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Whatley, Mendip
Whatley is a small rural village and civil parish about west of Frome in the English county of Somerset. The parish lies south of Mells and north of Nunney, and includes the hamlets of Lower Whatley and Chantry. History According to Robinson, it was called ''Watelei'' in the Domesday Book of 1086, when the tenants of the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey were Walter Hussey and John the Usher. He suggests the village name means 'The wet meadow' from the Old English ''woet'' and ''leah''. The parish was part of the hundred of Frome. The village gives its name to Whatley Quarry, which lies to the north-west of the village at and is said to be one of the largest in Europe. It is owned by Hanson plc and has been the object of protests against its impact on the environment. The gatehouse at Manor farm was built around 1500 and is a Grade I listed building. The hamlet of Lower Whatley is to the south of the village. The hamlet of Chantry lies 1 mile to the west. It is one of the T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerset Council
Somerset Council, known until 2023 as Somerset County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England. Since 2023 it has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, being a county council which also performs the functions of a non-metropolitan district, district council. The non-metropolitan county of Somerset is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset. The council has been under Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat majority control since 2022. It is based at County Hall, Taunton, County Hall in Taunton. History Elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions previously carried out by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. The city of Bath, Somerset, Bath was considered large enough to run its own county-level services, and so it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thankful Villages
Thankful Villages (also known as Blessed Villages; ) are settlements in England and Wales from which all their members of the armed forces survived World War I. The term Thankful Village was popularised by the writer Arthur Mee in the 1930s; in ''Enchanted Land'' (1936), the introductory volume to '' The King's England'' series of guides, he wrote that a Thankful Village was one which had lost no men in the war because all those who left to serve came home again. His initial list identified 32 villages. There are tens of thousands of villages and towns in the United Kingdom. In an October 2013 update, researchers identified 53 civil parishes in England and Wales from which all serving personnel returned. There are no Thankful Villages identified in Scotland or Ireland yet (all of Ireland was then part of the United Kingdom). Fourteen of the English and Welsh villages are considered "doubly thankful", in that they also lost no service personnel during World War II. These are marke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-metropolitan District
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-metropolitan districts with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status are known as ''boroughs'', able to appoint a Mayors in England, mayor and refer to itself as a borough council. Some shire counties, for example Cornwall, now have no sub-divisions so are a single non-metropolitan district. Typically, a district will consist of a market town and its more rural hinterland. However, districts are diverse, with some being mostly urban (such as Dartford) and others more polycentric (such as Thurrock). Structure Non-metropolitan districts are subdivisions of English non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties which have a two-tier structure of local government. Two-tier non-m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unitary Authorities Of England
In England, a unitary authority or unitary council is a type of local authority responsible for all local government services in an area. They combine the functions of a non-metropolitan county council and a non-metropolitan district council, which elsewhere in England provide two tiers of local government. The district that is governed by a unitary authority is commonly referred to as a unitary authority area or unitary area. The terms unitary district and, for those which are coterminous with a county, unitary county are also sometimes used. The term unitary authority is also sometimes used to refer to the area governed, such as in the ISO 3166-2:GB standard defining a taxonomy for subdivisions of the UK, and in colloquial usage. Unitary authorities are constituted under the Local Government Act 1992, which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to allow the existence of non-metropolitan counties that do not have multiple districts. Most were established during the 1990s, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Local Government In England
Local government in England broadly consists of three layers: civil parishes, local authorities, and regional authorities. Every part of England is governed by at least one local authority, but parish councils and regional authorities do not exist everywhere. In addition, there are 31 Police and crime commissioner, police and crime commissioners, four Police, fire and crime commissioner, police, fire and crime commissioners, and ten National park authority, national park authorities with local government responsibilities. Local government is not standardised across the country, with the last comprehensive reform taking place Local Government Act 1972, in 1974. Civil parish, Civil parishes are the lowest tier of local government, and primarily exist in rural and smaller urban areas. The responsibilities of parish councils are limited and generally consist of providing and maintaining public spaces and facilities. Local authorities cover the entirety of England, and are responsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neighbourhood Watch (UK)
Neighbourhood Watch in the United Kingdom is the largest voluntary crime prevention movement covering England and Wales with upwards of 2.3 million household members. The charity brings neighbours together to create strong, friendly and active communities in which crime can be tackled. Neighbourhood Watch Network is the umbrella organisation supported by the Home Office to support Neighbourhood Watch groups and individuals across England and Wales. Neighbourhood Watch groups work in partnership with the police, corporate companies with aligned values, voluntary organisations and individuals who want to improve their communities. Neighbourhood Watch aims to help people protect themselves and their properties and to reduce the fear of crime by means of improved home security, greater vigilance, accurate reporting of suspicious incidents and fostering a community spirit as well as tackling new forms of crime such as cybercrime. History In 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parish Councils Of England
A parish council is a civil local authority found in England, which is the lowest tier of local government. Parish councils are elected corporate bodies, with variable tax raising powers, and they carry out beneficial public activities in geographical areas known as civil parishes. There are about 10,480 parish and town councils in England. Parish councils may be known by different styles, they may resolve to call themselves a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, it may call itself a city council. However their powers and duties are the same whatever name they carry.Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 Parish councils receive the majority of their funding by levying a precept upon the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) covered by the council. In 2021-22 the amount raised by precept was £616 million. Other funding may be obtained by local fund-raising or grant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Elm
Great Elm is a village and civil parish between Mells and Frome in Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford. In 2011 the parish had a population of 171. History The name Great Elm was recorded as ''Telma'' in the Domesday Book of 1086, and then as ''Teames'' in 1236 which is a contraction of ''aet elm'' ''at the elm tree''. Little Elm developed into the village of Chantry. At Tedbury Camp southwest of the village a pot of Roman coins was dug up in 1961. After the Norman Conquest the manor was held by the Giffards and later by the Hidges family and then the Stracheys. The parish was part of the hundred of Frome. For many years in the 18th and 19th centuries Great Elm was the site of water powered mills owned by James Fussell IV. The Stracheys owned Rock House for a period early in the 20th century. Hapsford House on Hapsford Hill is a 19th-century country house. The Jackdaws Music Education Trust has been based in the village since 1993. Governan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vallis Vale
Vallis Vale () is a 23.9 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Great Elm in Somerset, notified in 1952. Vallis Vale is an ancient woodland site and supports an Ash-Wych Elm stand type with a restricted distribution in Britain. Vallis Vale exposes some of Britain's most classic rock outcrops, exhibiting several of the most easily demonstrated examples of angular unconformity available. A nationally important research and educational locality, of great renown for the part it has played in the historical development of geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ... science. Sources English Nature citation sheet for the site(accessed 10 August 2006) External links English Nature website(SSSI information) Sites of Special Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Iron Works, Mells
Old Iron Works, Mells (Fussells' Lower Works) () is a 0.25 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, in the Wadbury Valley, south of the village of Mells in Somerset, notified in 1987. The site is a ruined iron works, which mainly produced agricultural edge-tools that were exported all over the world, and is now, in addition to its unique and major importance in relation to industrial archaeology, used as a breeding site by horseshoe bats. The block of buildings adjacent to the entrance is listed Grade II* and most of the rest of the site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is included in the Heritage at Risk Register produced by English Heritage. Biological interest The site is used by both Greater and Lesser Horseshoe Bats. The roof space of one of the former works buildings was used, before the building burnt down in the 1980s, as a breeding roost in summer by large numbers of Greater Horseshoes and smaller numbers of Lesser Horseshoes. Disused flues and tun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Fussell IV
James Fussell IV (1748–1832) was an iron magnate operating the Old Iron Works, Mells in Vallis Vale between Mells and Great Elm in Somerset. He was a promoter of the Dorset and Somerset Canal and the inventor of both the roller chain and the balance lock. Invention of the balance lock The balance lock was a type of boat lift designed by James Fussell IV to transport boats up and down a hillside on a canal. An experimental balance lock was built as part of the Dorset and Somerset Canal Invention of roller chain Sketches by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century show a chain with a roller bearing. In 1800, James Fussell IV patented a roller chain on development of his balance lock and in 1880 Hans Renold patented a bush roller chain. Business history James Fussell III had leased the site in Mells in 1744, to erect "''a good, firme and substantiall Mill or Mills for Grinding Edge Tools and forging Iron plates''".Fussell, James (2001)''The Fussell ironworks at Wadbury, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
