The Village of
Woolavington
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The Village of | | |
Woolavington is one of the 'Polden Villages' that occupy sites along the ridge of the Polden Hills. These 'hills' are an area of slightly higher ground that divides the large area of the Somerset Levels, which lie to the north and south. The village is about 2 miles to the east of junction 23 of the M5. The nearest town is Bridgwater, some 4 miles distant. The county town of Taunton is 17 miles to south west, and easily accessed via the motorway. The village has a population of about 2200 and this is likely to increase to approx. 2300 by early 2001 when a current housing development is complete. Woolavington supports a small supermarket (with post office), hairdressers, garage and public house. There is some agricultural and light industry. There is a modern village hall, a communal hall and two playing fields.
Historically the village, which is believed to have been founded in Saxon times, clustered around the parish church, and this was the position until the 1940's. However during the Second World War the Royal Ordnance Factory was built between Woolavington and Puriton and this made explosives for the war effort. Initially, to house construction workers and later, employees, a development of some 200 'prefabs' was built about a quarter of a mile to the south of the centre of the village. During the 1960's the 'prefabs' were rebuilt into a 'model' council estate. This left a large area between this redevelopment and the old part of the village and planning permission was granted for this area to be developed by private builders. This building programme was completed in stages, with the last phase being completed in the late 1980's. One further phase has recently been permitted and this is now in the course of construction. It is unlikely that there will now be any further significant residential development in the village for the foreseeable future.
A book 'A History of Woolavington' was published by the local W.I. in 1975 and this was updated in 1983, however all copies were sold many years ago.
With the Millennium providing a suitable impetus a group of villagers has prepared a revised and updated version of this history, and 'A History of
Woolavington - Millennium Edition' was published on 1 July 2000. For further details please contact Godfrey Hebdon at hebdons@aol.com
Find out more about Woolavington by visiting Woolavington Online
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