High Littleton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, about north of Paulton and south-west of Bath. The parish includes the small village of Hallatrow and the hamlets of White Cross, Greyfield and Mearns; the northeastern part of High Littleton village is known as Rotcombe.
High Littleton and Hallatrow are on the A39 Wells-Bath road, which is crossed by the A37 Shepton Mallet to Bristol road at White Cross. There is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled primary school (4–11 years) in the village, together with several pubs and shops.
History
There is evidence of settlement at High Littleton since Saxon times in the late 7th or 8th century. They called it Lytel tun. Hallatrow may have been much older.
In the Domesday Survey of 1086, each village covered an area of about . In early times the villages would have been almost entirely farmed, mostly arable farming but with a mixture of dairy farming and sheep raising.
The parish was part of the hundred of Chewton.
According to Robinson it is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Liteltone meaning 'The little enclosure' from the Old English lytel and tun. The property was owned by the Bishop of Coutances and sub-let to a tenant named as Ralph Rufus.
Mining and geology
Coal mines were established in the area by 1633 because on the Somerset coalfield the coal seams ran obliquely to the surface. The first deep mine in the parish was Mearns Coalworks which began in 1783.
During the 1790s, William Smith worked extensively in the area as a mine surveyor and as chief surveyor for the Somerset Coal Canal; and it was during this time that he formulated his ideas of rock stratification. He describes the area as the 'birthplace of geology'.
By 1800 the population had grown to about 800; however, many of these may have worked in mines outside the parish. The Greyfield Coal Company did not start until 1833. It received a boost with the opening of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway in 1873. Greyfield Colliery closed in 1911 and the railway in 1964.
Transport
Hallatrow was an important station on the Bristol and North Somerset Railway, and the junction for the branch line to Camerton, which opened in 1882 and which was later extended eastwards along the line of the former Somerset Coal Canal to a junction at Limpley Stoke with the line from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon.
In addition to its role as a junction, Hallatrow was also an important goods depot, receiving milk from local farms, printed materials from Purnells' factory at Paulton and local coal. The station closed when the Bristol and North Somerset line closed to passenger traffic in 1959; goods services were withdrawn in 1964 and the last train ran in 1968.
Governance
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. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.
High Littleton is a ward represented by one councillor on the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. it is also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service.