Editing Cheddar, Somerset (section)

== History ==

[[Richard Coates]], Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the [[University of the West of England]], has suggested that the name is ''Ciw-dor,'' 'the door to Chew', referencing an idea that the gorge marked an important routeway through at least part of the Mendip watershed, and giving access between two large and important estates which had probably been a part of the Wessex royal demesne from the 7th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coates |first=Richard |title=Names, Texts and Landscapes in the Middle Ages: A Memorial Volume for Duncan Probert |publisher=Shaun Tyas |year=2022 |isbn=9781907730948 |editor-last=Bassett |editor-first=Steven |pages=206-232 |chapter=The History of Cheddar |editor-last2=Spedding |editor-first2=Alison J.}}</ref> 

There is evidence of occupation from the [[Neolithic]] period in Cheddar. Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, [[Cheddar Man]], estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in Cheddar Gorge in 1903.<ref name="Tourist hotspots—Cheddar Gorge">{{cite web| url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/naturescalendar/summer/honeypots/cheddar/cheddar_gorge.shtml | title= Tourist hotspots—Cheddar Gorge | publisher = [[BBC]] |access-date =12 August 2007}}</ref> Older remains from the [[Upper Paleolithic|Upper Late Palaeolithic]] era (12,000–13,000 years ago) have been found.<ref name="sher">
{{cite web
 | url= http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/10398
 | title = Gough's Cave, Cheddar Gorge, Cheddar
 | work=Somerset Historic Environment Record
 | publisher = [[Somerset County Council]] |date=January 1983
 | access-date =7 February 2011
}}</ref> There is some evidence of a [[Bronze Age]] field system at the [[Batts Combe quarry]] site. There is also evidence of Bronze Age barrows at the mound in the Longwood valley, which if man-made it is likely to be a field system.<ref>{{cite journal
 | url = http://www.ubss.org.uk/resources/proceedings/vol23/UBSS_Proc_23_1_9-16.pdf
 | title = Results of geophysical surveys at two barrow sites in Cheddar and Priddy Parishes, Mendip
 | first = Jodie
 | last = Lewis
 | year = 2003
 |author-link=Jodie Lewis 
 | journal = Proc. Univ. Bristol Spelaeol. Soc. 2003
 | publisher = [[University of Bristol]]
 | page = 11
 | access-date =11 July 2012
}}</ref> The remains of a Roman villa have been excavated in the grounds of the current [[Clergy house|vicarage]].<ref name="curio"/>

[[File:Saxon palace at Cheddar.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Reconstruction drawing of the Saxon royal palace at Cheddar around 1000 AD]]
The village of Cheddar had been important during the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] and [[Saxon]] eras.<ref name=EB1911/> There was a [[Cheddar Palace|royal palace at Cheddar]] during the Saxon period, which was used on three occasions in the 10th century to host the [[Witenagemot]].<ref name="rahtz">
{{cite web | url= http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/vol06-07/6_053_066.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410225720/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/vol06-07/6_053_066.pdf |archive-date=2008-04-10 |url-status=live
 | last= Rahtz
 | first= Phillip
 | publisher= Archaeology Data Service
 | title= The Saxon and Medieval Palaces at Cheddar, Somerset-an Interim Report of Excavations in I 960-62
 | access-date=31 March 2008
}}</ref> The ruins of the palace were excavated in the 1960s.<ref name="richardson">{{cite web
 |url          = http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/Somerset_EUS_Cheddar.pdf
 |title        = Cheddar Archaeological Assessment
 |last         = Richardson
 |first        = Miranda
 |year         = 2003
 |work         = Somerset Extensive Urban Survey
 |publisher    = [[Somerset County Council]]
 |access-date   = 26 May 2014
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140528005952/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/Somerset_EUS_Cheddar.pdf
 |archive-date = 28 May 2014
 |url-status     = dead}}</ref> They are located on the grounds of [[the Kings of Wessex Academy]], together with a 14th-century chapel dedicated to [[Columbanus|St. Columbanus]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1173737 |desc=Former chapel dedicated to St Columbanus |access-date=31 March 2008 }}</ref> Roman remains have also been uncovered at the site.<ref name=richardson/><ref>{{cite news| title=School dig uncovers Roman grave | publisher= BBC News | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4630806.stm | date=20 January 2006 | access-date=31 March 2008}}</ref> Cheddar was listed in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Cedre.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thorn |first=Frank |title=Domesday Book: Somerset |last2=Thorn |first2=Caroline |publisher=Phillimore |year=1980 |isbn=0850333679}}</ref> 

As early as 1130&nbsp;AD, the [[Cheddar Gorge]] was recognised as one of the "Four wonders of England". Historically, Cheddar's source of wealth was farming and cheese making for which it was famous as early as 1170&nbsp;AD.<ref>{{cite book|title=West Country History: Somerset|year=2002|first=Muriel |last=Searle | publisher=Venton Publications |page=130|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v3YaKvNutIsC&dq=cheddar+somerset+history+farming&pg=PA130|isbn=978-1-84150-802-3 | access-date=7 February 2011}}</ref> In the post-Conquest period, Cheddar emerges as a member of Somerset's [[Winterstoke]] [[Hundred (county subdivision)|Hundred]]. However, Frank Thorn has suggested that at a far earlier period, Cheddar lay at the centre of its own small hundred, and that it acted as the head place (or ''caput'') of a coherent group of three hundreds, namely Cheddar itself, Winterstoke and Bempstone (the latter containing Brent and Wedmore).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thorn |first=Frank |date=2011 |title=Defining 'Winterstoke' Hundred |journal=Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society |volume=154 |pages=119-164}}</ref>

The manor of Cheddar was deforested in 1337 and [[Ralph of Shrewsbury|Bishop Ralph]] was granted a licence by the King to create a hunting forest.<ref>{{cite book | last=Bond|first=James| title=Somerset Parks and Gardens | publisher=Somerset Books | page=25|year=1998|isbn=978-0861834655}}</ref>

As early as 1527 there are records of [[watermill]]s on the river.<ref name=richardson/> In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were several watermills which ground [[wheat|corn]] and made paper, with 13 mills on the [[Cheddar Yeo|Yeo]] at the peak, declining to seven by 1791 and just three by 1915.<ref name=shorthistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.parish-council.com/Cheddar/index.asp?pageid=148051 |publisher=Cheddar Parish Council |first=John |last=Outhwaite |title=A Short History of Cheddar |access-date=30 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715043919/http://www.parish-council.com/Cheddar/index.asp?pageid=148051 |archive-date=15 July 2011 }}</ref> In the [[Victorian era]] it also became a centre for the production of clothing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cheddarvillage.co.uk/about.htm |title=A brief history of Cheddar |publisher=Cheddar Web Site |access-date=30 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305120412/http://www.cheddarvillage.co.uk/about.htm |archive-date= 5 March 2010 }}</ref> The last mill, used as a shirt factory, closed in the early 1950s.<ref name=shorthistory/>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Cheddar Inclosure Act 1795
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An act for dividing, allotting, and inclosing, the open and commonable lands, within the parish of Cheddar, in the county of Somerset.
| year                  = 1795
| citation              = [[35 Geo. 3]]. c. ''39'' {{small|Pr.}}
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 28 April 1795
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
[[William Wilberforce]] saw the poor conditions of the locals when he visited Cheddar in 1789. He inspired [[Hannah More]] in her work to improve the conditions of the [[Mendip Hills|Mendip]] miners and agricultural workers.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Coysh |first1=A.W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iA9IAAAAMAAJ&q=Wilberforce |first2= E.J. |last2=Mason|first3=V. |last3=Waite |title=The Mendips |year=1977 |pages=96 |publisher=Robert Hale Ltd |location=London |isbn=0-7091-6426-2 }}</ref> In 1801, {{convert|4400|acre|km2}} of common land were enclosed under the '''{{visible anchor|Cheddar Inclosure Act 1795}}''' ([[35 Geo. 3]]. c. ''39'' {{small|Pr.}}).<ref name="havinden">{{Cite book|last=Havinden|first=Michael|title=The Somerset Landscape|year=1982|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|location=London|series=The making of the English landscape|page=133|isbn=0-340-20116-9}}</ref>

Cheddar remained a more dispersed dairy-farming village until the advent of tourism and the arrival of the railway in the [[Victorian era]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.strawberrylinetimes.co.uk/?page_id=203 | title=The Strawberry Line District and its communities | work=Strawberry Line Times| access-date=8 October 2012 |url-status = dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005070720/http://www.strawberrylinetimes.co.uk/?page_id=203 | archive-date=5 October 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Tourism of the [[Cheddar Gorge|Cheddar gorge and caves]] began with the opening of the [[Cheddar Valley Railway]] in 1869.<ref>{{cite web|title=About Cheddar Village, Somerset |url=http://www.cheddarvillage.co.uk/about.htm |work=Cheddar Village |access-date=12 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305120412/http://www.cheddarvillage.co.uk/about.htm |archive-date= 5 March 2010 }}</ref>

Cheddar, its surrounding villages and specifically the gorge has been subject to flooding. In the [[Chew Stoke flood of 1968]] the flow of water washed large boulders down the gorge, washed away cars, and damaged the cafe and the entrance to Gough's Cave.<ref>{{cite news|title=40 years since the Great Gorge Flood|url=http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/40_years_since_the_great_gorge_flood_1_321776|access-date=24 February 2011|newspaper=Western Mercury|date=10 July 2008|archive-date=29 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929011254/http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/40_years_since_the_great_gorge_flood_1_321776|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Chew Valley floods of 1968|url=http://www.publow-with-pensford-pc.gov.uk/pub/backlook/env_agency_leaflet.pdf|publisher=Environment Agency|access-date=24 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716144901/http://www.publow-with-pensford-pc.gov.uk/pub/backlook/env_agency_leaflet.pdf|archive-date=16 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>