Everything about The Polden Hills totally explained
The
Polden Hills are a long, low ridge, extending for 20 miles, and separated from the
Mendip Hills, to which they're nearly parallel, by a marshy tract, known as the
Somerset Levels. They are now cut at their western end by the
M5 motorway and a railway, the
Bristol and Exeter Railway, part of the
Great Western Main Line.
The hills stretch from
Puriton, near
Bridgwater, in the west, to
Street, in the east. The ridge of the hill once accommodated a
Roman road, from
Ilchester to the port of
Combwich. This road crossed the
River Parrett by means of a
ford, at the White House (White House Rhyne), on the
Pawlett Hams. This western extension forms part of a
Saxon route. The river crossing could only be used a few hours per day at low
tide and was used by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the
1790s when he stayed at
Nether Stowey, to travel to and from
Bristol. It went out of use as other roads were improved and the White House, a former
public house, is now just a ruin. The modern road, now the
A39, is carried on a
causeway from the
King's Sedgemoor Drain, at
Bawdrip, to Bridgwater.
Centres of population
The former
medieval planned town of
Caput Montis was located at the western end of the Polden Hills. Caput Montis failed as a planned town and now exists as the earth works of a
Motte and Bailey in the
hamlet of Downend, now a detached part of the
village of Puriton.
There was also at
Dunball a railway
Halt, a
Hotel, a
Post Office and a
Wharf - part of the
Port of Bridgwater.
There are a number of small villages situated on both slopes of the ridge, many of which are named in the
Domesday Book. Most of the eastern villages, from Street to
Cossington, and possibly
Woolavington, (which are also
parishes) are located in medieval planned-parishes. They once formed parts of the
Estates of
Glastonbury Abbey.
Geology
To be added
Villages of the Polden Hills (west to east):
Puriton -
Bawdrip -
Woolavington -
Cossington -
Stawell -
Chilton Polden -
Edington -
Catcott -
Shapwick -
Ashcott -
Walton -
StreetFurther Information
Get more info on 'Polden Hills'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://polden_hills.totallyexplained.com">Polden Hills Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
