|
Name | Bath and North East Somerset District |
Alt names | BANES | source: abbreviation for Bath and North East Somerset used locally (Wikipedia) |
Type | District municipality, Unitary authority |
Coordinates | 51.416°N 2.499°W |
Located in | Somerset, England (1996 - ) |
See also | Wansdyke District, Avon, England | district covering the area 1974-1966 | | Somerset, England | county from which this part of Avon taken in 1974 | | Bath, Somerset, England | municipal district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996 | | Keynsham, Somerset, England | urban district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996 | | Norton Radstock, Somerset, England | urban district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996 | | Bathavon Rural, Somerset, England | rural district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996 | | Keynsham Rural, Somerset, England | rural district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996 | | Clutton Rural, Somerset, England | rural district part transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996 |
Bath and North East Somerset is a unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Somerset. It was established in 1996 when the County of Avon was abolished.
- this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Bath and North East Somerset (abbreviated BANES) covers an area of 220 square miles (570 km2), of which two thirds is green belt. It stretches from the eastern outskirts of Bristol, south into the Mendip Hills and east to the southern Cotswold Hills and the border of Wiltshire. The municipalities included are as follows:
-
While Avon County was in existence, the rural part of Bath and North East Somerset was covered by a district named Wansdyke.
The area has varied geography including river valleys and rolling hills. The history of human habitation is long but expanded massively during Roman times, and played significant roles during the Saxon era and English civil war. Industry developed from a largely agricultural basis to include coal mining in the 19th century and precipitated the coming of canals and railways. Bath developed as a spa resort in Georgian times and remains a major cultural tourism centre having gained World Heritage City status.
For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Bath and North East Somerset. especially the sections entitled "History" (highly recommended) and "Governance" (including the list of civil parishes and former rural districts and the link to Google maps showing their locations).
The article Somerset Coalmining gives a history of the coalfield and a list of the collieries together with the periods during which each operated.
Research Tips
- The Somerset Heritage Centre (incorporating what was formerly the Somerset Record Office and the Somerset Local Studies Library) can be found at its new location at Langford Mead in Taunton. It has an online search facility leading to pages of interest, including maps from the First and Second Ordnance Survey (select "Maps and Postcards" from the list at the left, then enter the parish in the search box).
The Heritage Centre has an email address: archives@somerset.gov.uk.
- Three maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrate the changes in political boundaries over the period 1830-1945. All have expanding scales and on the second and third this facility is sufficient that individual parishes can be inspected.
- Somerset Hundreds as drawn in 1832. This map was prepared before The Great Reform Act of that year. Note the polling places and representation of the various parts of the county.
- Somerset in 1900, an Ordnance Survey map showing rural districts, the boundaries of the larger towns, the smaller civil parishes of the time, and some hamlets and villages in each parish
- Somerset in 1943, an Ordnance Survey map showing the rural districts after the changes to their structure in the 1930s
- Maps provided by the National Library of Scotland are also very useful. This map is currently set to an area now in the Sedgmoor District as it existed in the late 19th century, but can be moved to anywhere in the county using a variety of background maps. There is a very good search facility.
- A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county
- GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish. The emphasis here is on ecclesiastical parishes (useful before 1837)
- A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 and tables of the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. The compiler has gone to a lot of work to provide this material. Respect his copyright.
- The FamilySearch Wiki for Somerset provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
- English Jurisdictions, a supplementary website to FamilySearch outlining local parish boundaries in the middle on the 19th century. The information provided is especially useful for establishing the relationship of the ecclesiastical parishes in large towns and cathedral cities.
- The Victoria History of the Counties of England – History of the County of Somerset, produced by The Institute of Historical Research at the University of London is a scholarly website with articles tracing the history of individual parishes which are sorted into their hundreds, the early subdivisions of the county. It traces the ownership of estates and manors, describes the local church in detail, and usually provides a map of each parish. The volumes for Somerset are much more recent than those for other counties. It appears to be a work in progress, only covering about half the county so far. A map of the places covered in the series is given in Volume 6, but 3 more volumes have been published since then. If a parish is included there will be a note in its Research Tips.
- The Somerset and Dorset Family History Society
- The Weston super Mare Family History Society
- The Bristol and Avon Family History Society
- A list of all Somerset parishes with online transcripts of parish registers The size of Somerset makes this a huge project. If it does not yield what you are looking for, try getting in touch with the organizer with patience and politeness.
- Somerset Online Parish Clerk project home page
- A collection of West Somerset Parish Register Transcriptions are online courtesy of Martin Southwood
|
|