Leigh-on-Mendip explained

Static Image Caption:St Giles church
Country:England
Official Name:Leigh-on-Mendip
Coordinates:51.2263°N -2.4374°W
Population:514
Population Ref:(2011)[1]
Lieutenancy England:Somerset
Unitary England:Somerset Council
Region:South West England
Constituency Westminster:Frome and East Somerset
Post Town:RADSTOCK
Postcode District:BA3
Postcode Area:BA
Dial Code:01373
Os Grid Reference:ST695475

Leigh-on-Mendip or Leigh upon Mendip (on Ordnance Survey maps) is a small village on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. It lies roughly equidistant from Frome, Radstock and Shepton Mallet at about 5miles from each town.

The village has several sporting clubs, including cricket, shortmat bowls and table tennis. There is a First School.[2] The village is served by The Bell public house, allotments, a busy Memorial Hall and outdoor play and exercise equipment. Local charity Friends of Leigh Church fundraises for repairs to the Grade I-listed Church of St Giles.

History

The name of this village is pronounced lye or lie by local residents rather than lee, and probably comes from the Old English meaning grove or glade.[3]

The estate formed part of the manor and liberty of Mells and was held by Glastonbury Abbey from Saxon times until the dissolution of the monasteries. It then passed to the Horner family.[3] The parish was part of the hundred of Frome.[4]

On 19 June 1643 the village was the site of a skirmish in the English Civil War, between Royalist regiment of Sir James Hamilton and the parliamentary forces under Major Francis Duett.[5]

Some dwellings in Leigh on Mendip parish are close to the Halecombe limestone quarry. The quarry exhibits pale to dark grey well-bedded Carboniferous Limestone. There are abundant near-vertical fissures and joints in the limestone with varying amounts of calcite mineralization and tufa growth around groundwater seepages.[6] Quarrying activity was initiated at the time of the Second World War. It is now owned by Anglo American.[7]

A "History of Leigh on Mendip" was web published in February 2007.[8] In 2007 Leigh on Mendip was chosen as the Calor Somerset Village of the Year.[9]

Leigh on Mendip was home to the television presenter Kevin McCloud, who is known best from the UK television series; Grand Designs.[10]

Governance

The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

The village falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Frome Rural District,[11] which is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.

Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.

It is also part of the Frome and East Somerset county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Religious sites

The parish Church of St Giles dates from around 1350, and was rebuilt around 1500.It is a Grade 1 listed building, with an unusual faceless clock.[12]

There used to be a Methodist chapel in the village, however this is now a private house.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Leigh-on-Mendip Parish. Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. 1 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192415/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11125544&c=Leigh&d=16&e=61&g=6461156&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1388576148091&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2491. 2 January 2014. dead.
  2. Web site: Leigh on Mendip First School. Leigh on Mendip First School. 4 January 2009. dead. https://archive.today/20080703211046/http://www.leighonmendipfirstschool2.ik.org/home.ikml. 3 July 2008.
  3. Book: Bush, Robin. Somerset: The Complete Guide. Dovecote Press. 1994. 131. 1-874336-26-1.
  4. Web site: Somerset Hundreds. GENUKI. 8 October 2011.
  5. Book: Barratt, John . The civil war in the south west . 2005 . Pen & Sword Military. Bernsley . 1-84415-146-8 . 41–44 .
  6. Web site: Halecombe Quarry Geodiversity . Somerset County Council . 2 February 2007.
  7. Web site: Halecombe Quarry, Leigh upon Mendip, Nr Frome . Geodiversity Audit of Active Aggregate Quarries . 2 February 2007.
  8. Web site: A History of Leigh on Mendip . Mary de Viggiani. 17 August 2010.
  9. Web site: Leigh on Mendip Celebrates with Tree Planting. Village of the Year. 4 January 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080621134030/http://www.villageoftheyear.org/england/news-press/stop-press/february/leigh-on-mendip.htm. 21 June 2008.
  10. News: Pearl Lowe: From wild child to earth mother. 28 December 2017. The Times. 11 October 2009.
  11. Web site: Frome RD. A vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. 4 January 2014.
  12. Web site: Faceless Clock. Leigh on Mendip. 4 January 2009.