Parish History

A History of the Parish of Evercreech.

Evercreech is a large village in North East Somerset 8 miles south east of the cathedral city of Wells. The village has Saxon origins confirmed by the discovery of the skeleton of a Saxon man with a weapon and a Saxon farmstead uncovered during rescue archaeology.

The early form of the village name and its derivation is unclear, so it is safest to begin with its name in the Doomsday Book where it is called Evrecriz. In later documents it became Evercriche.

The village lies on rocky ground with numerous springs which probably account for its foundation since none of the various local streams run through the village centre.

There are four outlying hamlets: Chesterblade two miles north-east where some of the earliest evidence for occupation was found when a Bronze age camp on Smalldown was excavated in 1908.

Stoney Stratton lies east of the village and includes the ancient Broad Street said to run from the Roman lead mines on Mendip to the coast. This road is overlooked by the Romano British temple on Creech Hill.

The village was in ecclesiastical ownership until the Reformation. Evercreech House was built in 1775 on the site of an earlier property that may have been one of the ten manors built in Somerset for the medieval Bishops of Bath and Wells.


In St Peter’s the parish church the earliest part is the chancel which dates from 1300 with original Early English window tracery. The main body of the church dates from the 15th century it has a Somerset style tower said by Pevsner to be the finest in Somerset. A peal of ten bells hangs in the tower.

St Mary’s Chapel at Chesterblade was built in the 12th century of Doulting stone. It is a Chapel of Ease, the church for a small community at a distance from the parish church. St Mary’s has a beautiful east window depicting the nativity and outside there are interesting stone carvings of ancient origin.

In 1792 the first Silk Mill was built in Shapway Lane (re-named Queen’s Road after Queen Victoria’s Jubilee). This small factory employed young girls spinning, not weaving silk. A later mill, Kemp’s Mill, opposite opened in 1860. There silk velvet was woven: census returns show the many occupations of silk workers.

When farms were created by the enclosures, they were largely dairy farms. The coming of the railway in 1862 expanded the market for cheese. In 1891 a creamery was opened by Mr Hargrave of Manchester. In 1900 Messrs Prideaux took over and continued until the 1950s. The creamery continued in operation until 2018 under various owners.


Other industries included the brick and lime works at Southwood; Enfield Works where agricultural metal work was made. There was a Mineral Water factory E. J. Allen & Son providing soft drinks for pubs. The village once had numerous inns, pubs and beer houses, and the main one, The Bell Inn, is still in operation.

Blacksmiths, wheelwrights, builders, shops, banks and a wide variety of other businesses show that Evercreech was a self-sufficient place until recent times.


Both world wars had a huge impact on Evercreech. Over two hundred men from the village enlisted in the First World War: forty-two did not return. Their names are on the village war memorial at the cemetery, on the role of honour and the Memorial Book in the parish church and on this site. The medieval cross which stands opposite the parish church was used as a War Shrine in WW1 where people could lay flowers. The Evercreech VAD provided nurses, cleaners, drivers, seamstresses for the Auxiliary Military Hospital in Shepton Mallet.

In the second world war one hundred and four men and seventeen women volunteered or were conscripted: six did not return. Their names are also on the village memorial and in the Memorial book in the parish church. There was a large group of the Home Guard which met at the school.

The greatest impact of the second war on the village was the arrival of evacuees in 1939 and American soldiers from 1942. In September 1939, the school received 215 children, 18 teachers and 6 helpers from two schools in East London. In May 1941 50 children from Bristol and their teachers were evacuated to Evercreech, all were found temporary homes in the village. American soldiers arrived in 1942. Officers were billeted in Evercreech House and Rockleaze, where a large Nissen hut was built for other ranks. Some of the US soldiers had been oil men and were training for the eventual construction of a pipeline to aid the war in North Africa; others were cooks and support staff. Their jazz band and dances in the village hall are still fondly remembered.

Post war Evercreech expanded with the building of new estates. Gas was piped to the village in 1991 and a new school built in 1993.

Although Evercreech has lost its railway link and many traditional industries have closed there is new growth. The former railway sidings at Evercreech Junction now house a business park of over thirty companies, including new ‘green technology’ industries. Evercreech is a large and expanding village with many organisations contributing to a vibrant community life.