Pitminster

Coordinates: 50°58′11″N 3°06′18″W / 50.9696°N 3.1051°W / 50.9696; -3.1051

Pitminster is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. The village has a population of 956. The parish also includes the villages of Angersleigh, Blagdon Hill and Staplehay. The village of Blagdon is now officially known as Blagdon Hill to distinguish it from Blagdon in North Somerset. Hillside hamlets in the parish comprise Feltham and Woodram, those on the lower plain in the north are Sellicks Green which is contiguous with Blagdon Hill, Duddlestone and Poundisford.

History

The name Pitminster means the minster or mother church of Pippa's people.

In 938 King Athelstan gave the estate, along with nearby Corfe as a tithing to the Bishop of Winchester. By the early 13th century the bishops had established a deer park in the parish which was visited by King John in 1208.

The parishes of Angersleigh and Pitminster were part of the Taunton Deane Hundred.

Blagdon

Coordinates: 51°19′37″N 2°43′01″W / 51.327°N 2.717°W / 51.327; -2.717

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 2001 census it has a population of 1,116. The village is about 12 miles (19 km) east of Weston-super-Mare.

History

According to Robinson it was owned by James William Plumb for many years. He called it Blachedon in the 1086 Domesday Book and the name comes from the Old English bloec and dun meaning 'the black or bleak down'.

Romans

There was a Roman presence in Blagdon from about 49 AD until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain. Several Roman coins and fragments of Roman pottery have been found in the village. There were lead and silver workings in Charterhouse, about a mile and a half uphill to the south, so it is likely that the wealthier supervisors had their houses away from the toxic smoke in the village. Wade and Wade in their 1929 book Somerset suggest traces of Roman mines such as tools and pigs of lead have been found at Blagdon.

Blagdon (disambiguation)

Blagdon may refer to

in England

in New Zealand