29-507: Pensford Viaduct is a disused railway bridge in the village of Pensford , within the historic English county of Somerset , now unitary authority Bath and North East Somerset. It is a Grade II listed building . The viaduct was built in 1874 to carry the Bristol and North Somerset Railway over the valley of the River Chew . The contractor was J. Perry, of Tredegar Works, Bow. During construction
58-593: Is 995 feet (303 m) long, reaches a maximum height of 95 feet (29 m) to rail level and consists of sixteen arches. The viaduct is now a Grade II listed building . Nearby is Lord's Wood, Pensford , and the village is on the route of the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath. River Chew The River Chew is a small river in England that flows for some 17 miles (27 km) through the North Somerset countryside to form
87-566: Is a Scheduled Ancient Monument . Pensford has three pubs : the Travellers Rest , the Rising Sun , and the George and Dragon . During the 17th and 18th centuries Pensford was an important staging post for stage coaches which stopped at the George and Dragon and the Rising Sun . The George and Dragon dates from 1752 and is a Grade II listed building. The village's war memorial commemorates
116-549: Is also responsible for education , social services , libraries , main roads, public transport , trading standards , waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service , Avon and Somerset Constabulary , and the Great Western Ambulance Service . Bath and North East Somerset's area covers part of
145-620: The Chew Valley before merging with the River Avon . The spring from which the Chew rises is just upstream from Chewton Mendip . Strode Brook and Winford Brook are the main tributaries, both joining the Chew from the left. The river flows northwest from Chewton Mendip through Litton , Chew Valley Lake , Chew Stoke , Chew Magna , and Stanton Drew . The river passes under the A37 at Pensford ; flows through
174-501: The Chew Valley , approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of Bristol , 8 miles (13 km) west of Bath , and 14 miles (23 km) north of Wells . It is on the A37 road from Bristol to Shepton Mallet . Pensford was identified as being of special architectural and historic interest and was designated as a Conservation Area in May 1988. The name Pensford is in all likelihood derived from Brythonic Penffordd , meaning roughly 'top of
203-638: The Historical Railways Estate . In 2014 a new microbrewery in Pensford known as the Chew Valley Brewery used a depiction of the viaduct as its logo. Construction is of stone piers and spandrels with red brick soffits . The viaduct is 995 feet (303 m) long, reaches a maximum height of 95 feet (29 m) to rail level and consists of sixteen arches. The arches are of different widths and heights and supported by tall, tapering piers in
232-687: The ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county . Its administrative headquarters is in Bath . Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Wansdyke district and the City of Bath of the county of Avon . Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Clutton Rural District . The village falls within the Publow and Whitchurch electoral ward . From Pensford
261-575: The ew being a variant of the French eau , "water". The word chewer is western dialect for "narrow passage" and chare is Old English for "turning." Another theory is that the name derives from the Welsh cyw , "the young of an animal, or chicken", such that Afon Cyw would have meant "the river of the chickens". Other possible explanations are it comes from the Old English word cēo ("fish gill"), used in
290-581: The 19th and 20th centuries, the main industry was coal mining , with Pensford and the surrounding area forming a major part of the Somerset coalfield . Pensford and Bromley Collieries Ltd opened Pensford colliery to mine the Pensford syncline in 1909. By 1947, the mines output was 70,000 tons per annum. The colliery was connected by a spur of the North Somerset Railway . The mine was prone to flooding and coal dust explosions. In 1931, Parliament discussed
319-571: The Avon for shipment overseas. The Chew Stoke flood of 1968 caused serious damage to towns and villages along its path, sweeping away the bridge at Pensford . Fish ladders have been installed at three weirs in Keynsham and Chewton Keynsham to allow fish to travel upstream. Fishing rights for the Millground and Chewton sections of the river are owned by Keynsham Angling Club. The Mill Ground stretch of
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#1732880723600348-449: The Publow and Whitchurch Ward (which includes Belluton and Publow), had 1,087 residents, living in 429 households, with an average age of 40.8 years. Of these 73% of residents describing their health as 'good', 24% of 16- to 74-year-olds had no qualifications; and the area had an unemployment rate of 2.3% of all economically active people aged 16–74. In the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004, it
377-548: The area's average rainfall for the whole of July. Pensford and Publow has its own parish council which has some 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, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for
406-470: The bridge failed and had to be rebuilt. The last scheduled passenger train to cross the viaduct was the 9:25 a.m. from Frome to Bristol on 31 October 1959; after that there were only goods trains (mainly bringing coal from Radstock ), which ceased in 1964, and very occasional excursion trains. It officially closed after the Chew Stoke flood of 1968 which damaged the viaduct and other buildings in Pensford and
435-419: The centre and thicker shorter ones towards the sides. Arches 5 and 13 are lower than the others dividing the bridge into sections with four higher arches at each end. Subsequent repairs were made with concrete rather than stone, though it was dressed to look similar to the surrounding stone. Pensford Pensford is the largest village in the civil parish of Publow in Somerset , England. It lies in
464-700: The council. It is part of the Publow and Whitchurch Ward which is represented by one councillor on the Bath and North East Somerset Unitary Authority which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992 . It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control , local roads, council housing , environmental health , markets and fairs, refuse collection , recycling , cemeteries , crematoria , leisure services, parks, and tourism . It
493-422: The disused Bristol and North Somerset Railway , built in 1873 but closed to trains in 1968 after the great flood of Pensford, after which it was deemed unsafe. The last passenger train had been earlier: the 9:25 a.m. from Frome to Bristol on 31 October 1959; after that there were only goods trains (mainly bringing coal from Radstock ), which ceased in 1964, and very occasional excursion trains. Pensford viaduct
522-647: The last ice age , before which the river had probably followed the course of the Congresbury Yeo to the Bristol Channel . Ice blocking the Bristol Channel would have diverted the Chew such that it flowed north rather than west through Compton Martin to join the Avon. "Pigs" (ingots) of lead from the Charterhouse Roman Town on Mendip were brought to the river to be transported to Sea Mills on
551-408: The maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre , playing fields and playgrounds , 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 of interest to
580-426: The repairs required to make the building safe became clear. In 2007 the church was put on the market for redevelopment, and in 2008 purchased for repair and use as a private dwelling. The redevelopment of the church into a private dwelling was featured in the first episode of television series Restoration Home . Pensford has an octagonal eighteenth-century village lock-up . This is a Grade II listed building and
609-573: The road' or 'the highest or furthest point of the road'. Alternatively, it may mean 'The animal pens by the ford' from the Old English pens and ford . The parish of Pensford was part of the Keynsham Hundred , During the 14th to 16th centuries Pensford was a cloth centre based on local wool . On 24 June 1685 rebel forces camped at Pensford during the Monmouth Rebellion . During
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#1732880723600638-531: The safety record of the Somerset coalfield showing that between 1927 and 1930, 206 minors were injured in accidents, and 2 minors died at the colliery. In the early 1920s, the Minors Welfare Institute was founded and paid for by the miners. The Institute helped widows and held benevolent events. The mine was deemed uneconomical and closed in 1955. Its sight was used as the depot for Filer's Coaches and
667-469: The seven people from the village who died in each of World War I and World War II . It is a wheel cross, with a Celtic-style carving. For centuries Pensford has been an important crossing point on the River Chew. The modern road bridge was rebuilt in 1968 after flood damage, but the much older (1839–85) bridge, by the church, survived the flood. On the western side of the village is Pensford Viaduct on
696-465: The transferred sense of a ravine, in a similar way to Old Norse gil , or possibly a derogatory nickname from Middle English chowe , "chough", Old English cēo , a bird closely related to the crow and the jackdaw , notorious for its chattering and thieving. Still another suggestion is that the river is named after the Viking war god Tiw . The current course of the river was likely established after
725-647: The villages of Publow , Woollard , Compton Dando , and Chewton Keynsham ; and joins the River Avon at Keynsham . The Two Rivers Way runs alongside the Chew for much of its distance, forming part of the Monarch's Way . The name "Chew" may have Celtic origins, cognate with the River Chwefru, cliwyf-ffrenwy , "the moving, gushing water"; ancient forms are Estoca ( Chew Stoke ), Chiu ( Chew Magna ), and Ciwetune ( Chewton Mendip ). Its exact meaning admits of several possible explanations, including "winding water",
754-566: The ward strikes north to end at Whitchurch on the Bristol border. The total population of this ward taken from the 2011 census was 2,473. The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of North East Somerset and Hanham . It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. According to the 2001 Census,
783-531: The wider Chew Valley . The viaduct was offered for sale for £1, in 1984; however, the likely maintenance costs were prohibitive and no one bought it. It became the property of BRB (Residuary) Ltd which took over some of the assets of the British Railways Board when it was privatised. In September 2013, BRB (Residuary) Ltd was abolished, with assets being transferred to the Highways Agency as part of
812-408: Was later converted to residential property. The River Chew suffered a major flood in 1968 with serious damage to towns and villages along its route. The flood swept away the bridge over the A37 and damaged the railway viaduct so badly that it never reopened. On 10–11 July, a storm brought heavy rainfall to the valley, with 175 millimetres (7 in) falling in 18 hours on Chew Stoke, double
841-522: Was ranked at 26,408 out of 32,482 wards in England, where 1 was the most deprived LSOA and 32,482 the least deprived. The St Thomas à Becket Church is a Grade II* listed building and is currently on the English Heritage Heritage at Risk Register , following damage in a flood in 1968. During the 1980s an attempt was made to turn it into an arts centre but this was abandoned when the extent of
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