Chard, Somerset
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox UK place
Chard is a town and a civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon and Dorset borders, Template:Convert south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 14,000 and, at an elevation of Template:Convert, Chard is the southernmost and one of the highest towns in Somerset.
The name of the town was Cerden in 1065 and Cerdre in the Domesday Book of 1086. After the Norman Conquest, Chard was held by the Bishop of Wells. The town's first charter was from King John in 1234. Most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1577, and it was further damaged during the English Civil War. A 1663 will by Richard Harvey of Exeter established Almshouses known as Harvey's Hospital. In 1685 during the Monmouth Rebellion, the pretender Duke of Monmouth was proclaimed King in the Town prior to his defeat on Sedgemoor. Chard subsequently witnessed the execution and traitor's death of 12 condemned rebels, who, tried by Judge Jeffreys, were hanged near the present Tesco roundabout. The Chard Canal was a tub boat canal built between 1835 and 1842. Chard Branch Line was created in 1860 to connect the two London and South Western Railway and Bristol and Exeter Railway main lines and ran through Chard until 1965.
The town has a very unusual feature, a stream running along either side of Fore Street. One stream eventually flows into the Bristol Channel and the other reaches the English Channel. Chard Reservoir, approximately a mile north east of the town, is a Local Nature Reserve, and Snowdon Hill Quarry a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Major employers in the town include Numatic International Limited. There are a range of sporting and cultural facilities, with secondary education being provided at Holyrood Academy; religious sites including the Church of St Mary the Virgin, which dates from the late 11th century.
History
The earliest evidence of settlement near Chard is the Iron Age fort of Cotley Castle overlooking the Town near Bound's Lane. There was a small Saxon settlement centred round the Church and the area is still known as 'Old Town'. Chard's name was Cerden in 1065 and Cerdre in the Domesday Book of 1086 and it means "house on the chart or rough ground" (Old English: ćeart + renn).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Before the Norman Conquest Chard was held by the Bishop of Wells.<ref name="bush">Template:Cite book</ref> The town's first charter was from King John and another from the bishop in 1234, which delimited the town and laid out burgage holdings in Template:Convert lots at a rent of twelve pence per year.<ref name="havinden">Template:Cite book</ref> The parish of Chard was part of the Kingsbury Hundred,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1577.<ref name="bush"/><ref name="curio">Template:Cite book</ref> After this time the town was largely rebuilt including Waterloo House and Manor Court House in Fore Street which were built as a house and courtroom, and have now been converted into shops and offices.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> In 2023, the historic Court House building was acquired by Somerset Council to safeguard its future.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Further damage to the town took place during the English Civil War with both sides plundering its resources, particularly in 1644 when Charles I spent a week in the town.<ref name="bush"/>
A 1663 will by Richard Harvey of Exeter established Almshouses which became Harvey's Hospital. These were rebuilt in 1870 largely of stone from previous building.<ref name="bush"/><ref>Template:NHLE</ref> In 1685 during the Monmouth Rebellion, the pretender James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, was proclaimed King in the Town and several locals joined his forces. Commander of the pursuing Royalist army, John Churchill, made a severe cautionary speech to the townsfolk in St Mary's. After the rebellion collapsed, Chard witnessed the execution and traitor's death of 12 of the Duke of Monmouth's rebels, who were summarily tried and condemned at Taunton Castle by Judge Jeffreys. They were hung, drawn and quartered by the 'Handcross tree' whose site was near the present Tesco roundabout. The tree was removed by the railway in 1864 amid loud local protests.<ref name="bush"/>
There was a fulling mill in the town by 1394 for the textile industry.<ref name="bush"/> After 1820 this expanded with the town becoming a centre for lace manufacture led by manufacturers who fled from the Luddite resistance they had faced in the English Midlands. Bowden's Old Lace Factory<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> and the Gifford Fox factory<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> are examples of the sites constructed. The Guildhall was built as a Corn Exchange and Guildhall in 1834 and is now the Town Hall.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
On Snowdon Hill is a small cottage which was originally a toll house built by the Chard Turnpike trust in the 1830s,<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> to collect fees from those using a road up the hill which avoided the steep gradient.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Chard is the birthplace of powered flight, as it was here in 1848 that the Victorian aeronautical pioneer John Stringfellow (1799–1883) first demonstrated that engine-powered flight was possible through his work on the Aerial Steam Carriage.<ref name="Day 1998 678"/><ref name="ChardFirst"/> James Gillingham (1839–1924) from Chard pioneered the development of articulated artificial limbs when he produced a prosthesis for a man who lost his arm in a cannon accident in 1863.<ref name=ChardFirst/> Chard Museum has a display of Gillingham's work.<ref name="chardmuseum">Template:Cite web</ref>
Chard was a key point on the Taunton Stop Line, a World War II defensive line consisting of pillboxes and anti-tank obstacles, which runs from Axminster north to the Somerset coast near Highbridge.<ref name="towncouncilwelcome"/> In 1938 a bomb proof bunker was built behind the branch of the Westminster Bank. During the war it was used to hold duplicate copies of the bank records in case its headquarters in London was destroyed. It was also used to store the emergency bank note supply of the Bank of England. There has also been speculation that the Crown Jewels were also stored there, however this has never been confirmed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Action Aid, the International Development Charity, had their headquarters in Chard when they started life in 1972 as Action in Distress. The Supporters Services department of the charity is still based in Chard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Governance
Chard was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, and remained a municipal borough<ref name=chardrd>Template:Cite web</ref> until the Local Government Act 1972, when it became a successor parish in the Non-metropolitan district of South Somerset. Somerset became a unitary authority<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> from 1 April 2023).
The town council (a parish council with the status of a town) has responsibility for local issues. It evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. It initiates projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, and consults 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. It sets an annual precept (local rate) to cover its operating costs and produces annual accounts for public scrutiny. The council has a reception and offices in the Guildhall,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a Grade II* listed building.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> The building was built in 1834 as a corn exchange, replacing an earlier 16th-century building that used to be situated perpendicular to where the current road is in the high street outside the Phoenix Hotel: a dig of the High Street in the late 1980s revealed the original footprint of the old guildhall.
In 2006 Chard Town Council came to the attention of the National Press when Mayor Tony Prior was found guilty of sexual discrimination and victimisation of the Town Clerk. He was ordered to pay £33,000 in compensation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Prior was banned from holding public office for nine months but was returned to council (as an independent Councillor) in a 2010 by-election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Somerset Council is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, tourism, education, social services, the library, roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the South Western Ambulance Service.
The civil parish of Chard Town (its formal name) contains six electoral wards – Avishayes, coombe, Crimchard, Holyrood, Jocelyn and shepards lane.
Chard is part of the Yeovil county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Twinnings
Chard is twinned with Helmstedt in Germany (since 12 April 1980), Morangis, Essonne in France (since 29 May 1994) and Șeica Mare in Transylvania, Romania.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Geography
At an altitude of Template:Convert, Chard is one of the highest towns in Somerset, and is also the southernmost.<ref name="towncouncilwelcome">Template:Cite web</ref> The suburbs include: Crimchard, Furnham, Glynswood, Henson Park and Old Town. Local folklore claims that the town has a very unusual and unique feature, a stream running along either side of Fore Street. One stream eventually flows into the Bristol Channel and the other reaches the English Channel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This situation changed when the tributary of the Axe was diverted into the Isle; the gutter in Holyrood Street, though, still flows into the River Axe and therefore it is still true it lies on the watershed and that two gutters within the town eventually drain into the Bristol Channel and the English Channel.<ref name="warren38-39">Template:Cite book</ref>
The Template:Convert Chard Reservoir, around a mile northeast of the town, is a Local Nature Reserve. It is used for dog walking, fishing and birdwatching, with a bird hide having been installed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Species that are seen regularly include grey herons, kingfishers, great cormorants, little grebes, ducks and also a wide range of woodland songbirds. Others include the great white egret, cattle egret, and spotted redshank.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Snowdon Hill Quarry is a 0.6 hectare (1.3 acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the western outskirts. The site shows rock exposures through the Upper Greensand and Chalk, containing fossil crustaceans which are both unique and exceptionally well-preserved making it a key locality for the study of palaeontology in Britain. The unit has been dated to the subdivision of the Chalk known as the Turrilites acutus Zone, named after one of the characteristic fossils,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which was laid down in the Middle Cenomanian era between 99.6 ± 0.9 MA and 93.5 ± 0.8 MA (million years ago).
There are also caves in Chard, first recorded in a charter of 1235 as being used by stonemasons, which provided local building stone. The cave is smaller than when it was used as a quarry as part of the roof has fallen in but a cave Template:Convert below ground still exists with the remains of the supporting pillars left when it was being worked.<ref name="warren38-39"/>
Climate
Along with the rest of South West England, Chard has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country.<ref name="weather">Template:Cite web</ref> The annual mean temperature is approximately Template:Convert. Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately Template:Convert. In winter mean minimum temperatures of Template:Convert are common.<ref name="weather"/> In the summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours.<ref name="weather"/> In December 1998 there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around Template:Convert. About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.<ref name="weather"/>
Economy
Textile manufacture was important to the town during the Middle Ages. Chard is the birthplace of powered flight as in 1848 John Stringfellow first demonstrated that engine-powered flight was possible. Percy and Ernest Petter, who formed Westland Aircraft Works, witnessed some of Stringfellow's demonstrations in Chard and often asked for help in the formation of Westland's first aircraft development factory on the outskirts of Yeovil. AgustaWestland now holds the Henson and Stringfellow lecture yearly for the Royal Aeronautical Society.<ref name="Day 1998 678">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=ChardFirst>Template:Cite news</ref> James Gillingham developed articulated artificial limbs. Chard is a key point on the Taunton Stop Line, a World War II defensive line.
Chard is the home of Numatic International Limited, notable for its 'Henry' vacuum cleaners with the characteristic large smiling face. The company employs over 700 people. In contrast to competitors such as Hoover and Dyson the firm continues to manufacture in Britain. The site occupies an area of more than 10 hectares and operates continuously, producing over 4,000 products per day.
Another large employer in Chard was Oscar Mayer,<ref name=mayer/> a producer of own-brand packaged ready-meals. (It is distinct from the American company of the same name owned by Kraft Foods). Oscar Mayer employed many Portuguese and, more recently, Polish workers.<ref name="Oscar Mayer"/> In 2007 it was announced that the factory would be bought by Icelandic company the Alfesca Group, which owns Lyons seafoods.<ref name="Oscar Mayer">Template:Cite news</ref> However this deal fell through and the company announced 250 job losses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Oscar Mayer announced on 22 October 2020 that it was considering ending production at its Chard sites. Following collective consultation with its employees, the company decided to close the Chard sites, with most of the staff employed there becoming redundant. It was expected that the transfer of Oscar Mayer's Chard manufacturing business to its other UK sites would be complete by the end of September 2021.<ref name=mayer>Template:Cite web</ref>
Chard is also home to Brecknell Willis, one of the world's oldest and leading specialists in the design, construction and installation of railway electrification systems, most notably metro and light rail systems. Its largest customer, London Underground, purchases both train-borne equipment and infrastructure. Brecknell Willis occupies a site at the bottom of the hill next to the site of the old LSWR station, which is now a Tesco store. At the time of writing (August 2014) the company was preparing to move into a new purpose-built building from which all of its operations will be based. In early July 2014 the company was bought by WABTEC, bringing it into the Wabtec Rail Group as well as the Falstand Electric Group.
Transport
From 1842 Chard was the terminus of the Chard Canal, a tub boat canal that joined the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal at Creech St. Michael. It had four aqueducts, three tunnels and four inclined planes along its Template:Convert length. It took seven years to construct and cost about £140,000 (£Template:Formatprice in Template:Inflation-year).<ref name=lostcanals>Lost canals of England and Wales Ronald Russell page 68 Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Somerset County Council archives: Canals and Canal Projects Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 20 June 2007.</ref>
In the 1860s the town became the terminus of two railway lines. The first was opened in 1863 by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) as a short branch line from their main line. This approached the town from the south.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The second and longer line was opened by the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) in 1866 and ran northwards, close to the route of the canal, to join their main line near Template:Stnlnk.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> From 1917 they were both operated by one company, but services were mostly advertised as though it was still two separate lines.<ref name=GWRTT1920>Template:Cite book</ref> It was closed to passengers in 1962 and freight traffic was withdrawn a few years later.<ref name=Oakley>Template:Cite book</ref>
The LSWR's station (later known as Chard Town) opened in 1860 with a single platform, and the B&ER's (variously known as Chard Joint or Template:Stnlnk) in 1866. For five years LSWR trains continued to call at Chard Town and then reversed to the connecting line and then resumed their forward journey to the Joint station. In 1871 a new platform was opened on the connecting line; this closed to passengers on 1 January 1917 but the town station was the main goods depot for the town until it finally closed on 18 April 1966. Passenger trains ceased to operate to Chard Central on 11 September 1962, and private goods traffic on 3 October 1966. The station building and train shed still stand and are in use by engineering companies.<ref name=Oakley/>
The town's public transport links to Taunton are now provided by First Group's Buses of Somerset. Two routes go between the towns. Route 30<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> and route 99,<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> which both run hourly during weekdays. There is also a service to Yeovil via Crewkerne provided by South West Coaches
Sport
Chard has a number of local sport clubs. Chard Town F.C. play football in the Somerset County League,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> whilst a number of Chard football clubs play in the Perry Street and District League.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Rugby union club, Chard RFC, was formed in 1876.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Club runs 3 Senior sides, with the 1stXV playing currently in South West One (west) achieving promotion to National League 3 South West on 26 April 2014 beating Old Towcestrians in the playoff final.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Chard Hockey Club was established in 1907 and it now runs three male and three female sides.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are also facilities for cricket, tennis, bowls, darts and golf.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Wessex Pool League is also played in a number of Pubs in Chard, along with the Chard and District Darts League.
Local media
Television signals are received from either the Mendip or Stockland Hill TV transmitters.
Radio stations for the area are BBC Radio Somerset on 95.5 FM, Heart West on 97.1 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South West on 106.6 FM and Radio Ninesprings on 104.6 FM.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Local newspapers are the Chard and Ilminster News, Somerset County Gazette, Somerset Guardian and Standard and Somerset Live.
Education
The original school building in Fore Street was built in 1583 a private residence for William Symes of Poundisford. In 1671 his youngest son, John, conveyed the property to 12 trustees so that it should be converted into a grammar school – according to his father's wish.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> Today, it is known as Chard School, a private school for children ages 4 to 11.
Avishayes Community Primary School, Manor Court Community Primary School, Tatworth Primary School and The Redstart Primary School all offer primary education, while Holyrood Academy offers secondary education. The school, as of 2019, has 1,276 pupils between the ages of 11 and 18.<ref name="ofsted">Template:Cite web</ref>
Religious sites
The Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin dates from the late 11th century and was rebuilt in the 15th century. The tower contains eight bells, of which two were made in the 1790s by Thomas Bilbie of the Bilbie family in Cullompton.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The three-stage tower has moulded string courses and an angle stair turret in the north-west corner. The church has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> There is a church room, built in 1827.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> The Baptist Church in Holyrood Street was built in 1842.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
Notable residents
- John Strong, New England colonist, politician, and one of the founders of Windsor, Connecticut and Northampton, Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- William Samuel Henson, aviation engineer and inventor, who worked with fellow Chard resident John Stringfellow to achieve the first powered flight, in 1848, in a disused lace factory, with a Template:Convert steam-driven flying machine.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- It was the birthplace of James Gillingham who pioneered the development of articulated artificial limbs<ref name="ChardFirst"/><ref name="chardmuseum" />
- Corporal Samuel Vickery who was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1897 for his actions during the attack on the Dargai Heights, Tirah, India during the Tirah Campaign.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Margaret Bondfield, a Labour politician and feminist and the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom was born in Chard in 1873.<ref name="tuc">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Artist and curator Lucy Cox who has exhibited work nationally and internationally and curated exhibitions in London, was born in Chard in 1988.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
References
External links
- The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey: Chard
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