page_title: Priddy
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Priddy / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Sheep Hurdles at Priddy
context_page_description: Priddy is a village in Somerset, England in the Mendip Hills, close to East Harptree and 4 miles north-west of Wells. It is in the local government district of Mendip.
  The village lies in a small hollow near the summit of the Mendip range of hills, at an elevation of nearly 1,000 feet above sea-level, and has evidence of occupation since neolithic times. There are remains of lead mining activities and caves in the limestone beneath the village.
  It is the venue for the annual Priddy Folk Festival and the Sheep Fair, which has been held since 1348.
context_section_description: In 1977 a Mesolithic hut site was excavated at Priddy. Nearby are the Priddy Circles a Stone circle or Henge monument, which appears to be contemporary with Stonehenge, i.e. Neolithic circa 2180 BC. The North Hill location of two round barrow cemeteries, Ashen Hill and Priddy Nine-Barrows which are neighbours of the Circles, would seem to imply that the area to the north-east of Priddy held ritual significance into the Bronze Age. South of the village at Deer Leap is a Bronze Age burial mound and the remains of a medieval settlement of Ramspit. Drove Cottage Henge is a Neolithic ceremonial location to the east of the village.
  Lead was being worked as far back as 300 to 200 BC. The area east and north-west of the village shows extensive patches of "gruffy ground". The word "gruffy" derives from the grooves that were formed where the lead ore was extracted from veins near the surface. The relatively easy opencast extraction of lead was a strong attraction for the Romans. Lead ingots found in the neighbourhood have been dated to AD 49. The ruins of St Cuthbert's Leadworks which closed in 1908 can still be seen.
  Although the village is not mentioned in the Domesday Book it appears to be the subject of a lost Saxon charter of the late 7th or 8th century.
  The parish was part of the hundred of Wells Forum.
  Since the 1920s, the kennels for the Mendip Farmers' Hunt fox hounds have been based near the village, but the hunt was planning to relocate them to Chewton Mendip, a move which has faced significant local opposition.
  The group starts a number of fox hunts from the village green, including one on Boxing Day. In 2014 a decision was made by Mendip District Council to allow the development of the kennels in the village.
  In April 2013 the stack of sheep hurdles on the green was set alight in an arson attack. In July 2013, locals remade The Hurdles.
caption: Hurdles at Priddy. No longer used but, it is said if they ever go the sheep fair will not be held again.
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