| Mells | |
|---|---|
 New Street, leading towardsSt Andrew's Church | |
  Mells Location withinSomerset | |
| Population | 638 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | ST729489 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | FROME |
| Postcode district | BA11 |
| Dialling code | 01373 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°14′23″N2°23′17″W / 51.23972°N 2.38806°W /51.23972; -2.38806 | |
Mells is a village andcivil parish in Somerset, England, near the town ofFrome.
The parish includes the village of Vobster, which had a coal mine of the same name on theSomerset coalfield and a quarry, both of which are now disused. The old quarry is now used as adiving centre. TheChurch of St Edmund, at Vobster byBenjamin Ferrey, dates from 1846 and is a Grade IIlisted building.[3] Vobster Inn Bridge, which carries the lane over theMells River, is dated 1764, and is Grade II listed.[4]
In theDomesday Book of 1086 the village was known as "Mulne" meaning several mills.[5] The parish was part of thehundred ofFrome.[6]
Around 1500 Mells seems to have been known asIron Burgh, as a result of the iron ore extracted in the area.[7]
Thevillage hall was built in the 14th century as atithe barn forGlastonbury Abbey and now serves as thevillage hall.[8][9]
During the 19th and early 20th centuries Mells and surrounding villages had several coal mines on theSomerset coalfield, much of which may have supplied the iron works ofJames Fussell. TheOld Ironstone Works is abiological Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the population ofGreater andLesser Horseshoe bats. The site is a ruined iron works, which mainly produced agricultural edge-tools which were exported all over the world, and is now, in addition to its unique and major importance in relation to industrial archaeology. The block of buildings adjacent to the entrance islisted Grade II* and most of the rest of the site is aScheduled Ancient Monument. It is included in theHeritage at Risk Register produced byEnglish Heritage.[10]
Mells War Memorial is a grade II* listed building. It was designed bySir Edwin Lutyens and is one of several structures in the village by the same architect. The memorial was unveiled in 1921 by Brigadier-GeneralArthur Asquith, whose brother—killed in action in the First World War—is listed on the memorial. The Asquith family have a long association with the village.[11]
The nearby former railway is now the route ofNCR 24, the Colliers Way.Mells Road railway station opened in 1875 and closed in 1959.[12]
Close to the church is the Grade Ilisted 16th-centuryManor House,[13] formerly in the Horner family[14] and now the residence ofRaymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith. The other large house, Park House, withinMells Park, was largely rebuilt byLutyens in 1923 following the destruction of the original 18th century Park House by fire in 1917;Pevsner calls attention to its ashlar masonry, Doric pilasters, and hipped roof.[14] TheTalbot Inn, a formercoaching inn, dates from the 15th century and is Grade II* listed.[15] It was voted Sunday Times Hotel of the Year in 2013.[16]
The stonevillage lock-up was built in the 17th century.[17]
The Mells Post Office and Shop was refurbished and reopened in 2009 as a community social enterprise, following the retirement of the postmaster the previous year. The attached Mells Café was opened in 2011 byThe Great British Bake Off starMary Berry.[18]
The Walled Garden, part of a former monastery, is now a cafe, shop and plant nursery.
MellsChurch of EnglandFirst School, on the edge of thevillage green, was established in the mid-nineteenth century. It serves Mells and nearby villages and had 71 children on the roll in 2016.[19] Mells Nursery School provides full day care for children from two years old to school age in a dedicated building which has been constructed adjacent to the school.[20]
Mells held onEaster Mondays a popular and traditional event called MellsDaffodil Festival for 42 years until 2021. In 2024 this was replaced by a smaller village event, the Mells Fete.
Mells Manor was purportedly procured by Jack Horner upon discovering thedeed in a pie given to him to carry to London byRichard Whiting, the lastAbbot of Glastonbury. This act is referenced in the popular nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner". An alternative explanation is that the manor was bought in 1543. After successive generations Thomas Strangways Horner moved out of the manor house in the village and commissionedNathaniel Ireson to build the original Park House withinMells Park.[21]
Theparish council has 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, andneighbourhood 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, 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 the responsibility of the council.
Forlocal government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the parish comes under theunitary authority ofSomerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of thenon-metropolitan district ofMendip (established under theLocal Government Act 1972). It was part ofFrome Rural District before 1974.[22]
The village is part of the 'Ammerdown'electoral ward. The ward stretches north toHemington also visitingKilmersdon. The ward has a total population at the2011 census of 2,371.[23]
It is also part of theFrome and East Somersetcounty constituency represented in theHouse of Commons of theParliament of the United Kingdom. It elects oneMember of Parliament (MP) by thefirst past the post system of election.
The village's most notable feature isSt Andrew's Church, a Grade Ilisted building praised byPevsner and predominantly from the late 15th century. The tower, which reaches 104 feet (32 m),[24] dates from the mid 16th century.[25] The centre of the chapel is dominated by anequestrian statue of Edward Horner (who fell at theBattle of Cambrai in 1917) by SirAlfred Munnings. A number of benches are Jacobean. There is a large piece of embroidery in thepre-Raphaelite manner, made by theMrs Horner who was a friend ofBurne-Jones.[14]
There is also a memorial, designed byEdwin Lutyens, toRaymond Asquith, who died in France in 1916.[24] The churchyard is the last resting place of the poetSiegfried Sassoon and the Roman Catholic priest and writerRonald Knox.
There is a small Roman Catholic chapel in the grounds of the Manor House.
Mells was rated as among the "20 most beautiful villages in the UK and Ireland" byCondé Nast Traveler in 2020. The publication recommends that visitors "marvel at the 15th-century New Street".[26]
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