John Whiting’s Cottage
John Whiting (1656-1722) and his sister Mary were active members of the Society of Friends. This cottage is thought to be the first Meeting House of the Quakers in North Somerset and survives today as a much altered cottage.
In 1983, two builders who had purchased the property had removed the roof and demolished a gable end, an internal wall and the staircase. As the cottage had been listed in 1978, they were prosecuted by the District Council for causing historical damage. The following year two of our members appeared at Bristol Crown Court as principal witnesses for the defence. With their testimony and Society photographs, they were able to demonstrate that the structures in question had been unsound and that the staircase had been badly damaged by a fire. The defendants were acquitted. A circular blue plaque paid for by the Society was later affixed to the front elevation of the restored cottage.
Glassworks
In 1983 the Society successfully campaigned for part of the Nailsea Glassworks site threatened by a proposed link road, to be properly investigated with a view to preserving a representative area.
Archaeological excavation was phased over the next three years in close consultation with the Society. Over 2,000 people visited the site during a series of open weekends. As a result of a Local Inquiry, the Nailsea Town Centre Plan was amended by Avon County Council to acknowledge the world wide importance of the Glassworks and its likely tourist potential.
Several re-development schemes came and went. In 2004 the excavated site off the High Street, and that land beneath the TESCO store and car park on the older part of the Glassworks, was scheduled by English Heritage as an ancient monument. Then in 2013 the main excavated area was purchased by Nailsea Town Council and subsequently backfilled and landscaped to create a grassed oasis with seating and interpretation board opened in 2015.
Middle Engine Pit
In 1984 the Society obtained permission from house developers to investigate the site of a coal mine in the Golden Valley area of Nailsea. Members, assisted by the Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society, carried out a rescue dig in the winter of that year. The site attracted national publicity and was later scheduled by English Heritage as the most complete example of a late 18th / early 19th century colliery in Britain. Following two Public Inquiries the site was purchased for a nominal sum by the Avon Industrial Buildings Trust and professionally re-excavated.
In 1996 the site was transferred via Avon County Council to North Somerset Council, the present owners. After years of inactivity apart from maintenance, plans are now being developed by the District Council to landscape the site as a public amenity.