| Limestone
Link
The
is Limestone Link, a 36 mile waymarked route joining the Cotswold
Way to the West Mendip Way. It follows the Cam Valley through Hallatrow,
Camerton and Dunkerton, |
Litton
The
name is said to come from the Old English words "lyt" and "tun"
and mean "small enclosure", but another source I found said the
name means "settlement on the torrent". As the Upper Chew which
runs through the village is but a small stream here, I vote for
the first derivation. Litton once belonged to Gisco, the last Saxon
Bishop of Wells, having been sold to him by someone called Alfred.
It is recorded as Litune, with three mills, in the Domesday Book,
and has been a rich farming area since those times. In fact pressure
from the increasing population meant that every available piece
of land had to be used, and there is evidence of intensive farming
before 1300 in the clearly visible terracing of the surrounding
steep hillsides. (Known as "lychetts"). The village which owes its
position as an early settlement to the plentiful supply of water.
In 1853 Bristol Waterworks capped local springs at Watery Combe
and piped water to Bristol. At the same time they dammed the Chew
and created the picturesque reservoir lakes you see, thus ensuring
a constant water supply to Litton's mills. Today the mills have
gone and the population is half what it once was . St. Mary's Church
has a three stage tower The earliest recorded of a church in Litton
was in 1176, but the present building only dates from the late 14th
century. There is a Jacobean pulpit and lectern and memorials to
the Salvidge and Trevelyan families. In 1673 a Trevelyan was licensed
to mine lead and coal, luckily for the area he found none! |
| Limpley
Stoke
The name is derived from the Old English words "limplic" and "stoc"
which mean a "suitable stockaded settlement". The main part of the
village, across the A36, is irregularly built on a hillside above
the Avon Valley. Many of the houses are 16th century weavers' cottages
and St.Mary Church is the oldest in the region, dating back to Saxon
times. |
Maesbury
The
name means Mae’s fortified hill and is from the Old English
personal name of Mae and the word “buruh”. Mae was the
name of the Earth Goodness of early Saxons. Maesbury
was constructed by Celtic tribesmen sometime between 550BC and 43AD.
It was conquered by the Romans and later rebuilt by the Saxons.
It is 300 metres above sea level and has a triple ditch defensive
system. |
| Monkton
Coombe
For
over five centuries, in mediaeval times, monks from Bath Abbey were
continuously in the area tending flocks of sheep, grinding corn,
transporting produce, etc and the village's name derives from the
Old English words monuc, tun and cumb and means "the monks enclosure
in the valley". We arrive by way of an ancient, very steep, track
leading to the mill, one of only two mentioned in the Domesday Book.
Unfortunately the Packhorse Bridge was washed away by floods in
the 1980s and has been replaced by a wooden one. Walking up to the
main street we pass the Lockup built in 1776, unusual in having
two cells inside. Many fine old buildings are scattered up the hillside;
200feet above is the old tithe barn, three old cottages and converted
18th century farm buildings, and further up a terrace of quarryworkers
cottages, and above again a Georgian House now used as an hotel
and sports club. |
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