Peasedown St John
| Peasedown St John | |
|---|---|
 The main street |
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 Peasedown St John
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| Peasedown St John shown within Somerset | |
| Population | 6,446 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | ST69355823 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bath |
| Postcode district | BA2 |
| Dialling code | 01761 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Peasedown St John (commonly referred to as just Peasedown) is one of the largest villages in Somerset, England. Located on a hilltop roughly 7 km (4.3 mi) south-southwest of the city of Bath, Peasedown used to be a coal mining village. When the last of the mines was shut in the 1970s it became a dormitory village for both Bath and, to a lesser extent, Bristol. Its size has been increased by substantial developments in the 1960s and 1970s and more recently in the late 1990s.
Archaeological and documentary evidence shows that the site has been occupied from at least the early Iron Age. There is good evidence of Roman and Saxon villages in the area, the Saxon settlements resulting in several entries in the Domesday Book of 1086. The medieval settlement of Eckweek was excavated in 1989, and now lies under the Peasedown Bypass and Underknoll Road.
The present village of Peasedown St John is relatively modern. 'A place known by the name of The Red Post' was how the scattering of buildings was referred to in 1768, taking its name from the local Public House. The hamlet of Carlingcott on the north-west edge of Peasedown is known to have existed before 1800 but the main modern development in the area began in the 19th century when the Somerset Coalfield was greatly expanded as the Industrial Revolution increased demand for coal across England. By 1841 there was still no discernible village, except a few cottages around the Red Post and a small number of buildings along what would become the Bath Road. The sinking of the Braysdown colliery in 1845 meant that accommodation had to be built for the enlarged workforce to work the new pit and expansion of the village was now inevitable.
By the second half of the 20th century there were at least six collieries within 3 km (1.9 mi) of Peasedown, including Braysdown, Camerton, Dunkerton, Writhlington and Shoscombe.
The rapid growth of non-conformist religion across the North-Somerset Coalfield in the later 1800s and early 1900s was evident in Peasedown St John. There was a Primitive Methodist Chapel on the Bath Road (now Peasedown Methodist Church), Wesleyan Chapels in Braysdown Lane, New Buildings and Carlingcott, a United Methodist Chapel in Carlingcott (now Carlingcott Methodist Chapel), a Baptist Chapel on Eckweek Road (now Zebedees Nursery School) and a Christadelphian Hall which still stands on Huddox Hill.
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Wikipedia