Post Office

There is no longer a post office in Chewton Mendip but there used to be one next to the shop which moved to Bathway in 1928. Chewton Mendip used to have a coaching inn which was part of the earlier postal network. The Old Down In Emborough went one stage further and became its own post office in 1798.

This picture shows the original post office. Jack Young, the village postman who lived at Brook Cottage is on the far left at the rear. Th person next to him is not known but Maurice Church, Ken’s father, is third from the left. Courtesy of Ken and Ethel Church The other postman on the right is believed to be Joseph Flynn who lived in Chilcompton. Both Bob Powell and William Blanning have provided information that identifies him as one of the casualties of World War One. Mrs Collis, the wife of the owner is seated on the left but the young lady is not known. The Collis family owned several properties in the village at the time including the shop next door to the post office. Maurice Church was employed as a maintenance man despite not having the full use  of two of his fingers due to an earlier accident.

The old post office closed down when the St John family came to the village in  1928 and moved the post office to Bathway to be near to their bakery business. The picture on the left shows Ben, Christine and Richard St John who were the last  members of the family to run the post office. The bakery business had closed down earlier. The picture is taken from an article published in the Chew Valley Gazette. The Old Post Office now provides a ‘bed and breakfast’ service.

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