Chew Stoke

The Rectory in Chew Stoke, Somerset, England was built in 1529. It is a Grade II* listed building.It was built in 1529 for Sir John Barry, who was the rector between 1524 and 1546 of the nearby St Andrew's Church. It has undergone substantial renovations including the addition of a clock tower for the Rev. W.P. Wait, which has since been removed and further alterations c.1876 for Rev. J. Ellershaw. The building has an ornate south front with carvings of shields bearing the coat of arms of the St Loe family, who were once chief landowners in the area, alone or impaled with arms of Fitzpane, Ancell, de la Rivere and Malet. Towards the end of the 18th century a new rectory was built in the village and this building became a private house. In 1945 it started to be used again as the rectory. It was sold by the church in 2008 and is now a private dwelling again.

The Pagans Hill Roman Temple was a Romano-British-style temple (Romano-Celtic temple) excavated on Pagans Hill at Chew Stoke in the English county of Somerset.

Chew Valley School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form situated within the Chew Valley in Somerset in South West England. It is 8 miles (13 km) south of Bristol in the village of Chew Stoke, on a 30-acre (12 ha) site in open countryside overlooking the Chew Valley Lake. It is the only secondary school in the Chew Valley area, providing further education to local children, from various local primary schools, and some pupils who live outside the catchment area. As of 2015, the school had over 1,160 pupils, including 186 in the Sixth Form.

Chew Magna Reservoir is a 5-acre (2 ha) reservoir on the western outskirts of the village of Chew Magna, Somerset, England. It lies just north of the B3130 Winford Road. The reservoir was created by damming Winford brook in order to supply water for villages in the Chew Valley. It is owned and managed by Bristol Water. Chew Magna reservoir provides fly fishing for stocked brown trout (Salmo trutta morpha fario) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Rainbows can be fished all year. Parking is close to the lake and there are many stagings erected around the lake. In 2011 the reservoir emptied following a long period without sustained rainfall. Bristol Water rescued the trout and transferred them to the nearby Chew Valley Lake.

The Manor House in Chew Magna, Somerset, England, was a country house built in the middle of the 17th century. It was the principal residence of the Adlam family from the mid-1800s until 1940. The house is a Grade II* listed building and formed part of the Sacred Heart Convent School. It has now been redeveloped and returned to residential use.

The Chew Valley is an affluent area in North Somerset, England, named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon at Keynsham. Technically, the area of the valley is bounded by the water catchment area of the Chew and its tributaries; however, the name Chew Valley is often used less formally to cover other nearby areas, for example, Blagdon Lake and its environs, which by a stricter definition are part of the Yeo Valley. The valley is an area of rich arable and dairy farmland, interspersed with a number of villages. The landscape consists of the valley of the River Chew and is generally low-lying and undulating. It is bounded by higher ground ranging from Dundry Down to the north, the Lulsgate Plateau to the west, the Mendip Hills to the south and the Hinton Blewett, Temple Cloud, Clutton and Marksbury plateau areas to the east. The valley's boundary generally follows the top of scarp slopes except at the southwestern and southeastern boundaries where flat upper areas of the Chew Valley grade gently into the Yeo Valley and eastern Mendip Hills respectively. The River Chew was dammed in the 1950s to create Chew Valley Lake, which provides drinking water for the nearby city of Bristol and surrounding areas. The lake is a prominent landscape feature of the valley, a focus for recreation, and is internationally recognised for its nature conservation interest, because of the bird species, plants and insects. The area falls into the domains of councils including Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and Mendip. Part of the area falls within the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Most of the undeveloped area is within the Bristol/Bath Green Belt. Many of the villages date back to the time of the Domesday Book and there is evidence of human occupation since the Stone Age. There are hundreds of listed buildings with the churches being Grade I listed. The main commercial centre is Chew Magna.

Littleton gunpowder works between Winford and Chew Magna in the English county of Somerset, started gunpowder production around 1650 and continued until approximately 1820. It is a listed as a scheduled monument.The powder mill opened around 1740 following the expansion of the port in Bristol and increased availability of saltpetre from India. The mill was controlled by merchants based in the city and supplied gunpowder to ships sailing from the port. A previous warehouse, on the site where Bristol Temple Meads railway station now stands was considered too dangerous in the city. Despite a fire in 1755 the Littleton works expanded to become the largest gunpowder producing works in South West England by the middle of the 18th century. There was some association with another gunpowder mill at Woolley near Bath and the purchase and conversion of a snuff mill at nearby Stanton Drew was considered. It closed in the 1820s after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It was powered by an overshot water wheel on Winford Brook a tributary of the River Chew.Some of the buildings remain intact, while others are ruined. The farmhouse was built in the mid 16th century but has been added to and revised in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It is a Grade II* listed building, as is the 17th century barn. Powder Mill Cottage was built in the 18th century as the cooperage for the powder mill. The clock tower which was part of the works was originally attached to a chapel or office.

The Church of St Andrew in Chew Magna, Somerset, England dates from the 12th century with a large 15th-century pinnacled sandstone tower, a Norman font and a rood screen that is the full width of the church. It is a Grade I listed building.

The Old School Room in Chew Magna, Somerset, England was built around 1510. It is a Grade II* listed building.It was built as a church house for the neighbouring Church of St Andrew. The upstairs room was the local school from the mid or early 15th century, with the village poorhouse below. The ground floor was divided into cubicles which housed the destitute and occasionally prisoners. It also served as the meeting place of the Court leet. The building was declared unsafe in 1965. In 1971 the building underwent major renovation, which included replacement of oak beams supporting the upper floor were replaced and preservation work on the wooden roof carried out. The building was then used as a youth club until it was purchased by the parish council in 1981 as a village hall. Since then it has been a venue for social activity in the village.

Chew Magna is a village and civil parish within the Chew Valley in the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The parish has a population of 1,149.To the south of the village is Chew Valley Lake. The village is on the B3130 road, about 10 miles (16 km) from Bristol, 15 miles (24 km) from Bath, 13 miles (21 km) from the city of Wells, and 6 miles (10 km) from Bristol Airport. The village is close to the northern edge of the Mendip Hills (a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), and was designated a conservation area in 1978. There are many listed buildings reflecting the history of the village. The River Chew flows through the village. Just outside the village is Chew Magna Reservoir: this small Bristol Water supply reservoir intercepts the Winford Brook. There is one primary school, and an adjacent secondary school, several shops and small businesses, three churches, and three pubs serving the area. There is also a football pitch and children's play area. The village frequently wins regional categories in the Calor Village of the Year competition, and is currently moving towards zero waste status, having been described as "probably the greenest parish in Britain".

Chew Court is a Grade II* listed building next to St Andrew's church in Chew Magna, Somerset, England.It was originally a palace for Gisa the Bishop of Bath and Wells, however little of the original building survives. After use by a succession of bishops it was sold to the Duke of Somerset. The oldest portion is the gatehouse at the southern end of the east wing.The house was largely rebuilt in 1656, from which a little survives as the Chew Court of today including an Elizabethan doorway with Doric pilasters. The room over the gatehouse is said to have been used as a court-room, with the turrets used for holding prisoners. The house now forms an "l" shape of two wings.In 2011 alterations were made to the driveway leading to the house and additional walls built around the gardens.About 45 metres (148 ft) south west of the building is a medieval well, which was later enclosed with a sandstone well house.

Plaster's Green Meadows (grid reference ST532611) is a 4.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Nempnett Thrubwell, Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1989. This is an area of unimproved and traditionally managed species-rich meadows which support a neutral grassland community of a type which is now rare throughout Britain. The site is situated on the slopes fringing the Lias Tablelands and is underlain by Rhaetic clays and, lower down the slope Keuper Red Marl. The slowly permeable clay soils are slightly calcareous in nature and this is reflected in elements of the flora. The site is characterised by the nationally rare Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) and Crested Dog’s-tail (Cynosurus cristatus) and dominant grasses include Sweet Vernal-grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), Crested Dog’s-tail and Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus), while Quaking Grass (Briza media) and Yellow Oat-grass (Trisetum flavescens) are also frequent. There is a high component of herb species throughout the meadows including Saw-wort (Serratuta tinctoria), Dyer’s Greenweed (Genista tinctoria), Common Knapweed, Pepper-saxifrage (Silaum silaus), Devil’s-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis), Betony (Stachys officinalis) and Spiny Restharrow (Ononis spinosa). The calcareous nature of the soil is reflected by the presence of Cowslip (Primula veris), Fairy Flax (Linum catharticum), Glaucous Sedge (Carex flacca), Lady’s Bedstraw (Galium verum) and occasional Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor). The meadows are bounded by hedges supporting numerous species including Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra), English Elm (Ulmus procera), Hazel (Corylus avellana) and Field Maple (Acer campestre). Hedgerow trees include Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa), Holly (Ilex aquifolium) and Oak (Quercus spp.).