Minehead

Minehead
View over Minehead as seen from one of the surrounding hills
Population	10,330
OS grid reference	SS970460
Civil parish	Minehead
District	West Somerset
Shire county	Somerset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Minehead
Postcode district	TA24
Dialling code	01643
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Bridgwater and West Somerset

Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in the north-west of the English county of Somerset. It lies on the Bristol Channel coast, 21 miles (34 km) north-west of the county town of Taunton, 12 miles (19 km) from the border with the county of Devon and very close to the area of Exmoor National Park. Minehead has a population of approximately 10,330 making it the largest town in the West Somerset area. The parish includes Alcombe, which has now been absorbed into the town.

There is evidence of human occupation in the area since the Bronze and Iron Ages. Prior to the Norman Conquest it was held by Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia and after it by William de Moyon and his descendants who administered the area from Dunster Castle, which was later sold to Sir George Luttrell and his family. There was a small port at Minehead by 1380, and during the medieval period it grew into a major trading centre. In the 20th century most trade transferred to larger ports, but pleasure steamers did call at the port. Major rebuilding took place in the Lower or Middle town area following a fire in 1791 and the fortunes of the town revived with the growth in sea bathing, and by 1851 was becoming a retirement centre. There was a marked increase in building in the early years of the 20th century resulting in the wide main shopping avenue of the town and adjacent roads with Edwardian style architecture. Following a storm in 1990 which led to flooding in the town flood defences have been improved.

Minehead is governed by a town council, which was created in 1983 and has been part of the West Somerset local government district since 1974. In addition to the parish church of St. Michael, Alcombe is home to what used to be the Parish Church in Grove Place which is now a Spiritualist Church. Since 1991, Minehead has been twinned with Saint-Berthevin, a small town close to the regional centre of Laval in the Mayenne département of France. Blenheim Gardens, which is Minehead’s largest park, was opened in 1925. The town is also the home of a Butlins Holiday Park which increases Minehead's seasonal tourist population by several thousand. There are a variety of schools and religious, cultural and sporting facilities including sailing and wind surfing and golf. One popular ancient local tradition involves the Hobby Horse, or Obby Oss, which takes to the streets on the eve of the first of May each year, with accompanying musicians and rival horses, for four days. The town is the starting point of the South West Coast Path National Trail, the nation's longest long-distance countryside walking trail. The Minehead Railway was opened in 1874 and closed in 1971 but has since been reopened as the West Somerset Railway.

History

The original name of the town was 'mynedd' which means mountain in Welsh, which has also been written as Mynheafdon (1046), Maneheve (1086), Menehewed (1225) and Menedun (also 1225), which contain elements of Welsh and Old English words for hill.

Bronze Age barrows at Selworthy Beacon and an Iron Age enclosure at Furzebury Brake, north of the town show evidence of prehistoric occupation of the area, although there is also possible evidence in the intertidal area, where the remains of a submerged forest still exist.

Minehead is mentioned as a manor belonging to William de Moyon in the Domesday Book in 1086, although it had previously been held by Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia. William de Mohun of Dunster, 1st Earl of Somerset and his descendants administered the area from Dunster Castle, which was later sold to Sir George Luttrell and his family.

There was a small port at Minehead by 1380, but it was not until 1420 that money given by Lady Margaret Luttrell enabled improvements to be made and a jetty built. During the reign of Elizabeth I, the town had its own Port Officer similar to Bristol. Vessels in the 15th century included the Trinite which traded between Ireland and Bristol, and others carrying salt and other cargo from La Rochelle in France. Other products included local wool and cloth which were traded for coal from south Wales. In 1559 a Charter of Incorporation, established a free Borough and Parliamentary representation, but was made conditional on improvements being made to the port. The harbour silted up and fell into disrepair so that in 1604 James I withdrew the towns charter. Control reverted to the Luttrells and a new harbour was built, at a cost of £5,000, further out to sea than the original, which had been at the mouth of the Bratton Stream. It incorporated a pier, dates from 1616, and was built to replace that at Dunster which was silting up. Trade was primarily with Wales for cattle, sheep, wool, butter, fish and coal. These are commemorated in the town arms which include a woolpack and sailing ship. Privateers based at Minehead were involved in the war with Spain and France during 1625-1630 and again during the War of the Spanish Succession from 1702–1713. The first cranes were installed after further improvements to the port in 1714.

By the beginning of the 18th century, trade between Minehead and Ireland, South Wales, Bristol and Bridgwater with forty vessels based in the harbour for trade and herring fishing. It was also a departure point for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostella. Trade continued with Ireland but Minehead vessels started to trade further afield in Virginia and the West Indies, but these dwindled by the 19th century. Further problems with the port continued and led to a decline in trade and the fisheries in the late 18th century and in 1834 the port lost its jurisdiction to Bridgwater. In the 20th century most trade transferred to larger ports, but pleasure steamers did call at the port. The pier was demolished during World War II as it obstructed the view from the gun battery on the quay head. The lifeboat house was established in 1901.

Statue of Queen Anne in Wellington Square

Major rebuilding took place in the Lower or Middle town area following a fire in 1791. In that year an Alabaster statue of Queen Anne, sculpted by Francis Bird was presented to the town by Sir Jacob Bancks a local Member of Parliament from 1698 to 1715. It originally stood in the parish church but was moved to Wellington Square in 1893, when the marble pedestal and canopy by H Dare Bryan were added. Lower town and the quay area were rebuilt and the fortunes of the town revived with the growth in sea bathing, and by 1851 was becoming a retirement centre.

Early areas of development of the town include Higher Town with its cottages some of which are still thatched and the Quay area. There was a marked increase in building in the early years of the 20th century when the landowners, the Luttrells of Dunster Castle, released extensive building land. One of the architects in the town was W.J.Tamlyn who came to the town from Barnstaple, Devon and was responsible for designing several hundred properties including the Market House, Town Hall and Queens Hall. His input resulted in the many houses and terraces to be seen leading off from the town centre and up North Hill with red Bridgwater tiles and sandstone detailing on the Edwardian style architecture. In Victorian times tourism grew as an important industry.

The steamship, SS Pelican grounded in Minehead Bay on 22 June 1928. The ship was grounded on an unmarked reef, known as the Gables, 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from land, which circles Minehead bay. The Pelican was sailing from Port Talbot to Highbridge. The crew of five were rescued by the Minehead lifeboat.

In World War II evacuees were billeted in Minehead and the pier was demolished, as part of the coastal defence preparations, which stopped steamers calling at the harbour until it was cleared in 1951. In 1962 Butlins opened which has since brought thousands of visitors to the town.

Governance

The civil parish of Minehead is governed by a town council, which was created in 1983. In 2002, the parish was estimated to have a population of 10330. Administratively, Minehead has been part of the West Somerset local government district since 1974, having previously been Minehead Urban District. The district is in turn part of the Somerset shire county, and administrative tasks are shared between county, district and town councils.

It falls within the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The current MP is Ian Liddell-Grainger, a member of the Conservative Party.

It is within the South West England (European Parliament constituency) which elects six MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Geography

One of the wild ponies on north hill.

Minehead is located on the Bristol Channel coast of South-West England, and thus experiences one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. The tidal rise and fall in the Bristol Channel can be as great as 14.5 m (48 ft), second only to Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada.

The town is overlooked by North Hill, and is just outside the boundaries of Exmoor National Park. The cliff exposures around the shoreline are dramatic and fossils are exposed. Areas of the town included Higher Town, Quay Town and Lower or Middle Town, although they are no longer separate.

In 1990, much of Minehead's beach was washed away in a severe storm which also caused serious flooding in the town. A £12.6 million sea defence scheme by the Environment Agency was designed to reduce the risk of this erosion and flooding happening again in the future. The Environment Agency built 1.1 miles (1.8 km) of new sea wall and rock or concrete stepped revetment between 1997 and 1998 and imported 320,000 tons of additional sand in 1999 to build a new beach. This beach sits between four rock groynes and has been built at a much higher level than the previous beach so that it breaks the waves before they reach the new sea wall. Any waves that do reach the new wall are turned back by its curved shape. The town's new sea defences were officially opened in 2001 by Sir John Harman.

Blenheim Gardens, which is Minehead’s largest park, was opened in 1925. The bandstand within the park is used to host musical events.

Along with the rest of South West England, Minehead has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50 °F) with seasonal and diurnal variations, but due to the modifying effect of the sea, the range is less than in most other parts of the United Kingdom. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 1 °C (34 °F) and 2 °C (36 °F). July and August are the warmest months in the region with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (70 °F). In general, December is the dullest month and June the sunniest. The south west of England enjoys a favoured location, particularly in summer, when the Azores High extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK.

Cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and reduces exposure to sunshine. The average annual sunshine totals around 1600 hours. Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of the annual precipitation falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. Average rainfall is around 800–900 mm (31–35 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest. The predominant wind direction is from the south west.

Landmarks

Sculpture marking the start of the South West Coast Path.

The town's major tourist attraction is Butlins holiday camp. Other attractions include: the terminus of the West Somerset Railway; the town's main ornamental park, off Blenheim Road (Blenheim Gardens); and the Minehead & West Somerset Golf Club, Somerset's oldest golf club, established in 1882. There are a variety of sailing and wind surfing options, in addition to the usual beach activities. In addition, there are many other attractions and amusement arcades and a variety of well-known high street stores; such as W H Smith and Alliance Boots together with independent local shops. There is also Tesco supermarket situated on the outskirts of Minehead in addition to this, a proposal for a Morrisons supermarket to be built on the unused land near Mcdonald's on Vulcan road has been approved and the store is due to open in October 2010. There is also a Links (golf) course situated in proximity to the sea.

The town is the starting point of the South West Coast Path National Trail, the nation's longest long-distance countryside walking trail. The Trail starts at Minehead and runs round the South West Coast to Poole in Dorset. The South West Coast Path starts at a marker erected in 2001 and partly paid for by the South West Coast Path Association.

Transport

A map of Minehead from 1937

The town's location—sea to the north and Exmoor to the south—means that transport links are limited. Minehead is located on the A39 road. Bus services are operated by First Somerset & Avon, Webberbus and Quantock Motor Services.

Minehead railway station is close to the beach. The Minehead Railway was opened on 16 July 1874, linking the town to Taunton and beyond. It was operated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway which was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway in 1876. The Minehead Railway was itself absorbed into the GWR in 1897, which in turn was nationalised into British Railways in 1948. It was closed on 4 January 1971 but has since been reopened as the West Somerset Railway, which is notable for being the longest heritage railway in Britain.

Education

In Minehead, there are two first schools, one middle school and an upper school, West Somerset Community College, which provides education for 1298 students between the ages of 13 and 18. In 2006 there was debate within Somerset about changing the county's 3-tier school system to a 2-tier system to match the majority of education authorities in the UK.

Religious sites

The parish church of St. Michael dates from the 15th century and has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building. The tower used to display a beacon light for ships approaching the harbour.

St. Andrew's Church was built of red sandstone in 1877-1880, by George Edmund Street.

The Catholic Church in Minehead is Sacred Heart, built in 1896. The parish, which includes a mass centre in the neighbouring village of Watchet, covers an area of 200 square miles (520 km²).

Near the quay a cellar dating from 1628 was given by its owner Robert Quirke for prayers to be offered for those at sea, and dedicated a ship and its cargo to God's service after being in a violent storm at sea.

Butlins Minehead is notable for being the only remaining Butlins to have a small chapel on site.} In addition, Spring Harvest, the largest Christian festival in the UK, uses the entire site over the Easter period every year.

Local economy

Since Victorian times, tourism has been a part of Minehead's economy. Minehead is the location of one of the three remaining Butlins camps in the UK. At the height of the season in late July and early August, Minehead's population significantly increases with an influx of tourists. There is a farmers market on the avenue every Friday where farmers sell their produce.

Culture

The town hosts the annual Minehead and Exmoor Festival, a week-long classical music festival which has been running since 1963. Richard Dickins has held the post of artistic director for the festival since 1982.

The wooded bluffs above Minehead feature as the Hermit's abode "in that wood which slopes down to the sea", in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poet lived nearby, at Nether Stowey (between Bridgwater and Minehead). His statue can be seen at the nearby harbour at Watchet. He and Wordsworth (who lived nearby at Alfoxton House) would often roam the hills and coast on long night walks; leading to local gossip that they were 'spies' for the French. The Government sent an agent to investigate, but found they were, indeed, "mere poets". Cecil F. Alexander wrote the popular Anglican hymn All Things Bright And Beautiful in Minehead and in nearby Dunster the verse:

"The purple headed mountain, The river running by, The sunset and the morning, That brightens up the sky;−" Refers to Grabbist hill and the River Avill that runs near it through the popular tourist location Snowdrop Valley on Exmoor

Minehead was the subject of a parody skit as the fictional target of a takeover in Monty Python's infamous "Mr. Hilter" sketch, where barely-concealed caricatures of Hitler, von Ribbentrop and Heinrich Himmler conspire at a local rooming house. There, the "National Bocialist" party wish to unite Minehead and Taunton in a manner similar to the Anschluss between Germany and Austria in 1938.

May Day Hobby Horse

Minehead Hobby Horse.

One popular ancient local tradition involves the Hobby Horse, or Obby Oss, which takes to the streets on the eve of the first of May each year, with accompanying musicians and rival horses, for four days. In fact there are three rival hobby horses, the Original Sailor's Horse, the Traditional Sailor's Horse and the Town Horse. They appear on May Eve (called "Show Night"), on May Day morning (when they salute the sunrise at a crossroads on the outskirts of town), 2 May and 3 May (when a ceremony called "The Bootie" takes place in the evening called "Bootie Night" at part of town called Cher). Each horse is made of a boat-shaped wooden frame, pointed and built up at each end, which is carried on the dancer's shoulders. As at Padstow, his face is hidden by a mask attached to a tall, pointed hat. The top surface of the horse is covered with ribbons and strips of fabric. A long fabric skirt, painted with rows of multicoloured roundels, hangs down to the ground all round. A long tail is attached to the back of the frame. Each horse is accompanied by a small group of musicians and attendants. The Town Horse is accompanied by "Gullivers", dressed similarly to the horse but without the large frame; as at Padstow, smaller, children's horses have sometimes been constructed. The horses' visits are (or were) believed to bring good luck. In the past there was also a similar hobby horse based at the nearby village of Dunster, which would sometimes visit Minehead. The first of May has been a festival day in Minehead since 1465.

Sport and recreation

In September 2007, Minehead hosted the TWIF European Outdoor Tug of war Championships at Minehead football ground. Minehead has also hosted the Britain's Strongest Man contest on several occasions, most recently in 2004. Since 2006, the World Wrestling Entertainment have gone to the Butlins Resort as part of their winter tour in the United Kingdom.

Minehead F.C. were founded in 1889 and are the main local side.

At Alcombe, within the West Somerset Community College there is the Minehead Cricket Club, who have four men's teams and one women's team.

Notable residents

• Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008), science fiction writer, born in Minehead.
• Richard Chorley (1927–2002), noted physical geographer.
• Sir Nick Partridge OBE, Chief Executive of The Terrence Higgins Trust, and a key campaigner on HIV and AIDS.

External links

• Minehead Town Council (official site)
• Minehead at Curlie
• The Minehead Meander