Compton Bishop
| Compton Bishop | |
|---|---|
 Compton Bishop seen from the Mendip Hills |
|
 Compton Bishop
|
|
| Compton Bishop shown within Somerset | |
| Population | 620 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | ST395555 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | AXBRIDGE |
| Postcode district | BS26 |
| Dialling code | 01934 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Compton Bishop is a small village and civil parish, at the western end of the Mendip Hills in the English county of Somerset. It is located close to the historic town of Axbridge. Along with the village of Cross and the hamlets of Rackley and Webbington it forms the parish of Compton Bishop and Cross.
It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Comtone. It was the property of Giso, Bishop of Wells. The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred. The current manor house is a Grade II listed building and was built in the early 17th century.
The parish includes the hamlet of Rackley which was a trading port on the River Axe in the Middle Ages following construction of a wharf in 1200. It now north of the River Axe as the course has been diverted, but on the Cheddar Yeo near the confluence. In 1324 Edward II confirmed it as a borough; however, by the end of the 14th century the port was in decline. In the 14th century a French ship sailed up the river and by 1388 Thomas Tanner from Wells used Rackley to export cloth and corn to Portugal, and received iron and salt in exchange. Later slate was imported through this route and it may have still be possible to trade through Rackley until the act of 1915 authorising the drainage of the Axe and installation of the flood gate at Bleadon.
Also within the parish is the small village of Cross, where Wavering Down House was, for the last 20 years of his life, the home of the British comedian Frankie Howerd. The house is now a tourist attraction, and in the summer hosts concerts and opens regularly as a museum of Howerd's collection of memorabilia to raise fund for charities.
...
Wikipedia