Mendip was a local government district of Somerset in England. The district covered a largely rural area of
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 by a merger of the municipal boroughs of Glastonbury and Wells, along with Frome, Shepton Mallet, and Street urban districts, and Frome Rural District, Shepton Mallet Rural District, Wells Rural District, part of Axbridge Rural District and part of Clutton Rural District.
On 1 April 2023, the district was abolished and became part of Somerset Council, a unitary authority.
Toponymy
Several explanations for the name
Mendip have been suggested. Its earliest known form is
Mendepe in 1185. One suggestion is that it is derived from the
medieval term
Myne-deepes.
However, A D Mills derives its meaning from Celtic
monith, meaning mountain or hill, with an uncertain second element, perhaps Old English
yppe in the sense of upland, or plateau.
[Dictionary of English Place Names]
An alternative explanation is that the name is cognate with Mened (Welsh mynydd), a Brythonic term for upland moorland. The suffix may be a contraction of the Old English hop, meaning a valley. Possible further meanings have been identified. The first is 'the stone pit' from the Celtic languages meyn and dyppa in reference to the collapsed cave systems of Cheddar. The second is 'Mighty and Awesome' from the Old English moen and deop.
Governance
Until 2023, Mendip district fell under the jurisdiction of Mendip District Council. At the 2019 local elections, no party gained overall control.
|
|
| Liberal Democrat | 22 | +11 |
| Conservative | 10 | -22 |
| Green | 10 | +7 |
| Independent | 5 | +4 |
As of March 2022, the council had 23 Liberal Democrats, 12 Conservatives, 10 Greens, and 2 Independents.
Abolition
On 1 April 2023, the council was abolished and replaced by
Somerset Council, a unitary authority for the area previously served by Somerset County Council.
Elections for the new council took place in May 2022, and it ran alongside Mendip and the other councils until their abolition in April 2023.
Settlements
The five main settlements of the former Mendip council were
Frome,
Glastonbury,
Shepton Mallet, Street and Wells. Frome, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet were the only towns in the district, with Wells having city status and Street maintaining its status as a village despite a population in excess of 11,000.
Other villages and hamlets included:
Parishes
Transport
Major roads
-
A37 from Bristol to Yeovil
-
A361 from the M5 to Frome
-
A371 from Weston-super-Mare to Wincanton
-
A39 from Bath to Bridgwater
Railway stations
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Frome, served by Great Western Railway on the Heart of Wessex Line and Reading to Taunton Line
-
Served by the East Somerset Railway:
-
Cranmore
-
Cranmore West
-
Merryfield Lane
-
Mendip Vale
See also
-
Grade I listed buildings in Mendip
-
Grade II* listed buildings in Mendip
-
List of scheduled monuments in Mendip
-
2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England
External links
