{{short description|Village in Somerset, England}} {{Use British English|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{infobox UK place |static_image=alt=Residential housing along a road at the top of a hill with other buildings visible in the distance.|240px |static_image_caption=Houses at the top of the hill in Writhlington |country= England |coordinates = {{coord|51.2890|-2.4327|display=inline,title}} |official_name= Writhlington |population= |civil_parish= Radstock |unitary_england= Bath and North East Somerset |lieutenancy_england= Somerset |region= South West England |constituency_westminster= Frome and East Somerset |post_town= RADSTOCK |postcode_district= BA3 |postcode_area= BA |dial_code= 01761 |os_grid_reference= ST699545 }} '''Writhlington''' is a suburb of Radstock and {{convert|6|mi|km|0}} north-west of Frome, in the Bath and North East Somerset district of Somerset, England.
==History== The ancient parish of Writhlington was part of the Kilmersdon Hundred.<ref>{{cite web|title=Somerset Hundreds|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/|publisher=GENUKI|accessdate=16 October 2011}}</ref> In 1931 the parish had a population of 551.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10447124/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Writhlington CP/AP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=30 March 2024}}</ref> On 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished to form Norton Radstock, part also went to Kilmersdon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10447124|title=Relationships and changes Writhlington CP/AP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=30 March 2024}}</ref>
==Church== The parish church was dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.<ref>{{cite web | title=Church of St Mary Magdalen | work=historicengland.org.uk | url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1115155 | accessdate=13 January 2008}}</ref> The church has since been converted to a private residence, whose owners have included the actor Dai Bradley.<ref>{{cite web|title=Top 15 unusual buildings for sale|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buyingsellingandmoving/9775390/Top-15-unusual-buildings-for-sale.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102215934/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buyingsellingandmoving/9775390/Top-15-unusual-buildings-for-sale.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 January 2013|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> The old rectory which accompanies it dates from the 18th century.<ref>{{cite web | title=The Old Rectory | work=historicengland.org.uk | url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1115154 | accessdate=13 January 2008}}</ref> There is also a Methodist church dating from the early 20th century.
==Coal mining==
Coal pits within the village were part of the Somerset coalfield and the site is now Writhlington Site of Special Scientific Interest, which includes 3,000 tons of Upper Carboniferous spoil from which more than 1,400 insect fossil specimens have been recovered, including Phalangiotarbida,<ref>Pollitt, J.R.; Braddy, Simon J. & Dunlop, Jason A. (2004): The phylogenetic position of the extinct arachnid order Phalangiotarbida Haase, 1890, with reference to the fauna from the Writhlington Geological Nature Reserve (Somerset, UK)</ref> and Graeophonus.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dunlop | first1 = J.A. | year = 1994 | title = An Upper Carboniferous amblypygid from the Writhlington Geological Nature Reserve | url = http://members.tripod.com/~DrJasonDunlop/pj3.html | journal = Proceedings of the Geologists' Association | volume = 105 | issue = 4| pages = 245–250 | doi = 10.1016/S0016-7878(08)80177-0 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> and the world's earliest known Damselfly,<ref>{{cite journal | title=Decay and Disarticulation of the Cockroach: Implications for Preservation of the Blattoids of Writhlington (Upper Carboniferous), UK | volume=18 | issue=3 | pages=256 |journal=PALAIOS | bibcode=2003Palai..18..256D | last1=Duncan | first1=I. J. | last2=Titchener | first2=F. | last3=Briggs | first3=D. E. G. | year=2003 | doi= 10.1669/0883-1351(2003)018<0256:dadotc>2.0.co;2}}</ref> It is a Geological Conservation — Protected Site.<ref>{{cite web | title=Writhlington SSSI, Somerset | work=English Nature | url=http://www.lifescapes.co.uk/text_version/special/geological/protect3t.asp | accessdate=14 November 2006 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929063002/http://www.lifescapes.co.uk/text_version/special/geological/protect3t.asp | archivedate=29 September 2007}}</ref>
In 1896<ref name="peak">{{cite web | title=Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd | url=http://www.pdmhs.com/1896%20Lists/1896-68.htm | accessdate=10 October 2010 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715060710/http://www.pdmhs.com/1896%20Lists/1896-68.htm | archivedate=15 July 2011}}</ref> they were owned by Writhlington, Huish and Foxcote Colliery Co., and by 1908<ref name="cmrc">{{cite web | title= List of Mines in Great Britain and the Isle of Man, 1908 | work=Coal Mining Resource Centre | url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cmhrc/lom08glos.htm | accessdate=12 November 2006}}</ref> this had been changed to Writhlington Collieries Co. Ltd. The Upper and Lower Writhlington, Huish & Foxcote were all merged into one colliery. Most of the output went to Portishead power station.
The village was on a branch of the proposed route of the Somerset Coal Canal, however this was converted into a tramway in 1815.<ref>{{cite book |last=Priestley |first=Joseph |title=Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain |page=580 |year=1831 | url=http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/sdoc.php?wpage=PNRC0581#PNRCSMRS | accessdate=9 December 2007 }}</ref>
==Geology==
The base of the Kilmersdon Valley is of alluvium deposits. Above this on both sides of all of the valleys is a band of shales and clays from the Penarth Group. These rocks are from the Triassic period. The majority of the remaining upland in this area is Lias Limestone (white and blue) while the very highest part above 130 m, south of Haydon, is a small outcrop of Inferior Oolitic Limestone. All these limestones are from the Jurassic period. The steepest slopes of both the Kilmersdon and Snail's Bottom Valleys have frequently slipped. Below all of the area is the coal-bearing Carboniferous strata. Haydon is an outlier of Radstock and was built to house the miners for the local pit. The disused railway line and inclined railway at Haydon form important elements within the Kilmersdon valley east of Haydon. The modern landscape has a less maintained and 'rougher' character and texture than neighbouring agricultural areas. This is caused in the main by the remnants of the coal industry and its infrastructure and changes in agricultural management. The disturbance caused by coal mining and the railways and the subsequent ending of mining and disuse of the railways has created valuable habitats of nature conservation interest.<ref>{{cite web | title=Rural Landscapes — Area 15 Norton Radstock Southern Farmlands | publisher=Bath and North East Somerset Council | url=http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/rural_landscapes_-_chapters_1-6.pdf | accessdate=6 April 2018 }}</ref>
==Sport== Andy Robinson taught mathematics, Physical Education and Rugby at Writhlington School.
The village cricket team plays in the North Somerset Cricket League.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Writhlington}}
Category:Villages in Bath and North East Somerset Category:Former civil parishes in Somerset Category:Somerset coalfield Category:Radstock