Downside Abbey

Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Originally a school for English Catholic boys, it was established in 1617 by English and Welsh monks living in exile at Douai, France. The monastic community returned to England in 1795, with both the community and its school initially housed in the Shropshire home of Sir Edward Smythe, a former pupil. By 1814, the abbey and school had been re-established at their present site, in Somerset. Downside School became fully co-educational in all year groups in 2005.

Stratton-on-the-Fosse is a village and civil parish located on the edge of the Mendip Hills, 2 miles (3 km) south-west of Westfield, 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Shepton Mallet, and 9 miles (14 km) from Frome, in Somerset, England. It has a population of 1,108, and has a rural agricultural landscape, although it was part of the once-thriving Somerset coalfield. Within the boundaries of the parish are the hamlets of Benter and Nettlebridge. Stratton-on-the-Fosse straddles the Fosse Way, an ancient Roman road which linked the cities of Lincoln and Exeter. It lies between the parish of Westfield, Somerset and the village of Oakhill. St Vigor and St John Church of England Primary School is situated in nearby Chilcompton.

Chilcompton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in the Mendip Hills two miles south of Midsomer Norton and 3.0 miles south-west of Westfield. It is situated on the B3139 road between Radstock and Wells, close to the A37 (between Shepton Mallet and Bristol).

Chilcompton railway station was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway at Chilcompton in the county of Somerset in England and opened on 20 July 1874. Originally the station consisted of a single platform on the Down side with a station building and possibly also a siding. In 1876 a loop and second platform were opened on the Up side, controlled from a 16-lever signal-box on the Down platform, which also controlled access to the goods yard. The line to Binegar was doubled in 1885. In 1886 the line to Midsomer Norton and Radstock was doubled and a replacement 13 lever signal box provided just beyond the Binegar end of the Up platform. The station closed to goods in 1964 and the signal-box closed in 1965; passenger services were withdrawn when the SDJR closed on 7 March 1966.

The Anglican Church of St John the Baptist in Chilcompton, within the English county of Somerset, was built in the 15th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.The earliest church on the site was recorded in 1188 when it was given to Wells Cathedral.The perpendicular embattled two stage tower dates from around 1460 and contains six bells. The nave and aisles were completed in 1839 by Jesse Gane and the chancel and flanking chapels in 1897, as part of a Victorian restoration, by Frederick Bligh Bond. An enclosed modern structure links it to the adjoining parish hall. In 2015 the church was added to the Heritage at Risk Register because of water and frost damage to the stonework. A grant for the repair of the roof has been made available.The ecclesiastical parish is now united with that of Saint Vigor at Stratton-on-the-Fosse forming part of the benefice of Chilcompton with Downside and Stratton on the Fosse within the Diocese of Bath and Wells.

The Church of St. Andrew close to Downside Abbey in Holcombe, Somerset, England has late Saxon-early Norman origins and was rebuilt in the 16th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was vested in the Trust on 1 August 1987.The old church on the site was consecrated by Archbishop Wrotard of York in 928.The church has a two-stage tower and two-bay nave.The interior includes late Georgian box pews and a Jacobean pulpit. In the graveyard is a memorial to the family of Robert Falcon Scott whose father managed the brewery in the village. There is also a yew tree that is thought to be about 1500 years old.The original medieval village was buried at the time of the plague and St Andrews is surrounded by the mounds that bear testimony to this burial. It is suggested that the rhyme 'Ring a Ring o' Roses' began there as a result. An alternative explanation relates to the drowning of five children from the village in an icy pond in 1899.The parish is part of the benefice of Coleford with Holcombe within the Midsomer Norton deanery.

Christ Church is a former Church of England church in Downside, Somerset, England. Designed by John Pinch the younger, it was built in 1837–38 and closed in 1983. The church, now a private residence, is a Grade II listed building.

Harridge Wood is an area of woodland in Somerset, England. From about 1300 AD part of the wood was the scene of coal mining, which continued until around 1800. The traces of mining have been well preserved, and are now a scheduled site. The woodland is now part of the Harridge Woods Nature Reserve. Large areas were planted for timber in the mid-20th century, and this continues to be harvested. The nature reserve is steadily reintroducing the original flora.

Edford Woods and Meadows (grid reference ST665485) is a 54.3 hectare (134.1 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, between Nettlebridge, Holcombe and Stoke St Michael, Somerset, notified in 1957. This site is important for the occurrence of a wide range of types of semi-natural ancient woodland and for unimproved meadows and pastures of a type which is now uncommon in Britain.The forests in Edford Wood are dominated by Ash and Alder trees, with Pedunculate Oak and Sessile Oak growing there as well. Hazel and other plants form a lush and varied undergrowth, with different species living in the moist soil of the valley floor rather than in the drier soil further up the hill sides. The rare herb monk's hood grows in abundance in the region.

Blacker's Hill is an Iron Age hill fort at Chilcompton, 4.5 kilometres (3 mi) south west of Radstock, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.The hill fort is roughly rectangular and is a promentary type. It covers 6 hectares (15 acres) and originally had two ramparts and two ditches, but on the west and south sides it was defended by the steep drop. In some places the ramparts survive to a considerable height but on the north east side the inner rampart and ditch have been destroyed. There are three gaps but only that on the east seems to be original.In 1999 a geophysical survey was carried out suggesting that Blackers Hill originated as a univallate structure and was then later modified, forming a developed hill fort.

The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust (S&DRHT) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England, that runs on a restored section of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The line is approximately 1 mile long and operates from Midsomer Norton South.

Midsomer Norton railway station (originally Midsomer Norton, later Midsomer Norton and Welton and finally Midsomer Norton South) was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway between Bath Green Park and Shepton Mallet. It served the town of Midsomer Norton in the English county of Somerset, which was also served by a second station known as Midsomer Norton and Welton railway station on the Bristol and North Somerset Railway. The station opened in 1874. In the 1948 nationalisation the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway became part of the Southern Region of British Railways. Along with the rest of the line it closed in 1966. In the early to mid 1990s Norton Radstock College used the station building and goods shed as their art department base prior to relocating to a newly built art department in the college. Following that The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust took the lease on the station in 1995 to restore it. They have restored many of the buildings and laid a short section of track. Future plans for further extension of the track have been proposed.