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Village Profile and History
Chew Magna Chronology
Stanton Drew stone circle 2.5 km east
late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age significant archaeological deposits
at Chew Manor
Maes Knoll Iron Age fortified settlement 4 km north east
small but potentially important Roman archaeological deposits near Silver Street;
villas at Gold’s Cross and Chew Park 3-
Wansdyke earthwork 4 km north east
Edward the Confessor grants Chew Magna to his chaplain and makes him Bishop of Wells
The village first documented as Ciw
Chiwe documented in Domesday Book3 which records five mills for grinding corn
Original timber church built
building of St Andrew’s Church
Dumper’s House built
Woodbine Farm, High Street/Chew Lane
Tun Bridge built
Old Schoolroom built
Chew Magna obtained borough status and market
John Leland description: “Chute is a pretty clothing town, and hath a fair church. And at the south side of the church is a fair manor place of the bishop of Bath....”
Tucking mill built
settlement at The Batch
Croft Cottage, Norton Lane built
Elm Farm built
records of Pelican Inn, High Street
settlement at Tunbridge Road
insurance certificate refers to Chew Magna Mill
John Collinson description: “... a large and populous parish, very pleasantly situated
.... (the two rivers) make the town a sort of peninsula. In former days this was
a borough, a market, a large clothing town ...its only manufacture are a few edge-
Acraman’s mill founded
building of large Bristol merchants’ houses in High Street and Harford Square
C & J Greenwood description: “Chew Magna ... containing 368 inhabited houses, and
403 families, 177 ... employed in agriculture, 140 in trade, manufacture or handicraft,
and 86 not included in either class.”
JC Buckler drawing ‘Church House at Chew Magna’
tithe map records four mills
Acraman’s Mill and Tucking Mill bought and demolished to enable construction of compensation reservoir
Chota Castle, Chew Lane built
Chew Manor, Battle Lane rebuilt
gas works established
Baptist Chapel, Tunbridge Road built
New Hope Methodist Chapel, Battle Lane built
building of Chew Magna School
enlargement of Chew Magna School
demolition of Seven Bells cottages for building of North Chew Terrace
Church Hall built
piped water supply introduced
new fire station built
building of Chew Valley School, Chew Lane
demolition of cottages in Silver Street for Stoneleigh and other modern houses
Sacred Heart Catholic Church consecrated
demolition of cottage, Harford Square, for building of Midland (now HSBC) Bank
gas works site cleared and redeveloped as Streamside
Refurbished Old Schoolroom becomes Youth Club
first Chew Magna conservation area designated
Parish Council Purchase Old Schoolroom as Village Hall
review of list of buildings of special architectural or historic importance
extension of Chew Magna conservation area
Middle ditch of Stonehenge
Roman Republic Founded
Vesuvius erupted Pompeii destroyed
St Benedict, founder of European Monasticism
First Crusade
Magna Carter
Black Death
War of the Roses
Church of England separates from Rome
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
English Civil Wars
Tea introduced Into England
Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny
Herschel discovers the Planet Uranus
Humphrey Davy invents miner’s arc lamp
Isaac Pitman dvises his first shorthand system
Great Exhibition
Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species
Salvation Army founded by General Booth
Alexander Graham Bell invents telephone
World War I
BBC Founded
World War II
Festival of Britain Exhibition
1st e-
Apollo 11 lands first Man on the moon
Berlin Wall comes down
Channel Tunnel Opens
2000-
800-
500 BC
47-
400-
1062
1065
1086
1191
C13-
C14
C15
Late C15
1510
1535
C1540
C1576
C16
C16
C16/17
1615
C17
1790
1791
C1792
C18-
1822
1834
1840
1848
1861
1864
c1865-
1867
1874
1883
1894
1920s
1923
1937
1953
1958
1963
1964
1966
1970
1971
1978
1981
1986
2002
3020 -
500BC
79AD
400 -
1095
1215
1348
1455-
1534
1594
1642 -
1650
1764
1781
1814
1837
1851
1859
1865
1876
1914-
1922
1939-
1951
1964
1969
1989
1994
Go to Top
Situated within the Chew Valley in the Unitary Authority of Bath and North East Somerset,
Chew Magna village and civil parish is close to the northern edge of the Mendip Hills
(a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), and was designated a conservation
area in 1978.
Chew Magna is on the B3130 road, about 10 miles (16 km) from Bristol, 10 miles (16 km)
from Bath, 15 miles (24 km) from Wells, and 6 miles (10 km) from Bristol Airport,
and the North Somerset coastal Towns of Portishead, Clevedon and Weston-
To the south of the village is Chew Valley Lake, an important site for wildlife which
has been dedicated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special
Protection Area. 
There are many listed buildings reflecting the history of the village, which in Medieval
times played an important part in the wool trade, and one of the Country estates
of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. Two water courses flow through the village and Parish,
The River Chew and Winford Brook.
The village has approximately 1,200 residents. There is one primary school, and an
adjacent secondary school, several shops and small businesses, three churches, and
three pubs serving the area.
In 2011 Chew Magna was voted “The Best Village in Britain”, in a Sunday Times survey
carried out by Savills, and the village frequently wins regional categories in the
Calor Gas ‘Village of the Year’ competition, and it is moving towards zero waste
status, having been described as "probably the greenest parish in Britain".
History
Chew Magna is the largest village in the district, and can trace its importance
back to Saxon times. It was a thriving woollen centre in the Middle Ages. The manor
of Chew was held by the Bishops of Bath and Wells from 1062 to 1548, and therefore
was called Chew Episcopi or Bishop's Chew. The bishops built a palace near the church
of St Andrews, which was visited by Henry III in 1250. Chew Court is a surviving
part of the palace. More recently, since about 1600, the name has been Chew Magna
because this has been the most important of the several villages along the banks
of the River Chew. And the name Magna comes from the Latin meaning 'the great'.
Until about 1880 the village had toll roads and a toll house to collect the fees.
During the 19th and 20th centuries the importance of the wool trade in the village
declined and it became largely a dormitory area for the cities of Bristol and Bath,
although it has continued to be the commercial centre of the valley.
Second World
War
During German bombing raids targeted on Bristol, Ruan House on the road to Chew Hill
was bombed. The nearly flat area just east of the Y-
Chew Valley Lake
The construction of Chew Valley Lake in the early 1950s and opened by Queen Elizabeth
I
I in 1956, provides much of the drinking water for the city of Bristol and surrounding
area, taking its supply from the Mendip Hills. Some of the water from the lake is
used to maintain the flow in the River Chew. The lake is an important site for wildlife
and has been dedicated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special
Protection Area (SPA). It is a national centre for bird watching, with over 260 species
recorded, including some unusual sightings. The lake has indigenous and migrant water
birds throughout the year, and two nature trails have been created. The flora and
fauna provide habitats for some less common plants and insects.
Around the lake refreshments and meals can be found at The Chew Lake Teashop and
Woodford Lodge Restaurant, and some restricted use for recreational activities is
permitted by the owner, Bristol Water, including, nature trails, dinghy sailing and
fishing, primarily for trout.
1968 storm
On 10–11 July 1968 a storm brought heavy rainfall to the Chew valley and Dundry,
with 175 millimetres (7 in) falling in 18 hours on Chew Stoke, double the area's
average rainfall for the whole of July, and flooded 88 properties in Chew Magna with
many being inundated with 8 feet (2 m) of water, and the parapet of the bridge on
the road to Dundry was swept away.
Telephone exchange
The Chew Magna telephone exchange was manually operated until the 1950s. An important
number Chew Magna 2 was that of Doctor Hughes: the exchange operators could often
locate him in an emergency even if he was away from his home and surgery. The manual
exchange served most of the Chew valley and even East Dundry.
Government and politics
Chew Magna has its own parish council, which has some responsibility
for local issues, and is part of the Chew Valley North Ward, which is represented
by one councillor on the Bath and North East Somerset Unitary Authority, which has
wider responsibilities for services such as education, refuse, tourism, etc. The
village is a part of the North East Somerset constituency, and is part of the South
West England constituency of the European Parliament.
Demographics
According to the 2001 Census the Chew Valley North Ward (which includes
Chew Magna and Chew Stoke), had 2,307 residents, living in 911 households, with an
average age of 42.3 years. Of these, 77% of residents described their health as 'good';
21% of 16–74 year olds had no qualifications; and the area had an unemployment rate
of 1.3% of all economically active people aged 16–74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation
2004, it was ranked at 26,243 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most
deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived.
Schools
Chew Magna Primary School won a Becta award for the use of ICT in Practice
in 2005 for using the adventure exploration computer game Myst to support literacy
and communication.
Chew Valley School is the main secondary school (11–18 years) for the valley. It
is situated between Chew Magna and Chew Stoke. The latest (2004) Ofsted Inspection
Report describes this specialist Performing Arts College as a mixed comprehensive
school with 1,158 pupils on roll, including 196 students in the sixth form. It says
the school is popular and oversubscribed, and has been successful in gaining a number
of national and regional awards.
Go Zero project
Chew Magna is the home of the "Go
Zero" project, which promotes education for sustainability at all levels in society,
seeking to conserve and make improvements to the environment in the UK and overseas.
The four groups within Go Zero are: Transport and Energy (which includes the Dragon
flyer Mobility, a plan to develop a range of integrated services that offer communities
in the West of England cost-
Buildings of interest
St
Andrew’s Church
St Andrew's Church dates from the 12th century with a large 15th century pinnacled
sandstone tower, a Norman font and a rood screen that is the full width of the church.
In the church are several memorials to the Stracheys of Sutton Court together with
a wooden effigy of a Knight cross-
ished. Another effigy in the
north chapel is of Sir John St Loe, who was over 7 feet (2 m) tall, and his lady.
The armoured figure is 7 feet 4 inches (2.24 m) long and his feet rest on a lion,
while those of his lady rest on a dog. The church was restored in 1860 and has a
register commencing in 1562. The tower is about one hundred feet tall and was probably
built about 1440. There has been a clock on the tower since the early 1700s. There
is a peal of eight bells in the tower. Tenor 28 cwt (3,136 lbs/1,422 kg) in C. The
original five bells were re-
The churchyard contains several monuments which are Grade II listed buildings in
their own right: the churchyard cross, plus a group of three unidentified monuments.
In addition there is an early 19th century limestone round-
Other buildings
Near the church is a Grade II listed building dating from the late 15th Century,
and possibly one of the most important buildings in Somerset. This building was originally
a ‘Church Ale House’, but is known now as the ‘Old Schoolroom’, which reflects its
use as a school from the 17th Century. It was purchased from the ecclesiastic authorities
in 1981 by the Parish Council, to become Chew Magna’s village Hall, and although
the Parish Council are the custodial trustees of this remarkable relic of the past,
it is run and managed by a Village Management Committee.
Chew Court is another Grade II listed building near to the church, and is what remains
of the Palace of the Medieval Bishops. When it fell into Secular ownership after
the reformation, its status declined considerably, and it was restored in the 19th
century and in 1976 when it was reduced in size. However the Gatehouse remains, practically
unchanged, and contains a Turret room, said to have been used in medieval times,
as a Court room.
The Grade II listed building at the other end of the village, which for the last
100 years has b
een known as The Manor House is of Tudor origin. It was redesigned
in Victorian Gothic Style by the architect John Norton in 1874, and amongst the brought-
The high street contains many old buildings. The Beeches was built in 1762, with
walls, railings, gates and piers of the same date, although the side wings were added
later. Acacia House and Igbetti House, which was formerly known as Myrtle House,
are from the same period, while Barle House, Holly House, The Sycamores and Portugal
House are slightly more recent.
On Battle Lane is the 18th century Rookstone House, which was formerly the end house
in a row of seven, and The Rookery and its lodge, which were built in the early 19th
century. Harford Square is dominated by the construction, in 1817, of Harford House
and its accompanying stable block.
Just south of the village is the medieval Tun Bridge with three pointed arches including
double arch rings, spanning 60 feet (18 m) over the river, a
pproached along one of
the high pavements that are a feature of the village centre. It has three pointed
arches, two of which have double arch rings built in two orders. At its widest point
it is 17 feet (5.2 m) wide and 16 feet (4.9 m) in the centre. The two main arches
are separated by a sharp cutwater 3.5 feet (1.1 m) and tapering to 8 inches (20.3 cm)
above which a 4 inches (10.2 cm) string course runs throughout the length of bridge.
The bridge is thought to date from the late 15th century and is a Grade II listed
building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument (Avon No. 159). The raised pavement and
steps are themselves also listed Grade II.
Surrounding the village are several historic farmhouses including Dumper's Farmhouse, which dates from the 15th century, and Knole Hill Farmhouse, dated 1763.