Where are we?

Hensons

Ivy Court 61 High Street Nailsea, North Somerset.

BS48 1AW

Telephone 0175 810030

Nailsea is set within an outstandingly beautiful area of North Somerset (formerly known as Avon) between the Bristol Channel coast and the Mendip Hills.

"The village" dates from the Saxon period and there is an Iron Age settlement on the hillsides to the north of the town. In the Doomsday survey of 1086 there is an entry suggesting that Nailsea may have had a population of 28 people though, things have changed a little in the last 922 or so years.

Throughout the middle ages, Nailsea remained a small hamlet. In the XIVth century Holy Trinity Church was built to serve the, by then growing village. Over the next two to three centuries the agricultural prosperity of the area is reflected by the many fine farmhouses built in and around Nailsea, a good number of which still survive.

It is uncertain exactly when glass making first started

in Nailsea but coal that had been mined locally since medieval times was used to fuel the glassworks that were opened by John Lucas in the late XVIIIth century. Nailsea Glass became widely used and by the 1830’s the glassworks had expanded to become one of the largest in the country. Today Nailsea is famous for a particular style of XVIIIth and XIXth century glassware which is prized by collectors around the world.

After the closure of the glassworks in 1874, due to the dwindling coal supplies, Nailsea’s population fell, reaching about 1700 by the turn of the twentieth century. Over the next fifty years the village started to attract well off commuters and many substantial houses were built on Bucklands Batch and along Station Road. By 1953 Somerset County Council had chosen Nailsea for the site of a new town. In 1970 work eventually began on the transformation of the village. A new pedestrianised shopping centre was developed (The Crown Glass Centre). Here many nationally known retailers are represented, while other amenities include health and leisure facilities and good schools of all grades.

Today , Nailsea is a thriving small town with a population approaching 20,000. The community is well balanced and friendly with around half of the residents having grown up in or around the town and half having moved in through aspiration or corporate relocation.

For the commuter, the City of Bristol is just eight miles away and a main line railway station on the outskirts of Nailsea offers both local and Intercity services (London - Paddington in 90 minutes). In addition, near by junctions 19 and 20 of the M5 allow easy access to the country’s motorway network. Furthermore, Bristol’s international airport is around twenty minutes drive from Nailsea though, we do not suffer any air traffic noise.

Local leisure prospects are many and varied with most cultural interests catered for in the nearby historic maritime City of Bristol (the regional capital) and also in the ancient City of Bath. Sailing and fishing can be enjoyed on the Bristol Channel coast and at the world renowned Chew Valley and Blagdon Lakes. The seaside resorts of the West Country, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset can be easily reached by car while, closer at hand, there are Sports Centres, Caving Centres, Equestrian Centres, a dry ski slope, many challenging golf courses and some lovely walks in the vales of North Somerset and the Mendip Hills.