Mells, Somerset

Description
Mells, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands in a valley 3 1/2 miles WNW of Frome, and has a station called Mells and Babington on the G.W.R., 112 miles from London, and a post, money order, and telegraph office. The parish contains also the hamlet of Vobster. Acreage, 3629; population of the civil parish, 953; of the ecclesiastical, 670. The manor with Mells Park belongs to the Horner family. The rocks include coal, pipe-clay, fuller's earth, lead ore, and manganese. Stone quarrying, asphalt works, and lime-burning are carried on, and the manufacture of agricultural edge tools, long famous for their superior quality, is conducted in two factories. There are remains of several ancient camps. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; net value, £500 with residence. The church is Later English, consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with pinnacled tower, and has fine painted windows of local work. Vobster is a separate ecclesiastical district with a church, dedicated to St Edmund, built in 1849.