Pensford

File:Pensford High Street, from lock-up.jpg

The name Pensford is in all likelihood derived from Brythonic Penffordd, meaning roughly 'top of the road' or 'the highest or furthest point of the road'. Alternatively, it may mean 'The animal pens by the ford' from the Old English pens and ford.{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Somerset Place Names |year=1992 |publisher=The Dovecote Press Ltd |location=Wimborne, Dorset |isbn=1-874336-03-2}}

The parish of Pensford was part of the Keynsham Hundred,{{cite web|title=Somerset Hundreds|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/|publisher=GENUKI|access-date=15 October 2011}}

During the 14th to 16th centuries Pensford was a cloth centre based on local wool.{{cite journal|last=Hare|first=J.N.|date=22 January 2003|title=Growth and recession in the fifteenth-century economy: the Wiltshire textile industry and the countryside|journal=The Economic History Review|volume=52|issue=1|pages=1–26|url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119059117/abstract?CRETRY=1|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130106032656/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119059117/abstract?CRETRY=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 January 2013|url-access=subscription|doi=10.1111/1468-0289.00116}}

On 24 June 1685 rebel forces camped at Pensford during the Monmouth Rebellion.{{cite book|last=Tincey|first=John|title=Sedgemoor 1685: Marlborough's first victory|year=2005|publisher=Pen and Sword Books|location=Barnsley|isbn=978-1844151479|page=61}}

File:Converted_mine_building_-_geograph.org.uk_-_468861.jpg

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the main industry was coal mining, with Pensford and the surrounding area forming a major part of the Somerset coalfield. Pensford and Bromley Collieries Ltd opened Pensford colliery to mine the Pensford syncline in 1909. By 1947, the mines output was 70,000 tons per annum. The colliery was connected by a spur of the North Somerset Railway .

The mine was prone to flooding and coal dust explosions. In 1931, Parliament discussed the safety record of the Somerset coalfield showing that between 1927 and 1930, 206 minors were injured in accidents, and 2 minors died at the colliery. In the early 1920s, the Minors Welfare Institute was founded and paid for by the miners. The Institute helped widows and held benevolent events.

The mine was deemed uneconomical and closed in 1955. Its sight was used as the depot for Filer's Coaches and was later converted to residential property. {{cite book |last1=Down |first1=C.G. |first2=A. J. |last2=Warrington |title=The history of the Somerset coalfield |year=2005 |publisher=Radstock Museum |location=Radstock |isbn=978-0-9551684-0-6 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/p231.htm|title=Pensford Colliery|access-date=28 November 2024|website=www.dmm.org.uk|publisher=Durham Mining Museum}}{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1931-05-07/debates/0435fe30-d8bc-45a8-bf53-4f25d8a71915/Accidents(Somerset)|title=Coal Industry Accidents (Somerset)| volume=252|date=7 May 1931|access-date=28 November 2023|website=hansard.parliament.uk}}

File:Aftermath_of_the_July_68_floods_at_Pensford_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6776976.jpg

The River Chew suffered a major flood in 1968 with serious damage to towns and villages along its route. The flood swept away the bridge over the A37 and damaged the railway viaduct so badly that it never reopened.{{cite web | title=The great flood of 1968 | work=Memories of Bristol | url=http://weldgen.tripod.com/the-great-flood-1968/index.html | access-date=4 January 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060502142132/http://weldgen.tripod.com/the-great-flood-1968/index.html |archive-date = 2 May 2006}} On 10–11 July, a storm brought heavy rainfall to the valley, with {{convert|175|mm|in|0}} falling in 18 hours on Chew Stoke, double the area's average rainfall for the whole of July.{{cite book|last=Richley|first=Rob|title=The Chew Valley floods of 1968|publisher=Environment Agency|location=Exeter|date=June 2008}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/history/gallery/dramatic-long-lost-photos-reveal-7449558|title=Dramatic long lost photos reveal devastation of 1968 Bristol and Somerset summer floods|last=Butler|first=Jackie|date=14 August 2022|publisher=www.bristolpost.co.uk|access-date=28 November 2024}}

Pensford and Publow has its own parish council which has some responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.

It is part of the Publow and Whitchurch Ward which is represented by one councillor on the Bath and North East Somerset Unitary Authority which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. It is also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, and the Great Western Ambulance Service.

Bath and North East Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in Bath. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Wansdyke district and the City of Bath of the county of Avon.{{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19950493_en_1.htm |title=The Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995 |access-date=9 December 2007 |work=HMSO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130105206/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19950493_en_1.htm |archive-date=30 January 2008 }} Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Clutton Rural District.[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10107775&c_id=10001043 A Vision of Britain Through Time : Clutton Rural District] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323235338/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10107775 |date=23 March 2012 }}

The village falls within the Publow and Whitchurch electoral ward. From Pensford the ward strikes north to end at Whitchurch on the Bristol border. The total population of this ward taken from the 2011 census was 2,473.{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/publow-and-whitchurch-e05001961#sthash.6WG7qDHn.dpbs|title=Publow and Whitchurch ward 2011|access-date= 8 March 2015}}

The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of North East Somerset and Hanham.{{cite web |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/cgi-bin/calcwork.pl?seat=Somerset%20North%20East |title=Somerset North East: New Boundaries Calculation |access-date=19 September 2007 |work=Electoral Calculus: General Election Prediction |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214160228/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/cgi-bin/calcwork.pl?seat=Somerset%20North%20East |archive-date=14 February 2009 |df=dmy-all }} It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

According to the 2001 Census, the Publow and Whitchurch Ward (which includes Belluton and Publow), had 1,087 residents, living in 429 households, with an average age of 40.8 years. Of these 73% of residents describing their health as 'good', 24% of 16- to 74-year-olds had no qualifications; and the area had an unemployment rate of 2.3% of all economically active people aged 16–74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, it was ranked at 26,408 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived.{{cite web | title=Neighbourhood Statistics LSOA Bath and North East Somerset 020D Publow and Whitchurch | work=Office for National Statistics 2001 Census | url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadProfileSearch.do?profileSearchText=BS39+4AJ&searchProfiles= | access-date=25 April 2006}}

{{Main|St Thomas à Becket Church, Pensford}}

File:Pensford (Somerset) St Thomas a Becket Church - geograph.org.uk - 67837.jpg]]

First built in the 14th century, the St Thomas à Becket Church is a Grade II* listed building{{NHLE |num=1136393 |desc=St Thomas A Beckett Church |access-date=27 July 2007}}

Following damage in the 1968 floods the church was deconsecrated. During the 1980s an attempt was made to turn it into an arts centre but this was abandoned when the extent of the repairs required to make the building safe became clear. In 2007 the church was put on the market for redevelopment,{{cite news |title=For Sale — Pensford Church |work=Chew Valley Gazette |date=October 2007 }} and in 2008 purchased for repair and use as a private dwelling.{{cite news |title=Church sold |work=Mendip Times |date=May 2008 }} The redevelopment of the church into a private dwelling was featured in the first episode of television series Restoration Home.

File:Pensford lock up.JPG

Pensford has an octagonal eighteenth-century village lock-up.{{cite book |author1=Mason, Edmund J. |author2=Mason, Doreen |name-list-style=amp | title = Avon Villages | publisher = Robert Hale Ltd | isbn=0-7091-9585-0 | year = 1982 }} This is a Grade II listed building{{NHLE |num=1129494 |desc=Pensford Lock |access-date=1 July 2008}} and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

{{Clear}}

File:George and Dragon Pensford.JPG

Pensford has three pubs: the Travellers Rest, the Rising Sun, and the George and Dragon. During the 17th and 18th centuries Pensford was an important staging post for stage coaches which stopped at the George and Dragon and the Rising Sun. The George and Dragon dates from 1752 and is a Grade II listed building.

{{NHLE |num=1136411 |desc=George and Dragon |access-date=1 July 2008}}

{{Clear}}

File:Pensford Chew Bridge.jpg

• 149 High Street{{NHLE |num=1365672 |desc=149 High Street |access-date=22 April 2006}}
• Bridge House{{NHLE |num=1136398 |desc=Bridge House |access-date=22 April 2006}}
• Bridge over the River Chew{{NHLE |num=1129492 |desc=Bridge over the River Chew |access-date=22 April 2006}}
• Gill's G.V. Shoe Shop{{NHLE |num=1129493 |desc=Gill's G.V. Shoe Shop — Row of 6 cottages |access-date=22 April 2006}}
• 129-131 High Street{{NHLE |num=1136406 |desc=129-131 High Street |access-date=22 April 2006}}
• Old Bakery{{NHLE |num=1312807 |desc=Old Bakery |access-date=22 April 2006}}
• Guy's Farm{{NHLE |num=1194767 |desc=Guy's Farm |access-date=22 April 2006}}
• Viaduct View{{NHLE |num=1365671 |desc=Viaduct View |access-date=22 April 2006}}

The village's war memorial is also grade II listed and commemorates the seven people from the village who died in each of World War I and World War II. It is a wheel cross, with a Celtic-style carving.{{cite web|url=http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/conMemorial.29136/|title=Pensford|work=United Kingdom National Inventory of War memorials|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=1 July 2008}}

For centuries Pensford has been an important crossing point on the River Chew. The modern road bridge was rebuilt in 1968 after flood damage, but the much older (1839–85) bridge, by the church, survived the flood.

On the western side of the village is Pensford Viaduct on the disused Bristol and North Somerset Railway, built in 1873 but closed to trains in 1968 after the great flood of Pensford, after which it was deemed unsafe. The last passenger train had been earlier: the 9:25 a.m. from Frome to Bristol on 31 October 1959; after that there were only goods trains (mainly bringing coal from Radstock), which ceased in 1964, and very occasional excursion trains. Pensford viaduct is 995 feet (303 m) long, reaches a maximum height of 95 feet (29 m) to rail level and consists of sixteen arches. The viaduct is now a Grade II listed building.

File:Pensford 2.jpg

Nearby is Lord's Wood, Pensford, and the village is on the route of the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath.

• Neil Hudson is notable for winning the 1981 F.I.M. 250cc Motocross World Championship
• Acker Bilk Jazz clarinetist
• Chris Biscoe Jazz musician
• John Locke FRS, Philosopher and physician 1632-1704, known as the 'Father of Liberalism', lived in John Locke's Cottage in Belluton, in the parish of Publow with Pensford, from shortly after his birth until 1647.
• Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead lived in the village from 1979 to 1981.
• John Perry, guitarist of The Only Ones, lived here between 1972 and 1975.
• Lily Newton botanist and phycologist (1893-1981)

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book | author = Durham, I. & M.| year = 1991 | title = Chew Magna and the Chew Valley in old photographs | publisher = Redcliffe Press | isbn =1-872971-61-X }}
• {{cite book | editor = Janes, Rowland| year = 1987 | title = The Natural History of the Chew Valley | isbn =0-9545125-2-9 }}
• {{Cite book|title=We Remember It Well : Stories of the Great Flood of 1968 from Pensford, Publow and Woollard|last=Baber|first=Julie|publisher=PPW Publishing|year=2018|isbn=9781527231818|language=English|oclc=1111294246}}

• [http://www.publow-with-pensford-pc.gov.uk/ Parish website]
• [http://www.riverchew.co.uk/ River Chew website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070121230731/http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/maps/os62htm/1212.htm Map of Pensford circa 1900]

{{Subject bar|auto=y|d=y}}

{{Chew Valley}}

Category:Villages in Bath and North East Somerset

Category:Somerset coalfield