Kingston Seymour is a small
village and
civil parish in
Somerset, England. It is situated within the
unitary authority of
North Somerset, between
Clevedon and
Weston-super-Mare on the
North Somerset Levels. The parish has a population of 338. The
M5 motorway passes very close to the village.
History
The late medieval village cross stands on "The Triangle".
The village suffered serious flooding in the
Bristol Channel floods of 1607 when the sea walls were breached and the church in Kingston Seymour was said to have of water in it for ten days. The parish, which extends to the
Severn Estuary coast, saw flooding on a regular basis as late as the 1800s. After flooding, the land was considered unsuitable for dairy cattle for some time and the resulting bad air was said to cause "attacks of the ague" in local people.
Kingston Seymour school opened its doors in 1858. Closing in 1968, the building was then used as an office for the local drainage board and later as a spinning and weaving centre. It has now been converted into a private house.
The village used to be on the route of the
Clevedon branch line a railway line that ran from
Yatton railway station to
Clevedon. It was opened in 1847 and passenger services ceased in 1966. The last original bits of track, around Kingston Seymour, were lifted in the late...
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