Cheddar is a village in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the Mendip Hills nine miles north west of Wells. The village has a population of 5,724 (2002 estimate). It is famous for having given its name to Cheddar cheese which is one of the most popular kinds of cheese. Although the cheese is now made worldwide, only one producer remains in the village itself. Cheddar's other main produce is the Strawberry, which gave name to the now disused Strawberry Line railway that ran from Yatton to Wells.

Cheddar is also for Cheddar Gorge, the largest gorge in England, and for Cheddar Caves , where the remains of Cheddar Man were found. Nearby is Wookey Hole.

Village or town?

It is a frequent misconception that Cheddar is a town, presumably based on its present-day size and importance, officially however Cheddar is a village. The adjacent settlement of Axbridge, although only about a third the size of Cheddar, is a town. This apparently illogical situation is explained by the relative importance of the two places in historic times. While Axbridge grew in importance as a centre for cloth manufacture in the Tudor period and gained a charter from King John, Cheddar remained a more dispersed dairy-farming village until the advent of tourism and the arrival of the railway in the Victorian era. This situation is unlikely to change in the near future, with the residents of both Axbridge and Cheddar proud of their settlement's respective status and the inevitable friendly local rivalry between the two.

External Links

Community website The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company Cheddar Caves