The Westbury Society has completed a study of all the memorials in the village church of St. Lawrence and its churchyard in order to record full details of them before the older ones suffer further decay and more of them become illegible.  In addition, the Society has also compiled an index of all the burials recorded in Westbury-sub-Mendip. The results of both studies can be accessed and downloaded from this website.

The study of the memorials in the churchyard and church is documented in three separate Excel files as follows:

Memorial Index: a list that shows one line per memorial giving the basic information on each of around 345 memorials.

Memorial Datasheets: each memorial is described in more detail including the full text of all legible inscriptions; the information for each memorial is set up as a separate page suitable for printing on a single A4 sheet in landscape orientation.

Individual Datasheets: the memorials mention around 680 individuals and the details of each of them are set out on separate pages, again suitable for printing on A4 sheets in landscape orientation. In the longer term it is planned to add more information to these records from sources such as census data to include details of known family relationships, employment, places of birth etc in order to make the data more useful.

Burial Plots: the data for memorials and individuals contain cross-references to the layout of burial plots in the churchyard. Two separate layouts showing the burial plots have been drawn up, one in 1985 by Francesca Cavender when she was churchwarden, the other in 1993 by the Somerset & Dorset Family History Society . Where appropriate, references are given to both these layouts. High resolution images of the churchyard layout are available for both the 1985 and 1993 survey.

Photographs: there are also cross-references to photographs of each memorial. These images have not been made available to download, but requests for individual images can be made by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and the images will be sent to you.

Index of Individual Burials: the index of individuals whose burials are recorded in Westbury-sub-Mendip up to the end of 2007 is held in a separate Excel file. There are around 3000 entries in alphabetical order of surname each occupying a single line.

The tea party in The Square this year celebrated the first anniversary of the Book Exchange.

The neighbours once again enjoyed a delicious picnic in The Square organised by Andrew Buchanan, and with no major decision to be made this year,  there was much talking, eating and drinking.  A good time was had by all.

Will this become an annual event?

Picture by Jan Fisher 

On August 22nd, a lazy summer Sunday, the Village singers, church choir and bellringers congregated in 'Stoneleigh'  gardens for a summer picnic lunch. For more details and pictures...

SOLD - within 2 days of being advertised. Why don't YOU try The Market Place?

St Lawrence church was well filled on Saturday morning for the Celebration of a New Ministry and to welcome Paula Hollingsworth as Priest in Charge of Westbury-sub-Mendip with Easton and Priddy.  The congregation, heralded by the bells of St Lawrence Church, included numerous local clergy, and was drawn from far and near; not only from our three parishes but also from Keynsham and Leicester diocese, and even Portugal.

Watch short reports from the following on YouTube...

• ARD TV, Germany 
• MBC TV, Dubai

Westbury Gardening Club has been running since 2006, with meetings held monthly between September and June (excluding December). In the summer months various outings are organised to other gardens, with successful previous trips including to Highgrove, Gant Mill and Westonbirt Arboretum.

Meetings are normally held on the fourth Tuesday of each month between 7.30pm and 9.30pm in the village hall. Meetings include varied presentations by guest speakers refreshments and a raffle, and a festive social evening is held each January.

Membership annual subscription is £5 and each meeting entry cost is £2; visitors are also welcome with a £3 entry fee.

Phone 871151 for further information

Last weekend (17-Apr-10) the website was hacked and had to be taken down. It's now back but as a result of the time spent restoring and checking things we're a bit behind on getting some of the latest articles live.

All the best

Ben

NEW MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICE

Somerset County Library has announced a new schedule of mobile library stops.

Starting on Monday 17 May, the mobile library will visit

The Square from 12.15 to  12.30pm  every third Monday.

Dates for 2010 are 17 May, 7 June, 28 June, 19 July, 9 August, 20 September, 11 October, 1 November, 22 November and 13 December.

The mobile library will continue to call at Stoneleigh from 10.40 to 10.55am on the above dates.

On Friday 20th March 2009 the Google Streetview car was spotted in Lodge Hill taking photographs for its controversial website that allows people anywhere in the world to get a view of the street where you live.

Finally, on Thursday 11th March nearly a year later, the guys at Google have released the images showing a lovely spring day in Westbury-sub-Mendip to all the world.

Bob Dolby is our Parish Councellor who's brief was to find a use for the decommissioned BT box in The Square.  In his wisdom, he decided to keep a diary of events and this is it.  It is a work in progress - he never knows when the next request from the world media will arrive.

We will add to the diary as events occur.

Each September the Friendly Society orgainises a mystery outing for the Senior Citizens, usually by coach including a cream tea and a supper in the village hall in the evening.

2008 Senior Citizen's Outing

This year the seniors were treated to a trip to Swindon.

The Village Hall is available for hire for a variety of purposes.  Certain events (see the list below) are charged at a standard rate irrespective of how long the Hall is in use; for events not contained in this list, the hiring fee is based on an hourly rate (currently £6.00 per hour).

Standard events and their respective hiring fees are as follows:

*  If food is being provided, the Friendly Society’s white crockery
    and cutlery is available for use subject to a donation of £10.00. 
    This donation should be passed directly to the Friendly Society’s
    honorary treasurer, Tony Shepherd.

The Village Hall, which is situated at the bottom of Hannah's Lane, was officially opened on Wednesday, 10th December 1913 at 2:30 in the afternoon by Mrs. Graves-Knyfton of Uphill Manor. A contemporary newspaper article, originally published on Friday 12th December 1913, describes the opening ceremony in detail.

The 'New Hall', as it was known was originally owned by a group of worthy villagers who had contributed to its cost.  However, during the 1970's the trusteeship was given over to the Village Hall Committee. 

Gifts of books have been arriving for The Book Exchange at various locations in the village, much to the amusement of the postman.

Click here for 126 Timetables.  Wells - Weston super Mare - Wells

• Wells Library.
• Cheddar Library