the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. Landmarks The Newton Park mansion, which was built in 1762–65 by Stiff Leadbetter for Joseph Langton, is a Grade I listed building and its estate which is currently home to Bath Spa University. The mansion was used as a Red Cross hospital to house Australian and New Zealand troops in World War I. The grounds include Newton St Loe Castle, comprising a keep (which was part of a fortified mansion) and a 15th-century gatehouse, which are both Grade I listed. Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall purchased the Newton Park Estate, which included much property in the village, following the death of 5th Earl Temple in 1941. Together with the adjacent Manor of Inglescombe (Englishcombe) that the Duchy already owned, this created the Duchy's largest estate outside Dartmoor. The Duchy's largest rural portfolio office is in the village. This is the headquarters of the eastern district, covering Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, the centralised finance and property services office, and the Estate Surveyor office. Plans by the Duchy to build 2,000 houses on greenfield land between the village and the outskirts of Bath have caused controversy. A regional strategy had identified the Duchy's site as an area for development, however after the 2010 United Kingdom general election this was revised and Bath and North East Somerset Council changed its decision about the development, ruling that it should not go ahead on environmental grounds. The Duchy is likely to challenge the decision at a public inquiry during 2011. Church The local Church of the Holy Trinity dates back from the 11th century. An interesting feature is its clock, which has only one hand. The church is noted in the Domesday book (where the village was recorded as "Newtonne"), and is a Grade II* listed building. Notable people William Henry Bliss an English scholar and Anglican convert to Catholicism was born in Newton St Loe in 1835. Francis Gore (1855–1938), first-class cricketer and British Army officer References External links Holy Trinity, Newton St. Loe Newton St Loe Conservation Group Newton Park Estate, Duchy of Cornwall Somerset coalfield Civil parishes in Somerset Villages in Bath and North East Somerset Duchy of Cornwall