‘Lily’s History Lessons’ is a mini series named after our little one aimed at highlighting forgotten bits of history around Midsomer Norton, Radstock and Paulton.
You are looking for a small magnetic container.
Langley’s Lane is a historic lane approximately 1.2 miles long which travels from the junction with the A362 at Old Mills to the turning for Zion Hill, Clapton where the lane turns into Thickthorn Lane. The lane has existed for almost 200 years, possibly longer.
‘Langley’ as a surname is derived from the Old English ‘lang’ (meaning ‘long’) plus ‘lēah’ (meaning ‘wood’ or ‘glade’) and there have been Langley families living in the North East Somerset area for at least the same length of time as the lane has existed.
On an 1822 map held by the local library, the lane itself is unnamed but plot 860 (near the turning for Zion Hill) is called ‘Langley’s Paddock’ with the adjacent plots (numbers 861 and 862) labelled as ‘Cottage and Gardens’. That map doesn’t seem to show any other dwellings on the lane so it could be reasonable to assume the lane eventually became known as ‘Langley’s Lane' due to the Langley family living at the paddock, cottage and gardens.
The first mention in the census comes in 1881 which lists 2 addresses as ‘Langley’s Lane’ and an OS 25 inch map from 1883 has the lane named as ‘Langley’s Lane’. In 1894 the lane was mentioned in the Western Chronicle newspaper as a young man was fined for ‘disorderly conduct’ and by 1911 the census lists 15 addresses on the lane.
Some of those 15 addresses are a row called ‘Langley Cottages’. These were built some time between 1883 and 1902 (as they don't appear on the 1883 OS 25 Inch map but they do appear on an OS Six Inch map from 1902). They were developed on what was listed as plot 857, North Leaze (fields) on the 1822 map.
In 1911 the cache owner’s great grandad, great grandmother and their family lived in Fern Villa, at the end of Langley Cottages on Langley’s Lane. He worked as a miner at nearby Springfield Colliery in Old Mills and his wife ran a general stores shop from the front of the house. He had the same surname – Langley – as the lane. It’s not known whether the Langley family from Langley’s Paddock in 1822 were his ancestors. We think he decided to live there simply for the novelty value of claiming that he was living in a lane named after himself (despite the lane being much older than him and his parents). Whatever the reasons and however the lane came to be named, there certainly is a family connection.
On street parking is available nearby. The cache contains a logbook only. Bring your own pen. Tweezers may be required.