Foreward by Evelyn Burman - Editor

This booklet is based on three most successful lectures given by Ian Durham MBE, MA and his wife Mary Durham MA in the1980s.
Ian and Mary were always interested in local history and when they came to live in Chew Magna in 1970, they began their research into local records. Ian was a Senior Lecturer in Bristol University 's Department of Extra-Mural Studies and Mary taught French at the Convent of the Sacred Heart High School in Chew Magna. Their influence was soon felt in the foundation of The Chew Valley Local History Society in 1973. Also, out of their research into Church and Parish records and the reminiscences of many of the old villagers was to come three remarkable lectures. The illustrations for these were immensely helped by a valuable collection of glass negatives of photographs taken by Charlie Hutchins, a member of a well-known local family. Ian and Mary were further helped by other villagers who produced old photographs in their possession.

Apart from essential editing, I have preserved Ian and Mary' s words and comments. The script therefore, is much as we heard it when the lectures were given. Sadly, Mary died in 2003, after suffering a series of strokes. I like to think that this Guide perpetuates her memory. She would have been the first to say that although she and Ian did much research, there is still a lot more which could be done. In a way, their work is a pointer to researchers in the future.

Ian and Mary's researches have been deposited with the Archivist at Bath & North East Somerset. However, thanks to the efforts of Sheila Walker, duplicates of many of the photographs are still in the village. When the Millennium Hall was built, an effort was made to give adequate storage space for any Parish records which needed preserving. This is where these duplicates are now stored and are thus available for study.

There is a wealth of material about Chew Magna and the surrounding area which is easily accessible in the reference section of Weston-super-Mare Library. Frederick Wood was a wealthy London business man who came to live in Highfields in 1893 until his death in 1904 . He immediately embarked on research into the history of his new home village. The detailed records he made are in the Weston-super-Mare Library because he willed his library of 6,000 books together with , 1,000 to get a library started. An inscription at the entrance to the Library in the Boulevard records his beneficence. Frederick Wood also had a book printed which is now very rare. He called it " A Collection for a Parochial History of Chew Magna". He never sorted his researches into a narrative history. Perhaps his work will be the basis for such a history in the future.

Meanwhile, still available are copies of Ian and Mary's book "Chew Magna and The Chew Valley in Pictures" which serves as a most valuable adjunct to this Guide. Ian's two other Guides, one to St Andrew' s Church and one to the Old School Room, also give more detail about these two important medieval buildings.

Some villagers may have a copy of "Treasured Memories" by Annie Gunter who lived in Brook Cottages and " A Decade To Remember 1930-1940" by Dennis L Spear who lived in a cottage at the top of the High Street. Many years ago when there was a Women' s Institute in the village, the members produced some essays on Chew Magna - another potential source of interest! Also Roger Ashley produced a small booklet of essays on Chew Magna in 1978. He was Chairman of the Chew Valley Local History Society and these originally appeared in the Parish Magazine.

In the Somerset County Library in Taunton there is another useful reference, the Braikenridge Collection of Paintings and Photographs. There is plenty of original source material in the parish - the 10 yearly census returns, the log books of the primary school, the Church registers, the Church Vestry books and the Churchwarden's accounts. Above all, and of special interest to householders, there are the deeds of their houses. Ian and Mary found that these could be a fascinating mine of information!

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