Priddy

infobox UK place

country = England
official_name= Priddy
latitude= 51.2543

longitude= -2.6771

civil_parish=
population = 679 [cite web | title= Mendip Parish Population Estimates 2002 | work=Somerset County Council | url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/030F1/mendip_02mye.pdf | accessdate=2006-11-25]
shire_district= Mendip
shire_county = Somerset
region= South West England

constituency_westminster=Wells
post_town=
postcode_district=
dial_code=
os_grid_reference= ST527508

Priddy is a village in Somerset, England in the Mendip Hills, close to East Harptree and convert|5|mi|km|0 north west of Wells. It is in the local government district of Mendip.

The village lies in a small hollow near the summit of the Mendip range of hills, at an elevation of nearly convert|1000|ft|m|0 above sea-level, and has evidence of occupation since neolithic times. There are also the remains of lead mining activities and caves in the limestone beneath the village.

It is the venue for the annual [http://www.priddyfolk.org/ Folk Festival] and [http://www.priddysheepfair.co.uk/ Sheep Fair] which has been held here since 1348, a pile of sheep hurdles can be seen on the village green. The village is currently campaigning against the [http://www.priddy-canine.org.uk/ Mendip Farmers' Hunt] from moving into the village.

Etymology

Priddy, with medieval variations of spellings such as Predy, Priddie, Pridi, Pridia, Pridie and Prydde, is a name that has been ascribed to the Welsh influence that pre-dated the arrival of the Saxon English. It has been particularly attributed to pridd (= "earth"). This might be suggestive of the Iron Age mining activities. The Latin words pratum (= a meadow) and praedium (= a farm) have given rise to such Alpine names as Preda and Prada and it has been suggested that they are also the root for the cymric word's prydd, pryddion meaning "production", as with a fertile meadow. "Priddy" could just mean "meadow land". [cite web | title=About Priddy | work=Priddy Folk Festival | url=http://www.priddyfolk.org/web/2006/priddy.htm | accessdate=2006-07-17]

An alternative explanation is 'The high water' from the Celtic "prid" and the Old English "ea", [cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Somerset Place Names |year=1992 |publisher=The Dovecote Press Ltd |location=Wimbourne |isbn=1874336032] and another alternative suggests it could come from the Welsh wordpreiddiau, pronounced preidhye, meaning flock or herd. [cite web |url=http://www.mendiphillsaonb.org.uk/publications/up_081015_autumn07_lo.pdf |title=Autumn newsletter 2007 |accessdate=2007-09-25 |format=PDF |work=Mendip Hills AONB ]

History

Nearby are the Priddy Circles a Stone circle or Henge monument, which appears to be contemporary with Stonehenge, i.e. Neolithic circa 2180 BC. [cite book |last=Dunning |first=Robert |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=A History of Somerset |year=1983 |publisher=Phillimore & Co |location=Chichester |id=ISBN 0-85033-461-6 ] The North Hill location of two round barrow cemeteries, Ashen Hill and Priddy Nine-Barrows which are neighbours of the Circles, would seem to imply that the area to the northeast of Priddy held ritual significance into the Bronze Age.cite web | title=Mendip Hills An Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty | work=Somerset County Council Archaeological Projects | url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/896B4/MendipAONB.pdf | format=PDF | accessdate=2006-10-28]

Lead was being worked as far back as 300 to 200 BC. The area to the east and to the north west of the village shows extensive patches of "gruffy ground". The word "gruffy" derives from the grooves that were formed where the lead ore was extracted from veins near the surface. The relatively easy opencast extraction of lead was a strong attraction for the Romans. Lead ingots found in the neighbourhood have been dated to AD49. [cite web | title=About Priddy | work=Priddy Folk Festival | url=http://www.priddyfolk.org/web/2006/priddy.htm | accessdate=2006-07-17] [cite book |last=Gough |first=J.W. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The mines of Mendip |year=1967 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot | id=http://www.amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/B0000CNKWB ] The ruins of St Cuthbert's Leadworks which closed in 1908 can still be seen. [cite book |last=Atthill |first=Robin |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Mendip: A new study |year=1976 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbott |isbn= 0715372971 ] [cite book |last=Toulson |first=Shirley |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Mendip Hills: A Threatened Landscape |year=1984 |publisher=Victor Gollancz |location=London |isbn=057503453X ]

Although the village is not mentioned in the Domesday Book it appears to be the subject of a lost Saxon charter of the late 7th or 8th century.

South of the village at Deer Leap is a Bronze age burial mound and the remains of a medieval settlement of Ramspit.

SSSIs & Caves

Priddy Pools, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which were originally formed when the Romans started mining lead from the area. Priddy Caves are also an SSSI with the entrance to Swildon's Hole just outside the village. Priddy Mineries is a Nature Reserve. The other Caves of the Mendip Hills in and around Priddy include; Eastwater Cavern, Hunter`s Hole, St Cuthbert's Swallet, and Wigmore Swallet.

Church

The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, dates from the 13th century, with some rebuilding in the 15th century and was restored in 1881-88, and is a grade I listed building. [cite web | title=Church of St Lawrence | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=268099 | accessdate=2006-07-17] The three bells in the church were augmented to five in 1997. The church includes a medieval alter frontal. [cite book |last=Reid |first= Robert Douglas |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Some buildings of Mendip |year=1979 |publisher=The Mendip Society |location= |isbn=0905459164 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.mendip.gov.uk/ Mendip District Council]
* [http://www.mendiphillsaonb.org.uk/visiting.php Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty]
* [http://www.priddysomerset.org/ Priddy Village Web site]
* [http://www.priddy.ik.org/ Priddy Primary School]
* [http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/Maps/OS62htm/2708.htm Map of Priddy circa 1900]