page_title: Chew Valley
section_title: Population and demographics
hierarchical_section_title: Chew Valley / Population and demographics
caption_attribution_description: English: Sutton CourtThis is a photo of listed building number 1129576.
context_page_description: The Chew Valley is an area in North Somerset, England, named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon at Keynsham. Technically, the area of the valley is bounded by the water catchment area of the Chew and its tributaries; however, the name Chew Valley is often used less formally to cover other nearby areas, for example, Blagdon Lake and its environs, which by a stricter definition are part of the Yeo Valley. The valley is an area of rich arable and dairy farmland, interspersed with a number of villages.
  The landscape consists of the valley of the River Chew and is generally low-lying and undulating. It is bounded by higher ground ranging from Dundry Down to the north, the Lulsgate Plateau to the west, the Mendip Hills to the south and the Hinton Blewett, Temple Cloud and Marksbury plateau areas to the east. The valley's boundary generally follows the top of scarp slopes except at the southwestern and southeastern boundaries where flat upper areas of the Chew Valley grade gently into the Yeo Valley and eastern Mendip Hills respectively.
context_section_description: Many of the large houses in the valley were built or bought by wealthy merchants from Bristol and Bath who employed local people in their households. Bess of Hardwick (1527–1606) is known to have lived in Sutton Court, Stowey, for a few years in the sixteenth century when, after the death of her first husband Sir William Cavendish, she married Sir William St. Loe, who was Chief Butler of England and captain of the guard to Queen Elizabeth, and owned  several manors within the valley and surrounding areas. Around this period a close neighbour was Sir John Popham (1533–1607) who was a judge and the Speaker of Parliament. In the seventeenth century the eminent philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) lived in Belluton; his house is still known as John Locke's cottage.  In the eighteenth century the poet John Langhorne (1735–1779) became the curate at Blagdon  around the time that Augustus Montague Toplady (1740–1778) was the priest. Geologist William Smith (1769–1839) moved to the valley in 1791 to make a valuation survey of the Sutton Court estate and later worked for the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company.
  John Sanger, the circus proprietor, was born in Chew Magna in 1816.  William Rees-Mogg, former editor of The Times, took the title Baron Rees-Mogg of Hinton Blewett in 1988. Jazz clarinettist Acker Bilk lived in Pensford. Dr Phil Hammond and wildlife television producer Richard Brock also live in the valley.
  In the past part of the population worked in coal mining, although there are no working mines in the area now. There is still a fairly large agricultural workforce and in light industry or service industries, although many people commute to surrounding cities for work. According to the 2011 Census the valley has a population of approximately 5,000, largely living in one of the dozen or so villages and in isolated farms and hamlets. The average age of the population is 42 years, with unemployment rates of 1–4% of all economically active people aged 16–74, however these figures are approximations because the ward areas covered and described in the census statistics do not relate exactly to the area of the valley. In the Indices of deprivation 2010 all of the areas within the valley were considered to be in the most affluent third in England.
caption: Sutton Court, a Grade II* listed building at Stowey[29]
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