very popular lido on the beach, suffered years of neglect before closing to the public in 2000, and despite a number of attempts to reopen it, permission was given to demolish it in 2012. However, the complex reopened in 2015 and now serves as an events space, primarily hosting a seasonal amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
and ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
.
In July 2011, North Somerset Council gave planning approval to the £50 million Leisure Dome, a indoor ski slope
Indoor skiing is done in a climate-controlled environment with artificially produced snow. This enables skiing and snowboarding to take place regardless of outdoor temperatures. Facilities for both alpine skiing and nordic skiing are availabl ...
to be built on the site of RAF Locking
RAF Locking was a Royal Air Force station near the village of Locking and about 3 miles from Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England.
No 5 School of Technical Training
RAF Locking was opened as a training unit in 1939 as No.5 School o ...
. In 2015 the future of the project was in doubt because of the need for additional funding, and no mention of the LeisureDome proposals appear on the information provided by St. Modwen Properties
St. Modwen Properties limited is a British-based property investment and development business specialising in the regeneration and remediation of brownfield land and urban environments. It is headquartered in Birmingham and has a network of four ...
, the developers about their plans for Locking Parklands as the site is now known. It was planned to include a climbing wall
A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...
, a vertical wind tunnel
A vertical wind tunnel (VWT) is a wind tunnel that moves air up in a vertical column. Unlike standard wind tunnels, which have test sections that are oriented horizontally, as experienced in level flight, a vertical orientation enables gravi ...
for indoor skydiving
Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes.
For ...
, indoor surfing, a BMX
BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation.
History
BMX began during the earl ...
track, a health and fitness club, and a number of shops and restaurants. The ski slope will be the longest in the United Kingdom.
'International HeliDays', in association with the Helicopter Museum, are staged at the beach lawns over a long weekend around the end of July, when up to 75 helicopters from Europe fly in for a static display. There are frequent Helicopter Air Experience flights from the Museum heliport. There is also an annual display by the Red Arrows
The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams ...
.
Weston Bike Nights are motorcycle meetings on the Promenade each Thursday during the summer. They are organised by The Royal British Legion Riders Branch
The Royal British Legion Riders Branch (RBLR) was formed in 2004 as a branch of The Royal British Legion, a registered charity that supports past and present members of the Armed Forces.
While its membership is dominated by former and current HM ...
to raise money for the Poppy Appeal
A remembrance poppy is an artificial flower worn in some countries to commemorate their military personnel who died in war. Remembrance poppies are produced by veterans' associations, who exchange the poppies for charitable donations used to g ...
.
Transport
Rail
The Bristol and Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied with ...
arrived in Weston-super-Mare on 14 June 1841. This was not the route that serves today's Weston-super-Mare railway station
Weston-super-Mare railway station serves the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England. It is situated on a loop off the main Bristol to Taunton Line, from the zero point at via Box.
The station is operated by Great Wester ...
, but rather a single-track branch line from , midway between the present day and Uphill junctions, which terminated at a small station in Regent Street close to the High Street. A second larger station was constructed in 1866 to replace this, when planning permission was gained to create a loop station from the main line. After legal action was taken by residents along the proposed new route through issues of planning blight, the station on the current site was constructed in 1881.
Today, the station, which is on a short loop off the Bristol to Exeter line
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...
, is situated close to the town centre and less than ten minutes walk from the sea front. It has direct services to London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
operated by Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
, and also trains to stations such as Bristol Temple Meads
Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...
, and . CrossCountry
CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise.
The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) ...
services run to Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
and the North. The station has two platforms. Other stations are located at and . During the middle of the day they are served by the local trains between Taunton, Bristol and Cardiff, but during the peak periods London trains call at both stations.[ Weston Milton station is on the single track loop and therefore has only one platform, while Worle is on the main line and has two side platforms. The Weston loop diverges just to the southwest of Worle station, and the junction is therefore known as Worle Junction.][
]
Tram
The gauge Weston-super-Mare Tramways
The Weston-super-Mare Tramways were the electric street tramways of the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England. It operated a fleet of up to 16 standard gauge single- and double-deck tramcars on routes totalling to Birnbeck P ...
network opened on 12 May 1902. The main route ran from Birnbeck Pier
Birnbeck Pier, also known as the 'Old Pier', is a pier situated on the Bristol Channel in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, approximately south-west of Bristol. It is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an islan ...
along the sea front to the Sanatorium (now Royal Sands); a branch line ran to the railway station and on to the tram depot in Locking Road. The fleet originally consisted of 12 double deck cars and 4 open-sided "toast rack
A toast rack or toastrack is a serving piece having vertical partitions (usually from five to eight in number) connected to a flat base, used for holding slices of toast. It often has a central ring handle for carrying and passing round the table. ...
" cars. The system was bought out by the competing bus company and closed on 18 April 1937, by which time the fleet comprised 8 double deck and 6 "toast racks". An earlier proposal for the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Tramway to run along the streets of the town to the sea front had failed to materialise, leaving the line as an ordinary railway (the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway
The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway (WC&PR) was a standard gauge light railway in Somerset, England. It was conceived as a tramway in the 1880s, opening between the coastal towns of Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon in 1897 and compl ...
) with a terminus in Ashcombe Road.
Road
Weston is close to junction 21 of the M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...
, to which it is linked by a dual-carriageway relief road built in the 1990s. This replaced Locking Road as the designated A370 route and avoided some of the traffic congestion along that narrower urban road.
Bus
Most local bus services are provided by . All services call at stops in the Regent Street and Big Lamp Corner area, including some stops in the adjacent High Street. Some town services and those to Sand Bay
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of ...
, Wells
Wells most commonly refers to:
* Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England
* Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground
* Wells (name)
Wells may also refer to:
Places Canada
*Wells, British Columbia
England
* Wells ...
, Burnham-on-Sea
Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort.
...
and Bristol Airport
Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on ...
start from or run via the main railway station. The service to Sand Bay
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of ...
is sometimes operated by an open top bus. National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
operate long distance coach services, mostly from the coach terminal in Locking Road Car Park which is close to the railway station. Bakers Dolphin
Bakers Dolphin is the trading name of Baker's Coaches, a bus and coach company based in Weston-super-Mare.
History
In 1889, Charles Baker established a business with a pony chair for hire in Weston-super-Mare. The business expanded and in the ...
previously operated a service to London but this was withdrawn in 2013.
The town had a bus station
A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is l ...
on the sea front from 1928 until 1987. After nine months of construction a new "bus hub" consisting of a street lined with bus stops was opened in February 2022. It is situated on Alexandra Parade.
Air
The nearest operational airport to Weston is Bristol Airport
Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on ...
, located away at Lulsgate.
Education
The Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
of North Somerset, provides support for 78 schools
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
, delivering education to approximately 28,000 pupils. Infant and primary schools in Weston include: Ashcombe Primary, Ashbrooke House School, Becket Primary, Bournville Primary School, Castle Batch Primary school, Christ Church C of E Primary, Corpus Christi Catholic Primary, Herons' Moor Community Primary, Hutton C of E Primary, Kewstoke Primary, Mead Vale Primary, Mendip Green, Milton Park Primary, St. Georges Church School, St Mark's VA Church of England/Methodist Ecumenical Primary School, St. Martins C of E school, Uphill Academy, Walliscote Primary, Windwhistle Primary and Worlebury St. Pauls C.E.V.A. First School.
Secondary education is provided by Broadoak Academy
Broadoak Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England.
History
Primary education in Weston-super-Mare adopted the Comprehensive system in 1971. Broadoak School was formed by the amalgamati ...
, Churchill Academy and Sixth Form
Churchill Academy and Sixth Form, previously known as Churchill Community Foundation School and Sixth Form Centre, is an academy famously situated in the South West of England, in the village of Churchill, North Somerset, England, surrounded by ...
, Priory Community School, Winterstoke Hundred Academy, Worle Community School
Worle Community School is a coeducational Academy located in Worle, a suburb of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England
There are currently 1,377 students aged 11 to 16 in the school.
The school received media attention in early 2016 afte ...
and Hans Price Academy. The town's main further education
Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
provider is Weston College
Weston College of Further and Higher Education is a general college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. It provides education and vocational training from age 14 to adult. The college provided education to ...
, and the town's expanding higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
provision is supplied by University Centre Weston
University Centre Weston, also known as UCW, is a university centre based in the town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. The centre was formed by Weston College in 2016 following the college's announcement of university centre status with ...
.
Nigel Leat, a teacher at Hillside First School, was jailed indefinitely in summer 2011 for Paedophile
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...
offences that happened over a 14-year period. The school's headmaster lost his job in December 2011 due to the incident.
Culture
The town contains several arts venues. The Playhouse serves both tourists and the local population. The Winter Gardens on the seafront hosts shows, exhibitions and conferences. The Blakehay Theatre & Community Arts Centre is a small venue housed in a former Baptist church. All Saints Church hosts regular concerts, some of high national standing. This church is also used for recording, especially by the Emerald Ensemble
The Bristol Ensemble, formerly the Emerald Ensemble, is a professional chamber orchestra, based in Bristol, England. The ensemble has been in existence since 1994, when it was formed as a musicians' collective by violinist Roger Huckle. Their re ...
and has featured on BBC TV programme ''Songs of Praise
''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK.
The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...
''.
The Odeon Cinema
Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name of ...
was opened in 1935 and is a building in the modernist style designed by Thomas Cecil Howitt
Thomas Cecil Howitt, OBE (6 June 1889 - 3 September 1968) was a British provincial architect of the 20th Century. Howitt is chiefly remembered for designing prominent public buildings, such as the Council House and Processional Way in Nottingh ...
. It houses the only Compton
Compton may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district
* Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton
* Compton, Que ...
theatre pipe organ in an Odeon cinema outside London and is one of only two working theatre organs left in the country still performing in their original location in commercially operating cinemas. This Compton organ was installed in 1935 and is the only one left in the West Country, the next nearest being the Odeon Leicester Square
The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the ...
, London. All other models have been either restored and moved elsewhere, or destroyed. Occasional organ concerts continue to be held at the venue. The building has Grade II Listed
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 ...
status.
Weston-super-Mare has a small number of live music venues of note. "Scally's" hosts more established touring rock bands, while the "Brit Bar", "the Back Bar", "The London", and "The Imperial" hold regular open mic
An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...
nights which attract a wide array of local musicians, as well as artists from further afield. The ''T4 on the Beach
T4 on the Beach was an annual British one-day music event which was held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised on Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005. The d ...
'' concert had been hosted annually since 2006, up until 2012, by Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
youth programme '' T4''. Well known bands and singers
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
perform four or fewer of their hits. However, the vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
are mimed as the event is being produced for live TV broadcast. Each summer the beach is also used as the venue for the Weston-super-Mare Sand Sculpture Festival
The Weston-super-Mare Sand Sculpture Festival has been held annually since 2005 on the beach at Weston-super-Mare in the English county of Somerset. The festival has earned Weston the title of “Sand Sculpting Capital” of the UK.
The artists a ...
.
The town was the subject of a song "Sunny Weston-super-Mare" performed by local band The Wurzels
The Wurzels are an English Scrumpy and Western band from Somerset, England, best known for their number one hit " The Combine Harvester" and number three hit "I Am a Cider Drinker" in 1976. They are known for using British West Country phrases ...
. The last scenes of ''The Remains of the Day
''The Remains of the Day'' is a 1989 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author Kazuo Ishiguro. The protagonist, Stevens, is a butler with a long record of service at Darlington Hall, a stately home near Oxford, England. In 1956, he take ...
'', a James Ivory
James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screen ...
film of 1993, were shot at locations in the town including the Grand Pier and the Winter Gardens.
The Weston Arts Festival takes place each year during September and October using local venues including the Blakehay Theatre, Playhouse, All Saints, and galleries and offering a wide range of cultural events.
Weston is also the final event on the November West Country Carnival
The West Country Carnival Circuits are an annual celebration featuring a parade of illuminated carts in the English West Country. The celebration dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The purpose is to raise money for local charities.
The s ...
circuit, when a large number of brightly illuminated floats parade through the streets.
The town's weekly newspaper is ''The Weston & Somerset Mercury
''The Weston, Worle & Somerset Mercury'' is a weekly paid for newspaper that covers Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding areas of Somerset and North Somerset in England. The ''Weston Mercury'' was established 1 April 1843 and was family-owned fo ...
'', which has been serving the population since 1843. It is now owned by publishing company Archant
Archant Limited is a newspaper and magazine publishing company headquartered in Norwich, England. The group publishes four daily newspapers, around 50 weekly newspapers, and 80 consumer and contract magazines.
Archant employs around 1,250 empl ...
. There are also two online publications The Weston Echo, and Weston super Mare People.
Weston Super Television was an on-line community television
Community television is a form of mass media in which a television station is owned, operated or programmed by a community group to provide television programs of local interest known as local programming.
Community television stations are most c ...
channel set up in 2011.
Its volunteers make and present studio programmes, including interviews with local councillors, musicians and community leaders, as well as filming local events in and around the town.
The 2011–2013 Sky1 television comedy series '' The Café'' was co-written by Michelle Terry
Michelle Terry is an Olivier Award–winning English actress and writer, known for her extensive work for Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, as well as her television work, notably writing and star ...
who was born in the town and the series was filmed in Weston-super-Mare.
In August 2015 the artist Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams ...
opened the temporary art installation 'Dismaland
Dismaland was a temporary art project organised by street artist Banksy in the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England. Prepared in secret, the pop-up exhibition at the Tropicana, a disused lido, was "a sinister twist on Disneyl ...
' at the Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare
The Tropicana, formerly a Lido site that once contained an outdoor swimming pool, is located in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, on the southern section of the seafront. ...
venue.
In late 2019 a new community radio station called WaveWSM was also opened with studios in the centre of the town, bringing local internet radio to the town, with presenters and shows local to Weston as well as shows syndicated in from around the UK. The plan Is for a local breakfast show to start in January 2020.
In 2022, See Monster, a retired gas platform
An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...
repurposed as an art installation
Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...
, opened at the Tropicana as part of the national art festival Unboxed: Creativity in the UK. The installation was purported to be the first of its kind in the world. Its opening was preceded by three drone light shows by SkyMagic.
Landmarks
The Grand Pier is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the town. It houses funfair style attractions, a go-kart track, cafes, a fudge factory, and a host of arcade games, and underwent a £34 million re-development after a fire in 2008 destroyed the main pavilion. After a harsh winter which delayed progress, the new pier pavilion reopened on 23 October 2010.
Weston's first pier, Birnbeck Pier
Birnbeck Pier, also known as the 'Old Pier', is a pier situated on the Bristol Channel in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, approximately south-west of Bristol. It is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an islan ...
, standing on a small island to the north of the bay is currently closed to the public. The current owners, Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
-based company Urban Splash
Urban Splash was founded in 1993 by Chairman Tom Bloxham MBE and Creative Director Jonathan Falkingham MBE; the company has spent more than two decades working with architects and designers to restore old buildings and create new, sustainable c ...
purchased the pier in 2006. A competition was held as a means to encourage redevelopment of the site for commercial use. To date, no firm plans are in place, and the future of Birnbeck Pier is uncertain. The pier houses Weston-super-Mare Lifeboat Station
Weston-super-Mare Lifeboat Station is a Lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat station at Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England. For more than 100 years it was situated on Birnbeck Pier, Birnbeck Island but is now in a temporary building at Knightstone Ha ...
.
Knightstone Island housed a theatre, swimming pool and sauna, after having been purchased by the physician Edward Long Fox in 1830 to create a therapeutic spa with range of hot, cold and chemical baths. After years of disrepair and dereliction, the area has been redeveloped by Redrow Homes
Redrow plc is one of the largest British housebuilders with a network of 14 operational divisions across the UK. It is based in Flintshire, Wales and employs 2,300 people. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is currently a constituent ...
. During 2006/2007, luxury apartments and commercial outlets have been built on the site. Consideration has been taken due to the 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 ...
status of much of the site. Boat trips from here include the ''Waverley'' and ''Balmoral'' and trips to Steep Holm
Steep Holm ( cy, Ynys Rhonech, ang, Ronech and later ) is an English island lying in the Bristol Channel. The island covers at high tide, expanding to at mean low water. At its highest point it is above mean sea level. Administratively it ...
and Flat Holm
Flat Holm ( cy, Ynys Echni) is a Welsh island lying in the Bristol Channel approximately from Lavernock Point in the Vale of Glamorgan. It includes the most southerly point of Wales.
The island has a long history of occupation, dating at le ...
islands as well as short trips around Weston Bay.
The Tropicana Tropicana may refer to:
Companies
*Tropicana Entertainment, a former casino company that owned several Tropicana-branded casinos
*Tropicana Products, a Chicago-based food company known for orange juice
Hotels and nightclubs
*Tropicana Casino & Re ...
outdoor swimming pool that is located on the southern section of the sea front has not been occupied since 2000. A private developer, Henry Boot, was selected to redevelop the site with a new ''Life Station'' leisure complex, which was planned to include a six lane, swimming pool, water park, 96-bed hotel, restaurant, eight-screen cinema, 14 retail units, and a 20-lane bowling alley. The redevelopment was beset by delays and controversy. A group of local residents challenged the council over its decision to appoint Henry Boot, asking to put forward their own proposals for the site. In November 2009, the plans were finally abandoned, leaving the future of the site uncertain. In 2010 the council invited submissions from developers for a new, less ambitious, scheme to redevelop the site with a swimming pool at its heart. A decision on a new scheme was expected towards the end of 2010. The local authority announced on 23 August 2011 that it was giving developers six months to propose plans for a smaller development otherwise they will arrange to demolish the Tropicana.
In February 2013, North Somerset Council granted planning permission
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
to a consortium of local businesses who intend to build a new swimming pool complex on the site. The Tropicana is occupied by an amusement park called Funland during summer months, featuring a wild mouse roller coaster
A wild mouse is a type of roller coaster consisting of single or spinning cars traversing a tight-winding track with an emphasis on sharp, unbanked turns. The upper portion of the track usually features multiple 180-degree turns, known as flat ...
and several thrill rides.
The First World War memorial in Grove Park, containing a sculpture by Alfred Drury
Edward Alfred Briscoe Drury (11 November 1856 – 24 December 1944) was a British architectural sculptor and artist active in the New Sculpture movement. During a long career Drury created a great number of decorative figures such as busts and ...
, was unveiled in 1922, with additions by Walter Cave
Walter Frederick Cave (17 September 1863 – 7 January 1939) was an English architect, active in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who worked firstly in the Arts and Crafts style, and latterly in the Classical Revival. In a ...
for the Second World War. It contains the names of 402 men from the area who fell in the First World War. It consists of a winged allegorical figure of Victory holding an olive branch, which stands on an octagonal column. The memorial is a grade II listed building.
Religious sites
Most of the town's churches and chapels are neo-Gothic 19th century structures. The Medieval village church of St John the Baptist was completely demolished in 1824 to make way for a new and larger place of worship. The Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
St Joseph's Church was built in 1858 by Charles F. Hansom and extended in 1893 by Alexander Scoles
Alexander Joseph Cory Scoles (30 November 1844 – 29 December 1920) was an architect and Roman Catholic priest.Directory of British Architects, 1834–1914: Vol. 2 (L-Z)' ed. Brodie, Antonia (London, 2001), p. 552 He designed many lancet style ...
.Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
Weston-super-Mare
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 3 June 2022
All Saints Church was built between 1898 and 1902 to a design by George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watt ...
and completed by his pupil F. C. Eden in the 14th century style so favoured by Bodley. It 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 ...
. Holy Trinity Church, designed by H Lloyd and opened in 1861, is also Grade II*.
There is a Greek Orthodox Church
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...
of St Andrew the Apostle in Grove Road, Milton. Victoria Methodist Church was built in 1935–36 to replace an earlier church of 1899–1900, which was destroyed by fire in 1934.
Sport
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team Weston-super-Mare A.F.C.
Weston-super-Mare Association Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. Nicknamed "The Seagulls", the club is affiliated to the Somerset County Football Association and currently compete ...
play in the Southern Premier South at the purpose-built Woodspring Stadium, which opened in August 2004.
There are two rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
clubs in the town; Weston-super-Mare RFC
Weston-super-Mare Rugby Football Club is an England, English rugby union team based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. The club runs five senior teams, including a colts and veterans side and the full range of junior teams The first XV play in Sou ...
, formed in 1875, and Hornets RFC
Hornets Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. The club runs three senior teams, a ladies team and the full range of junior teams. The first XV currently play in National Two West following thei ...
, formed in 1962. Weston play in South West Premier
Regional 1 South West (formerly South West Premier and National League 3 South West) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When this division began in 1987 it was known as South West D ...
league, whilst Hornets play in the Tribute South West 1 West
Regional 2 South West, (formerly known as South West 1 West) is an English, level six, rugby union league for clubs based in the south-west of England; i.e. Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset. It is one of twelve leagues at this level in Eng ...
league. These are national level 5 and level 6 respectively in the English rugby union system
Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system.
Women's Rugby union in England cons ...
.
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Somerset. Founded in 1875, Somerset was initially regarded as a minor ...
played first class and one-day matches for one week a season on a pitch prepared at Clarence Park, near the sea front. This began in 1914 and continued until the last "festival" in 1996.
Weston-super-Mare Cricket Club
Weston-super-Mare Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club based in the town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. Since the club's formation in 1845, they have nurtured a number of players who have gone on to play for Somerset County Cricket ...
play at Devonshire Park Ground
Devonshire Park Ground is a cricket ground in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. It hosted two List A cricket matches for Somerset County Cricket Club; one in 1969, and the other the following year. It has also been the venue for a number of matches ...
.
The town is well known amongst motocross
Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom.
History
Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...
enthusiasts for staging the Weston beach race every autumn. In addition, races are also held for youth riders, sidecarcross
Sidecarcross racing, also known as sidecar motocross, is a branch of motocross. Regular motocross riders use solo machines, but a sidecarcross outfit has a different type of motorcycle chassis operated by a team of two people, a driver and a s ...
riders and quad bike
An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is strad ...
competitors. The 2008 winner of the Weston Beach Race was ten time World Motocross Champion Stefan Everts
Stefan Everts (born 25 November 1972) is a Belgian former professional motocross racer and racing team manager. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1988 to 2006. Everts is notable for winning a record 10 FIM motocross world cha ...
of Belgium.
Notable people
Notable current and former residents of the town include:
* Aaron Allard-Morgan: winner of Big Brother 2011 (UK)
''Big Brother 2011'', also known as ''Big Brother 12'', was the twelfth series of the British reality television series '' Big Brother'' and the first not to be broadcast on Channel 4. It was broadcast on Channel 5 for the first time since the sh ...
* A. V. Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough: Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...
in the Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 t ...
government, raised in Weston-super-Mare
* Jeffrey Archer
Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...
: author, politician and convicted perjurer
* Jhonn Balance
Geoffrey Nigel Laurence Rushton (16 February 1962 – 13 November 2004), better known under the pseudonyms John Balance or the later variation Jhonn Balance, was an English musician, occultist, artist and poet.
He was best known as a co-founde ...
: musician, founding member of Psychic TV and founder of Coil (band)
Coil were an English experimental music group formed in 1982 in London and dissolved in 2005. Initially envisioned as a solo project by musician John Balance (of the band Psychic TV), Coil evolved into a full-time project with the addition of hi ...
* Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...
: guitarist and founding member of Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
, Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
and Blackmore's Night
Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpe, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyri ...
.
* Peter Christopherson
Peter Martin Christopherson (also known as Sleazy, 27 February 1955 – 25 November 2010) was an English musician, video director, commercial artist, designer and photographer, and former member of British design agency Hipgnosis.
He also found ...
: musician, founding member of Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...
and Psychic TV
* John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
: actor and member of Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
* Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
: Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
children's author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
, attended St Peter's School from 1925–1929.
* Jill Dando
Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her ...
: murdered broadcaster and journalist, after whom the sixth form centre at Weston College
Weston College of Further and Higher Education is a general college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. It provides education and vocational training from age 14 to adult. The college provided education to ...
and a garden in Grove Park are named
* Arthur Stanley Eddington
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (28 December 1882 – 22 November 1944) was an English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician. He was also a philosopher of science and a populariser of science. The Eddington limit, the natural limit to the lumin ...
: one of the foremost astrophysicists
The following is a list of astronomers, astrophysicists and other notable people who have made contributions to the field of astronomy. They may have won major prizes or awards, developed or invented widely used techniques or technologies within a ...
of the early 20th century, grew up in the town
* Henry Edwards, film actor, director and producer
* Daphne Fowler
Daphne Fowler (''née'' Bradshaw, previously Hudson; born 5 January 1939) is a British game show champion who has taken part in many televised game shows. She has won many titles, including winning ''Fifteen to One'' (twice), '' Going for Gold' ...
: game show champion
* Baron Glanely (William Tatem), ship- and racehorse-owner, died during an air raid at 16 Malvern Road in June 1942.
* Rupert Graves
Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in ''A Room with a View'', ''Maurice'', ''The Madness of King George'' and ''The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he starred ...
: actor, born and educated in the town 30 June 1963
* Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
: comedian and actor, lived there as a child
* Sean Martin: writer and film director
* Con O'Neill: actor
* John Oldmixon
John Oldmixon (1673 – 9 July 1742) was an English historian.
He was a son of John Oldmixon of Oldmixon, Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. He was brought up by the family of Admiral Robert Blake in Bridgwater and later became involved in trade ...
(1673–1742): historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
; born in Oldmixon
* The Revd. Dr John Polkinghorne: particle physicist and theologian.
* Hans Price
Hans Price (1835–1912) was the architect responsible for much of the development of Weston-super-Mare, in North Somerset, England, during the Victorian era.
Life
Hans Fowler Price was born in St James's parish, Bristol. He studied under Thomas ...
: (1835–1912) architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
; responsible for much of the Victorian architecture which gives the town its distinctive character
* Paulo Radmilovic
Paolo Francesco Radmilovic (5 March 1886 – 29 September 1968) was a Welsh water polo player and competitive swimmer. Radmilovic had Croatian and Irish origins. He represented Great Britain at four editions of Summer Olympics. He won four Olymp ...
: Olympic gold medal athlete
* Mary Swainson: (1908-2008) a pioneer of student counselling
* Gareth Taylor
Gareth Keith Taylor (born 25 February 1973) is a football manager and former player who is the head coach of Manchester City Women.
He began his career as a defender at Bristol Rovers, having left the Southampton youth team in 1991. After loan ...
: footballer; born 25 February 1972 in the town
* Michelle Terry
Michelle Terry is an Olivier Award–winning English actress and writer, known for her extensive work for Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, as well as her television work, notably writing and star ...
: actress and writer
* Peter Trego
Peter David Trego (born 12 June 1981) is a former English cricketer who played primarily for Somerset. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler. He is a big hitting all-rounder who is capable of taking a one-day match away f ...
: cricketer
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*, ,
*
*Brodie, Allan, Roethe, Johanna and Hudson-McAulay, Kate (2019).
Weston-super-Mare: the town and its seaside heritage
' (Swindon: Historic England)
*Brodie, Allan and Johanna Roethe (2020)
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset: historical and architectural development
' (Historic England Research Report Series 1/2020), 2 volumes. ISSN 2059-4453 (Online)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Poole, Sharon (1995). ''Weston-super-Mare. A pictorial history.'' Phillimore. ISBN 978-0-85033-969-7.
*Poole, Sharon (2002). ''Weston-super-Mare. Tempus History & Guide.'' The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-2631-0.
*Roethe, Johanna (2019)
'Weston-super-Mare. A Victorian seaside town'
''Historic England Research'' 13 (August 2019).
*
*
*
External links
*
Weston-super-Mare town council
Official Tourist Website for Weston-super-Mare
WaveWSM Bringing unity to the community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston-Super-Mare
Towns in North Somerset
Civil parishes in Somerset
Ports and harbours of Somerset
Seaside resorts in England
Populated coastal places in Somerset
Beaches of Somerset