Visit Blagdon Places

Welcome to Visit Blagdon Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Blagdon

  

Blagdon Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Blagdon

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Blagdon history

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The village was called Blachedon in the 1086 Domesday Book. The name comes from the Old English bloec and dun meaning ‘the black or bleak down’

Romans

There was a Roman presence in Blagdon from about 49 AD until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain. Several Roman coins and fragments of Roman pottery have been found in the village.

Saxons

The parish was part of the Hundred of Winterstoke. It was also known as the Hundred-of-Winterstoke, and was known as The Hundred-Stoke. The parish is now the site of a museum of the same name.

Norman feudal barony

Blagdon is believed to have been the caput of the feudal barony held by Serlo de Burci. Serlo left no sons and his daughter Geva was his sole heiress. She married twice: firstly to “Martin” (died before 1086), to whom she bore a son and heir Robert FitzMartin. Robert gave St Andrews Church and other land from around the East End of the village to Stanley Abbey in Wiltshire.

The Blagdon Controversy

In 1795 Hannah More founded a Sunday School in Blagdon, in the building now called Hannah More House. She wrote to William Wilberforce, the anti-slavery campaigner, about her school. However, Mr Bere, the curate referred to in this letter, soon became implacably opposed to the school and after years of pressure it was forced to close.

Physical history

The shape of some of the existing fields suggest they are of medieval origin. There are several houses in the village dating from medieval times and earlier. The houses facing on to Bell Square in the West End date from the fourteenth century.

Blagdon in the twentieth century

In 1901 the Wrington Vale Light Railway reached Blagdon. It closed to passengers just 31 years later in 1932. Part of the line remained for freight only, but this closed in 1962.

Blagdon culture & places

Blagdon is the setting of Chapters 8 and 9 of Victor Canning’s best-selling novel of 1934, Mr Finchley Discovers his England. The local History Group W.I Luncheon Club Rainbows has many clubs and organisations.

Blagdon geography / climate

The village is located on the northern edge of the Mendip Hills on the A368, overlooking Blagdon Lake. The headquarters of the dairy company Yeo Valley Organic is located in the village.

You can visit Blagdon places with Walkfo Blagdon to hear history at Blagdon’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Blagdon has 33 places to visit in our interactive Blagdon map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Blagdon, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Blagdon places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Blagdon & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 33 audio facts unique to Blagdon places in an interactive Blagdon map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Blagdon Places Map
33 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Blagdon historic spots	Blagdon tourist destinations	Blagdon plaques	Blagdon geographic features
Walkfo Blagdon tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Blagdon

  

Best Blagdon places to visit

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Blagdon has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Blagdon’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Blagdon’s information audio spots:

Church of St Michael and All Angels, Butcombe Anglican Church of St Michael and All Angels at Butcombe in Somerset was built in the 15th century and restored in 1868. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Charterhouse (Roman town) Charterhouse was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Its Latin name may have been Iscalis, but this is far from certain. It is associated with the Iron Age hill fort, Charterhouse Camp.

Burrington Camp Burrington Camp, also known as Burrington Ham, is an Iron Age hill fort in the Mendip Hills. The name “Burrington Ham” was commonly used for the hill fort before the 20th century. The camp overlooks Burrington Combe, where there have been archaeological discoveries of cemeteries.

Goatchurch Cavern Goatchurch Cavern is a cave on the edge of Burrington Combe in the limestone of the Mendip Hills, in Somerset, England.

Charterhouse Cave Charterhouse Cave, on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, is the deepest cave in southern England. The cave is located in a valley known as Charterhouse House in south-west Somerset.

GB Cave GB Cave is a cave between Charterhouse and Shipham in the Mendip Hills, in Somerset. The cave was first entered on 19 November 1939, after ten months of digging, by the University of Bristol Spelæological Society. The entrance to the cave is kept locked, and access is controlled by the Charterhouse Caving Company.

Visit Blagdon plaques