Long Load

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.0083
longitude= -2.7639
official_name= Long Load
population = 361
shire_district= South Somerset
shire_county = Somerset
region= South West England
constituency_westminster= Somerton and Frome
post_town=
postcode_district = TA10
postcode_area= TA
dial_code= 01458
os_grid_reference= ST465235

Long Load is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Yeo five miles south of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 361.Somerset County Council, 2002. [http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/statistics/contents/population/estimates/2002mye/ Population estimates] ]

Its association with the river is long standing. A bridge over the river is known to have existed by 1335, while by 1448 there were wharves for the loading and unloading of cargoes from boats using the river. The river was the subject of the abortive Ivelchester and Langport Navigation in 1795, and although the works were never completed, traffic on the river was sufficient for the coal merchants Stukey and Bagehot to establish a coal yard near the bridge by 1824. Water levels were improved by work on the river below Langport, and the 1841 census records that a salt house had been constructed. By then, 88 households lived in Long Load, which included a boatman called William Gillett and his family, while another boatman lived near the bridge. Cargoes arriving at the wharves included slates, bricks, tiles and coal, while the main export was timber. [G Body and R Gallop, (2006), "Parrett River Trade", Fiducia Press, ISBN 0-946217-25-4]

References