Bleadon

Bleadon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is about south of Weston-super-Mare and, according to the 2021 census, has a population of 1,149. Bleadon was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bledone, meaning 'coloured or variegated hill', from Old English blēo 'colour' and dūn 'hill, mountain'. The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred. Just to the north of the village is Bleadon Hill, a 13.52 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. There is evidence of agricultural use of the land in the medieval period and probably from at least the Bronze Age. The village cross and well are listed buildings. Bleadon lies on the River Axe and had been a small port, sometimes known as Lympsham Wharf, for many years, with the arrival of the railway in 1841 making this the furthest navigable point. It was last used, by the ketch Democrat, in 1942. An Act of 1915 authorised the drainage of the river and installation of a flood gate at Bleadon, although attempts to control the water had occurred on Bleadon Level since medieval times, including an early windmill, in 1613, to pump water into the sea from behind a sea wall. Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the sons of the King Harold Godwinson, Godwin, Edmund and perhaps Magnus, took refuge in Ireland, where they enlisted the support of Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, King of Leinster. Supplied with men and ships, they returned to the West Country of England, the homelands of the House of Godwin, in the summer of 1068. However, the citizens of Bristol remained loyal to King William the Conqueror and closed their gates to the rebels. Moving into Somerset, they were opposed by a force led by the English earl Eadnoth the Staller. The two armies met at Bleadon and although Eadnoth was killed in the action, Harold's sons were defeated and returned to Ireland. The parish council has 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.