Pictures of Nailsea

About Nailsea

In the 19th-century this was a famous glass making area. In the past half century Nailsea has developed from a village into a small, rather pleasant town lying just a few miles from the coast of Clevedon. Fortunately, despite this expansion, Nailsea has managed to retain a peaceful village atmosphere.

Nailsea was described in the Doomsday Book as a Hamlet, since then it has survived several era's, most notably glass and coal, but for many hundreds of years agriculture has proved the mainstay of the regions economy.

In the Victorian era, the noted social reformer Hannah Moore passed through Nailsea on her countrywide travels, she went on to describe it as a rough place of depravity full of people with little or no education. Thankfully, this is not so today, but her comments were of a time when coal was being mined locally, giving way for John Lucas to set up his famous glass factory.

John Lucas started his glass making factory in the year 1788, it flourished but sadly closed down in just short of a hundred years later. One wonders what Mr. Lucas would think if he could only see the high prices this highly collectable glass fetches in the countries auction rooms today!

Modern day history tells us that the town has associations with the famous "Wurzels" of "I've Got a Brand New Combine Harvester" and "Drink Up Ye Cider" fame. Adge Cutler, the inspiration behind the band in buried in Nailsea churchyard, and in the pubs many a glass of local cider is toasted to his memory.

Nailsea, is mostly a commuter town for its larger surrounding neighbours, as such it has easy access to Bristol, Bath and Chipping Sodbury. It is also close to the Avon estuary, the Somerset Coast, and with a short trip over the Severn Bridge above splendid Avon Gorge you can explore the coast of South Wales.