Camerton, Somerset
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Camerton | |
  Camerton shown within Somerset |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Unitary authority | Bath and North East Somerset |
| Ceremonial county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bath |
| Postcode district | BA2 |
| Dialling code | 01761 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Wansdyke |
| North East Somerset (from next general election). |
|
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
- There are also villages called Camerton in Cumbria and Yorkshire.
- Camerton is also the name of a Mongolian boy band.
Camerton is a village in Somerset, six miles southwest of Bath, lying on the Cam Brook.
The village stands beside the route of the Fosse Way, and the Roman settlement was south west of the current village.[1]
Originally a farming village in North Somerset, its vicar from 1800 was the amateur antiquarian and archaeologist The Rev. John Skinner, who committed suicide in 1839.
The village expanded as a result of coal mining on the Somerset coalfield in the 19th Century. Camerton New Colliery, which started in the very early 1800s, and Camerton Old Colliery, which predates it by about 20 years. Camerton New Pit survived to be nationalised, eventually closing in 1950. The maximum amount mined was 77 000 tons in 1903.[2] In the centre of the village is an old coal spoil tip or "batch" called Camerton Batch (or Camerton Old Batch to distinguish it from the taller Camerton New Batch which lies just to the east).
With the closure of the coal mines it is now primarily a commuter village for people working in Bath. Camerton is also home to the National Osteoporosis Society.
[edit] Transport
Camerton once had a branch line from the Bristol and North Somerset Railway (part of the Great Western Railway) mainly for coal. It opened from Hallatrow in 1882 and was extended along the line of the former Somerset Coal Canal to Limpley Stoke in 1910, where it joined with the main line from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon railway station. Traffic on the line was never heavy: passenger services were suspended in 1915, resumed in 1923 and finally withdrawn in 1925. Goods traffic remained until 1951.
[edit] References
- ^ Scott, Shane (1995). The hidden places of Somerset. Aldermaston: Travel Publishing Ltd, 22. ISBN 1902007018.
- ^ Coal Mining. Somerset Ramblers. Retrieved on 2006-11-12.
