Place:Elm, Somerset, England

Watchers
NameElm
Alt namesGreat Elmsource: Wikipedia
Hapsfordsource: hamlet in parish
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates51.242°N 2.362°W
Located inSomerset, England
See alsoFrome Hundred, Somerset, Englandhundred in which it was located
Frome Rural, Somerset, Englandrural district in which it was located 1894-1974
Mendip District, Somerset, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
This section is based on various sections of an article in Wikipedia

Elm (#7 on map) or Great Elm is a civil parish with a village of the same name in Somerset, England. Since 1974 it is located between Mells (#17) and Frome in the Mendip District. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford. Another hamlet known as Little Elm prior to 1846, and as Chantry after that date, is located at the western end of Whatley parish (#29). This area was originally a detached part of Elm parish.

After the Norman Conquest the manor was held by the Giffards and later by the Hidges family and then the Stracheys. (source:Bush, Robin (1994). Somerset: The Complete Guide. Dovecote Press. p. 109.) The Stracheys owned Rock House for a period early in the 20th century.

For many years in the 18th and 19th centuries Great Elm was the site of water powered mills owned by James Fussell IV. (source: Thornes, Robin (2010). Men of iron: The Fussells of Mells. Frome Society for Local Study.)

The parish was part of Frome Hundred. The village now falls within the non-metropolitan district of Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having been part of Frome Rural District from 1894.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Great Elm.

Image:Frome Rural 1900 small A.png


Historic Descriptions

1822 - Somersetshire delineated by Christopher & John Greenwood

A parish in the hundred of Frome, 2½ miles W. N. W. from Frome; containing 66 inhabited houses, and 70 families, 20 of whom are employed in agriculture, and 47 in trade, manufacture, or handicraft. Some extensive iron-works have been lately established here, which has increased the population considerably. The church is a small structure, dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of a nave and chancel, with a tower containing three bells. The living is a rectory, in the deanery of Frome; Rev. R. Blakeney is both patron and incumbent. Population, 1801, 331 — 1811, 368 — 1821, 449.

1875 - Somersetshire edited by Edward Robert Kelly

Elm is a small village and parish, comprising GREAT and LITTLE ELM, 118 miles from London, 3 north-west from Frome railway station, in the Eastern division of the county, hundred, union and county court district of Frome, Frome deanery, Wells archdeaconry, diocese of Bath and Wells, and province of Canterbury. The village is pleasantly situated on the edge of a woody vale, a stream running through the valley, and by its side a winding road runs to Mells; it is rich in beautiful and romantic scenery: the rocks overhung with ivy and coppice, ranging to 100 feet in height, bear evident marks of having been torn from the opposite side of the valley by some violent convulsion of nature; the projecting rocks on the one side seem to answer to the indentations on the other. The church of St. Mary is an ancient stone building, in the Early English style: it was restored in 1837, at the cost of £300, and consists of chancel, nave, north transept (added during restoration), saddleback tower, and porch. The register dates from the year 1697. The living is a rectory, worth £250 yearly, with residence, in the gift of William Strachey, esq. There is a school for boys and girls, supported by voluntary subscriptions and the pence from the scholars. To the southwest of the village are the remains of a Roman encampment. There are limekilns, and abundance of limestone in the parish. Vallis Villa, the residence of Mrs. Morrish, is beautifully situated on the south-west slope of a hill overlooking a portion of the Vallis Vale. William Strachey, esq., is lord of the manor and one of the landowners. The soil is various; the subsoil clay and limestone. The land is chiefly pasture for dairy purposes. The acreage is 893; rateable value, £1,989; the population in 1871 was 347.

1929 - Somerset by George Woosung Wade & Joseph Henry Wade

Elm, or Great Elm, a village 3 m. S.W. from Frome, perched on the edge of a vale of quite romantic picturesqueness (see Vallis). The church is an unpretentious little building with a saddleback tower. It bears one or two indications of high antiquity. Note (1) on S. external wall, herring-bone masonry (cp. Marston Magna), (2) Norm, doorway to tower, and E.E. arch within. The interior has been remodelled in accordance with early Victorian ideas of ecclesiastical propriety.

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

Other Resources

Picture Gallery

St. Mary, Great Elm
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St. Mary, Great Elm
Elm Lane
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Elm Lane