Butcombe

The Anglican Church of St Michael and All Angels at Butcombe in the English county of Somerset was built in the 15th century and restored in 1868. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The Fairy Toot is an extensive oval barrow in the civil parish of Nempnett Thrubwell, Somerset, England (grid reference ST520618). It is an example of the Severn-Cotswold tomb type which consist of precisely-built, long trapezoid earth mounds covering a burial chamber. Because of this they are a type of chambered long barrow. Fairy Toot was formerly a chambered cairn which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Located south-southwest of Howgrove Farm, it is a mound 60 m long, 25 m wide and now 2.5 m high, retained by a stone wall. Its summit is covered with ash trees and shrubs. Formerly it was considerably higher. On being opened and essentially destroyed between 1787 and 1835 by the Reverend Thomas Bere of Butcombe and the Reverend John Skinner of Camerton, it was found to contain two rows of cells, running from south to north, formed by immense stones set edgeways, and covered by others of larger dimensions. A human skull from the barrow is now in the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.At the time it was conjectured to be a work of the Druids, but its origins are far older and probably date from the Neolithic period.Wade and Wade in their 1929 book "Somerset" described it as "a remarkably fine tumulus of masonry, said to have been one of the finest in Britain, in the chambers of which skeletons have been discovered. A few vestiges of it now only remain, the rest has been used as a lime-kiln."The site was visited in the past as it was known as a place for curing warts.

Blagdon Lake lies in a valley at the northern edge of the Mendip Hills, close to the village of Blagdon and approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Bristol, England. The lake was created by Bristol Water (Bristol Waterworks Company as it was known then), when it dammed the River Yeo, starting construction in 1898, to designs by Charles Hawksley, and completing this in 1905. The Wrington Vale Light Railway was constructed primarily to bring building materials for the lake. The reservoir was formed by the construction of a dam and provided water to the pumping station which originally contained four Woolf compound rotative beam pumping engines, built by Glenfield & Kennedy of Kilmarnock, which have now been replaced by electric pumps. Two of the steam engines have been preserved, with one in working order as part of the visitor centre which also includes educational facilities for children. The pumping station is now a Grade II* listed building. The 8,456,000,000-litre (1.860×109 imp gal; 2.234×109 US gal) lake still provides 9,547,000,000 litres (2.100×109 imp gal; 2.522×109 US gal) of drinking water each year, but also acts as a fishing lake. It provides a habitat for a range of flora and fauna and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The original suction tanks, which formed the water supply for the steam boilers powering the pumping engines, are now used for trout rearing.

Nempnett Thrubwell is a small village and civil parish in dairying country on the western edge of Bath and North East Somerset, in the county of Somerset, England. It is about 15 km south-west of Bristol. The parish, which has a population of 177, is sheltered by the Mendip Hills, near the River Yeo in the Chew Valley. It is the site of the Fairy Toot oval barrow. Lying just to the north of Blagdon Lake, isolated Nempnett Thrubwell falls within the network of minor roads bounded by the A38, A368, B3114 and B3130; whilst signposted from each of these major routes, a lack of any further signposting makes it difficult to locate the village when arriving by road. The landscape is characterized by isolated farmsteads, the vernacular older buildings generally of the local Lias limestone or of render with clay-tiled roofs. Though being largely rural and consisting of one road and a few houses, Nempnett Thrubwell's curiously comedic name makes the village something of a famous local attraction. It is the subject of the song Down In Nempnett Thrubwell by The Wurzels and is mentioned in the earlier Adge Cutler song Up The Clump.

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.).

Blagdon railway station is a closed terminus railway station situated in the village of Blagdon in North Somerset, England. The station opened on the 4 December 1901 when the Wrington Vale Light Railway opened the line from Congresbury.The station closed to passengers on 14 September 1931.Despite the station being closed for passengers it was host to a GWR camp coach from 1935 to 1939. Camp coach occupants were transported to the station on the daily goods train from Yatton.The station closed to goods on 1 November 1950. The site is now a private house.

The Anglican Church of St Mary stands on Knap Hill in Nempnett Thrubwell, Somerset, England dates from the 15th century, but was built on the site of an earlier Norman church. It is a Grade II* listed building,Before the dissolution of the monasteries the parish belonged to Flaxley Abbey in Gloucestershire. In 1537 the land and manor were granted to Sir William Kingston. The parish register lists christenings, marriages and burials from 1568. The three stage tower, which contains five bells, has set back buttresses and two arch bell openings with tracery. The tower is crowned by a parapet with blank arcading, and square pinnacles, it also has a slightly higher stair turret. The nave was restored at a cost of £700 in 1864. The late Victorian chancel of 1897 is in the decorated style. Inside the church is a screen attributed to Pugin, although Nikolaus Pevsner is of the opinion the architect is probably Pugin the younger.The base of a 15th-century cross in the churchyard is listed Grade II.Wade and Wade in their 1929 book "Somerset" described it as "a small building with a Perp. W. tower, from the W. face of which project two curious and uncanny carved heads of a man and beast. The walls of the nave still bear the original 13th cent. consecration crosses. The chancel is modern, and contains a rich modern screen and a good E. window of Munich glass. Note (1) rude Norm. S. doorway filled with Perp. tracery; (2) Norm. font carved with a curious device by some later craftsman. Near the porch in the churchyard is (1) base of ancient cross; (2) tomb of first rector — Robert — bearing an incised cross".

Lulsgate Plateau is the name given to the Carboniferous Limestone hills which form a northern outlier of the Mendip Hills, southwest of Bristol, England, approximately 600 feet (180 m) above sea level, which has been occupied since prehistoric times. The major feature on the plateau is Bristol International Airport. Cutting into the western edge of the plateau are two combes, Brockley Combe and Goblin Combe a 52 hectares (128 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). There are two major roads in the area — the A38 cuts across the top of the plateau, while the A370 runs along its western edge. Both run in a southwesterly direction, and join Bristol to towns and villages in Somerset. To the west of the plateau are the North Somerset Levels, and to the south is the Yeo valley.

The Anglican Church Of St Andrew in Blagdon, within the English county of Somerset, was built in the 15th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.The church has a 116 feet (35 m) high tower with pinnacles and a cusped lozenge pattern parapet, with a stair turret spirelet in the north-east corner. The tower dates from the 15th century and is one of the tallest in Somerset. The tower contains a bell dating from 1716 and made by Edward Bilbie of the Bilbie family. The remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1907–09 by Lord Winterstoke (of the Wills tobacco family)The interior includes a romanesque piscina set into the south wall of the chancel.The lychgate to the east of the church is a Grade II listed building in its own right. Above the door are four primitive Norman carvings which survived three rebuildings.Augustus Toplady was serving as curate of St Andrew's in the 1760s when he wrote the hymn Rock of Ages. It is believed that he was inspired to write the lyrics while sheltering under a rock in nearby Burrington Combe.In 2013 fundraising was undertaken to provide toilets and a new kitchen in the church. Improvements were also made to the damp proofing and insulation.The parish is part of the benefice of Blagdon with Charterhouse, Compton Martin and Ubley within the Diocese of Bath and Wells.

Blagdon is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Somerset, within the unitary authority of North Somerset, in England. It is located in the Mendip Hills, a recognised Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. According to the 2011 census it has a population of 1,116. The village is about 12 miles (19 km) east of Weston-super-Mare on the A368 between Churchill and Compton Martin.

Redhill is a compact village at the foot of a 173 m (AOD) hill of the same name to its east and north-east. Its lower level local authority is the civil parish of Wrington which is in North Somerset, England. It straddles the A38 Bridgwater-Bristol Road. It is about 8 miles (12.9 km) SSW of Bristol and close to Bristol Airport.

The Church of St Bartholomew in Ubley, Somerset, England is a small medieval church originating from the 13th century with later additions. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.The church has no fixed pews. Features include a Jacobean pulpit and a chained copy of the ‘Paraphrases of Erasmus’ dated 1552. The 13th century stone font stone font has a square bowl. The pulpit is from the 17th century. The stained glass in the east window dates from 1877 and was painted by Jean-Baptiste Capronnier.On the north side of the church is the remains of a Fives court.It is part a joint Benefice of Blagdon with Compton Martin which is part of the deanery of Chew Magna and the Archdeaconry of Bath.