Rode (formerly Road) is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Somerset in England, northeast of Frome and southwest of Trowbridge. The small settlement of Rode Hill, northeast of Rode village, is now contiguous with it. The village lies within a mile of the Wiltshire border and is the easternmost settlement in Somerset. The Wiltshire village of Southwick is 2 miles (3 km) to the northeast. History The village appears as "Rode" in the Domesday Book, but the spelling was labile from an early date: it is "Roda" in assize rolls of 1201, "la Rode" in a charter roll of 1230; by the 18th century "Road" was regarded as the usual form. This was reverted to the older spelling "Rode" by Somerset County Council in 1919. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon rod, meaning a clearing. The parish was part of the hundred of Frome. Rode developed from being an early crossing point of the river Frome to a large village of three manors and several mills at the time of the Norman invasion. By 1250 Rode was awarded the privilege of holding a weekly market and annual fair. The main settlement is close to the river but there is also a cluster of houses further east around St. Lawrence's church, near Seymour's Court, the Lord of the Manor's house. Rode's prominence was greatest during the 16th and 17th centuries, when the wool milling industry boomed in the South West; a success due largely to the meandering nature of its rivers, which afforded the space for the construction of mill ponds and streams, and because of its close proximity to the international port of Bristol. At one point Rode was home to four or five wool mills which created great wealth for the village and funded the construction of many large houses in the village, such as Rode Manor, Langham House, Milfield House and Southfield House. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries the village centre thrived enough for Rode to be known as a market town. Possibly the greatest achievement of Rode's milling industry came in the 18th century, when a consortium of Rode mills won a competition to make a robe for Queen Charlotte. In winning the prize, a business in the village invented the dye Royal Blue and received a certificate to sell it under that name. By the middle to the end of