Axbridge

Axbridge is a town in Somerset, England, situated in the Sedgemoor district on the River Axe, near the southern edge of the Mendip Hills. The village has a population of 2,024 (2002 estimate). The thirteenth century parish church of St John is a grade I listed building.

Work on the current building began in the early 1400s, and grew from an earlier building dating back to about 1230. The church is built of limestone and decorated with Doulting stone, while the steps are an interesting example of Dolomitic Conglomerate (pudding stone). The crossing tower is over 100 feet high, and holds six bells. The statue on the east side is that of St John the Baptist. On the west side is a king - perhaps Henry VII, which would place it after 1485. The North aisle ceiling retains some mediaeval painted panels, and amongst the carved bosses is the head of a Green Man, with leaves sprouting around his face.

In contrast to the much larger settlement of Cheddar immediately to the south east that remains a village, Axbridge is a town. This apparently illogical situation is explained by the relative importance of the two places in historic times. While Axbridge grew in importance as a centre for cloth manufacture in the Tudor period and gained a charter from King John, Cheddar remained a more dispersed dairy-farming village until the advent of tourism and the arrival of the railway in the Victorian era.

This situation is unlikely to change in the near future, with the residents of both Axbridge and Cheddar proud of their settlement's respective status and the inevitable friendly local rivalry between the two.

The town was part of the Axbridge Rural District from 1894 to 1974, after which it became part of Sedgemoor.