Ashwick Court

Ashwick is a village in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, about three miles north of Shepton Mallet and seven miles east from Wells. It has also been a civil parish since 1826. The parish had a population of 1,352 according to the 2011 census, and apart from Ashwick village also includes Gurney Slade and Oakhill.

Oakhill is a village in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, in Ashwick parish approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Shepton Mallet. It lies between the A37 and the A367 (which is part of the ancient Fosse Way). Oakhill is today is mainly a commuter village of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) in size, and is notable for former activities which including brewing. The village contains a Church of England primary school and a surgery, as well as a public house, the Oakhill Inn. Little London is the name given to a cluster of houses at the western end of the village. It is sometimes referred to by tradespeople etc. as a settlement in itself for the purpose of location, because of the elongated character of the village.

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.

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.

Gurney Slade quarry, grid reference ST626497 is a limestone quarry near Gurney Slade between Binegar and Holcombe, on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. Gurney Slade quarry exhibits pale to very dark grey Carboniferous Limestone overlain by red and purple-coloured Triassic breccias and marls with a small faulted block of overlying Lower Jurassic breccias forming an angular unconformity with the Carboniferous Limestone. There is abundant vertical sediment infilled fissures and joints (Neptunian Dykes). The rocks contain varying amounts of calcite mineralization, and there is common fossil material associated with the Carboniferous and Jurassic limestones. The limestone within the quarry dips to the south-east at around 30°.Work began at the quarry in the mid 18th century and grew after it was taken over by Francis Flower and Sons in 1928 producing stone for lime-burning. The quarry closed in 1947 and was reopened in 1951 by John Yeoman of Foster Yeoman. The next owner was City Sand and Gravel Co. and taken over by Morris & Perry (Gurney Slade) Ltd. who still operate the quarry. A Concrete plant was installed in 1963 and a coated macadam plant in 2001. The site is now capable of supplying up to 2 Million Tonnes Per Annum of Carboniferous Limestone aggregate. Francis Flower have a facility adjacent to the quarry which processes filler by-product from several Mendip quarries.

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.

Emborough Quarries (grid reference ST623505) is a 1 hectare (2.5 acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Emborough in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1971. The disused quarry has yielded a wide variety of remains of vertebrate fossils, amongst which the early reptiles are particularly well represented. Of special note is Kuehneosaurus latus which is one of the earliest-known flying vertebrates. During the Triassic period of geological time, some 230 million years ago, the limestones now exposed on Mendip formed upland areas upon which a number of large rivers rose. Solution cavities were soon created in the land surface and material from the surrounding area was swept into the newly formed cave systems. Remains of the creatures living in the upland areas during this time were swept into these deposits and have now been exhumed by recent quarrying activities. Fresh material is brought to the surface with every rock fall and Emborough Quarries are a nationally important source of fossil vertebrate remains for research and study.This former Mendip quarry site, probably owned by Emborough Stone Co., a branch of Roads Reconstruction, Ltd., where iron ore was once mined is now home to an assembly of contractor's plant (possibly of Richard Wood (Engineering) Ltd), cranes and machine tools. It is the location of Nettlebridge Viaduct, a seven-arch bridge that once carried the Somerset and Dorset Railway.The site was owned by Emborough Stone Co which was later bought by Roads Reconstruction Ltd. The rock quarried was carboniferous mountain limestone which was used for construction and railway ballast. There are 2 main quarries and several trial quarries. The site was previously used by the Emborough Brick Co for making clay bricks.

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.

Binegar railway station was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway in the county of Somerset in England. Opened on 20 July 1874, the station consisted of two platforms, with a building on the down platform. There was a substantial goods yard with two sheds and sidings, controlled from a 24 lever signal box. Being the first station north of the line's summit at Masbury Binegar was also where locomotives used as banking engines on north-bound trains would drop off and cross the line ready to return south. The station closed to goods in 1963: passenger services were withdrawn when the SDJR closed on 7 March 1966.

Binegar is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is located on the A37, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wells, between Shepton Mallet and Chilcompton. Its population in 2011 was 313. Binegar and Gurney Slade on the opposite side of the A37 are effectively a single village and share a sign on the main road. In Gurney Slade, the quarry and houses on the north side of Tape Lane are in Binegar parish whilst the south side is in Ashwick parish. In Binegar, some houses on the south side of Station Road are in Ashwick parish and some on the north side of the village are in Emborough parish.

Balch Cave (grid reference ST65734753) is a cave in Fairy Cave Quarry, near Stoke St Michael in the limestone of the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England. The cave is part of the complex of passages feeding to St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Site of Special Scientific Interest and an abandoned Bristol Water abstraction point. It is named in honour of Herbert E. Balch who was famous for his exploration of the Caves of the Mendip Hills.The cave was broken into by quarry blasting in November 1961. Much of the cave has since been quarried away and by the end of the 1960s, major sections were destroyed.An exploration in December 1961 found a series of decorated rifts, mainly of sparkling flowstone, with a grotto fillet with pure white stalactites and pillars and a set of "organ pipes" about 10 feet (3 m) wide and 15 feet (5 m) high.A further visit in January 1962 explored the fourth chamber which is richly ornamented with white and cream flowstone, several narrow curtains, and miscellaneous white stalactites, and the fifth and sixth chambers with multiple Stalagmite formations.In the subsequent years continued blasting from the quarry breached the central chambers of the cave destroying some 425 feet (130 m) of passages, with rockfalls destroying many of the remaining formations, and rendering other sections of the cave inaccessible. Stabilisation work at the end of the quarry's life resulted in the destruction of a further 300 feet (91 m) of passage, including the original entrance series and Great Chamber.The Fairy Caves Management Committee administers the access to this cave on behalf of the quarry owners. The cave is closed from 1 October to 30 April to protect the hibernating bats.

Hillier's Cave (grid reference ST65734753) is a cave in Fairy Cave Quarry, near Stoke St Michael in the limestone of the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England.It falls within the St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Site of Special Scientific Interest. The cave was discovered on 13 February 1954, when blasting at one of the working faces opened up a cave passage, and is now choked with sludge waste from the quarry. It was first explored by John Anthony Quinn and boys from Midsomer Norton Grammar School (now Norton Hill School) who named it in honour of Gordon Hillier who was headmaster of the school from 1926 to 1958.The Fairy Caves Management Committee administers the access to this cave on behalf of the quarry owners.