Midsomer Norton is a town near the Mendip Hills in Bath and North East Somerset, England. It lies south-west of Bath, north-east of Wells, north-west of Frome, west of Trowbridge and south-east of Bristol. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 12,197, and the built-up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics, which extends into the neighbouring parish of Westfield, had a population of 13,745. The town closely adjoins neighbouring Radstock. Between 1933 and 2011 they formed a single administrative area called Norton Radstock.
Midsomer Norton is characterised by the River Somer which runs the length of the town centre. The river itself was regenerated with new plant life during the summer of 2012 in a bid to improve the aesthetics of the town centre. The Town has a long history which can be seen through a number of early churches which remain, but really started to grow and become a transport hub with the development of the Somerset coalfield. For many years the coalmines provided employment for local men until they ceased operations in the 1960s, around the same time that the town's two railway stations also closed. Afterwards, good employment opportunities still remained for the town with elements of the print industry. Some of these plants have also now begun to close, but overall employment levels in the area remain very high.
Midsomer Norton provides shopping and service industries for the surrounding areas and supports several music venues and bands. The town has four primary schools and two large secondary schools. Midsomer Norton is home to a leisure centre, several sports clubs and provides youth opportunities such as Scouts and Guides. It has been the birthplace or home to several notable people.
History Name "Norton" means 'northish enclosure' from the Old English, while the use of its forename to distinguish it from other 'Nortons' is of late origin and not mentioned until 1334. Sources point to the town being situated midway between two branches of the River Somer; the Somer itself and Wellow Brook, which joins the Somer a short distance to the east near Radstock.
The spelling "Missomerys Norton" may be a variation.; third entry. line 3; the place where a trespass occurred, according to the plea.
Eilert Ekwall wrote that the village "is said to be so called in allusion to the festival held at midsummer on the day of St. John, the patron saint."
John Wesley wrote of the appalling local road conditions which ensured it was reachable "only in midsummer." As Simon Winchester notes in his book The Map that Changed the World, "...the roads on this part of Somerset were atrocious, thick with mud and as rough as the surface of the moon".
'Norton Canonicorum' and the priory In some church records the town is referred to as 'Norton Canonicorum' as an alternative to Midsomer Norton, and this may be because of the local Priory's link to Merton Priory in London until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538.
Prehistory
The area at what is now Langley’s Lane in Midsomer Norton was an important and rare area of Mesolithic activity focused around an active tufa spring.
Roman
The Fosse Way runs through the south-western edge of the town between Westfield, Somerset and Stratton-on-the-Fosse.
Middle Ages The parish was part of the hundred of Chewton.
Following the Norman Conquest William the Conqueror gave large parts of north Somerset, including the manor of Norton to Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances, and Norton was held under him by Ulveva. From about 1150 until 1300 the manor was held by de Lincoln. From 1387 the manor was held by the family of Thomas West, 1st Baron West and his descendants.
18th and 19th century: mining and landmarks The Duchy of Cornwall owned most of the mineral rights around Midsomer Norton and various small pits opened around 1750 to exploit these. Coal mining in the Somerset coalfield gave the town and area its impetus as an industrial centre.
Around 1866 an obelisk Crimean War monument with two marble plaques, was built at the site of St Chad's well, by the mother of Frederick Stukeley Savage for the benefit of the poor. The obelisk was in the grounds of Norton House, a Georgian mansion built by Thomas Savage, an investor in coalmines in the area, in 1789. The house itself has since been demolished but other features of its estate are still visible at Silver Street Nature reserve (see below).
Governance
There are two main tiers of local government covering Midsomer Norton, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Midsomer Norton Town Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council. The latter is a member of the West of England Combined Authority, led by the directly elected Mayor of the West of England. The town council is based at Midsomer Norton Town Hall at the corner of The Island and High Street. The building was built in 1860.
For national elections, Midsomer Norton forms part of the Frome and East Somerset constituency.
Administrative history Midsomer Norton was an ancient parish in the Chewton hundred of Somerset. As well as the town itself, Midsomer Norton parish included the hamlets of Welton and Clapton, and also had an exclave covering the western side of the village of Stratton on the Fosse. The settlements of Clandown and Westfield both straddled the boundaries between Midsomer Norton and Radstock parishes.
The parish of Midsomer Norton was made a local government district in 1868, administered by an elected local board. Such districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894.
Midsomer Norton Urban District and the neighbouring Radstock Urban District were abolished in 1933, with their areas merging to become a new Norton Radstock Urban District. Some adjustments were made to the boundaries with neighbouring parishes as part of the same reforms. The detached part of Midsomer Norton parish was added to Stratton on the Fosse, and the Clapton area was transferred to Ston Easton parish. The neighbouring parish of Writhlington was also abolished, with the northern part around the village included in the new Norton Radstock district, and the more rural southern part of that parish transferred to Kilmersdon. There were also more minor adjustments to the boundaries with the neighbouring parishes of Kilmersdon and Paulton.
The new Norton Radstock Urban District Council chose to base itself in Midsomer Norton. In 1937, four years after its creation, the council bought a large 18th-century house called The Hollies at 19 High Street to serve as its headquarters.
Norton Radstock Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 and the area became part of the new Wansdyke district in the new county of Avon. A successor parish called Norton Radstock was created as part of the 1974 reforms, covering the former urban district.
Wandsyke and Avon were abolished in 1996, when the parish of Norton Radstock became part of Bath and North East Somerset. For ceremonial purposes, the area was restored to Somerset at the same time.
The parish of Norton Radstock was abolished in 2011, being split into three new parishes called Radstock, Westfield, and Midsomer Norton. The new parish council for Midsomer Norton took the name Midsomer Norton Town Council.
Geography
The main geological feature in this area of the Mendip Hills south of Hallatrow consists of Supra-Pennant Measures which includes the upper coal measures and outcrops of sandstone. The relics of the industrial past are very evident within the area, including the distinct conical shape of the Old Mills batch overlooking the town. Midsomer Norton lies on the River Somer which rises to the west of Chilcompton and on the Wellow Brook which rises near the village of Ston Easton. The town therefore occupies two valleys of the Mendip Hills and these merge west of Radstock. The combined river then flows east reaching the River Avon near Midford, thence to Bath and through Bristol into the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth.
On the southern fringes of the town is the Silver Street Local Nature Reserve, on the site of the estate of Norton House, an eighteenth century mansion built by the coalmine-owning Savage family but demolished in 1937-8. It contains a broad-leaf woodland around several ponds, a restored nineteenth-century wellhead that supplied water to the house, and a grassland field. The woodland is leased to the Somerset and Dorset Heritage Railway Trust by Bath and North East Somerset Council and the meadow in the stewardship of Somervale School.
Along with the rest of South West England, the Midsomer Norton has a temperate climate 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 the modifying effect of the sea, restricts the range to less than that 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, 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 is about 1,600 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 prevailing wind direction is from the south-west.
Midsomer Norton flood alleviation scheme For many years, the centre of Midsomer Norton was prone to flooding. Sometimes several times a year, the Somer rose up during prolonged rainfall and flooded shops, particularly where the High Street is at its lowest point in the middle between Martin's newsagent and the former Palladium cinema.
To prevent future deluges, a major flood alleviation tunnel — completed in 1977 – was constructed beneath the high street to remove excess water when the town centre was threatened with flooding. The infrastructure comprises a sluice gate situated at the top of the high street near Somervale School through which the water is carried under the town via a pre-cast concrete culvert several metres in diameter to an outlet further downstream at Rackvernal. Since it began operation, no flooding has occurred to the high street and an Environment Agency report confirms that the relief scheme remains in good condition and continues to serve to its 100-year standard.
Despite the success of the scheme, some outlying areas of the town are now rated at increased risk of flooding from Wellow Brook due to climate change and the increased provision of housing in the vicinity. In 2008 a new monitoring station was installed at nearby Welton through which data on water pressure and flood levels can be collected via metal tubes placed in the river linked to a telemetry box. This facility is now providing the Environment Agency with extremely useful information for use in future assessments of flood risk.
Industry and commerce