Downhead

Downhead is a village and civil parish close to Leigh-on-Mendip and 5mi north east of Shepton Mallet, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the medieval settlement of Tadhill.HistorySouth west of the village is Dinies Camp, an univallate Iron Age hill fort enclosure. The hill fort is considered to be medieval as it is on the site of earlier earthwork.The parish of Downhead was part of the Whitstone Hundred.The village was recorded as Dunehevede, meaning the top of the down, in 1196. The manor was given to Glastonbury Abbey by King Æthelwulf of Wessex, but by 1066 was held under the abbey by Erneis. By the early 18th century the estate was held by the Portmans of Orchard Portman.Downhead Basalt Quarry to the west of the village, opened before 1904 and ceased Basalt mining in 1925. It was serviced by a narrow gauge railway.