Old Pictures: South Wraxall
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The parish church of St James, originally a chapel of Bradford’s large ancient parish. The picture is from an old postcard that bears the name of P.E. Andrews, who was operating as a photographer in Bradford in the first decade of the 20th century, later under...
Read MoreCumberwell
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An estate of Cumberwell, already separated from the Manor of Bradford, was listed in the Domesday Book in 1086. The manor became part of the Liberty of Castle Combe and descended with it through the Middle Ages. The name seems to suggest that there may have been remnants, or at least a memory, of the Romanised welsh-speaking people...
Read MoreBradford Hundred People: Rev Edward Spencer
Rev Edward Spencer had been the Rector of St Mary’s, Wingfield for 43 years when he died on 9th February 1819 in his 80th year. He was succeeded as Rector by his son Thomas, who died in 1842 at 68. Besides his duties at the church Edward ran a small boarding school in the big Rectory house next to the church. Among his pupils were the playwright and actor Daniel Terry (c1780-1829)...
Read MoreThe Museum Collection: the Wadman Trophy
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The rose bowl trophy was awarded in 1908 to William James Wadman (1887-1954) of Stowford, Wingfield for shooting. He was a member of the Rood Ashton-Malmesbury troop of the Wiltshire Yeomanry.
It was presented to him by Sir Vincent and Lady Caillard – Sir Vincent Henry Penalver Caillard (1856-1930) and his wife, Eliza Frances...
Read MoreExplore Wingfield
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The only remaining medieval part of the Parish Church of St Mary is the 15th century battlemented west tower, with pieced stone bell chamber windows. The rest was rebuilt in the 18th century and a north extension that...
Read MoreTrowle
Trowle was a tithing of the Bradford Hundred that lay to the south of the town. The actual land area presents some difficulties, because there were two manors: Great and Little Trowle. The boundaries of the grant of Bradford to Shaftesbury Abbey in 1001 seems to include both, defined in the south by the line of the River Biss and then, from Trowle Bridge, up its tributary...
Read MoreWoolley
Woolley is a hamlet, or now rather a suburb, to the north-east of Bradford. Houses are grouped around a triangular green, now on the route of heavy traffic, and along a street that connects it with Bradford. Woolley, usually coupled with Leigh, formed one of the Tithings of the Hundred.
Its name is more probably derived from a clearing that was associated with a Saxon...
Read MoreRowley and Wittenham
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The Bradford Hundred manors of Rowley and Wittenham ceased to exist some time ago; Wittenham especially seems to be completely lost.
Wittenham was mentioned as being on the border of the Bradford land that was given to Shaftesbury Abbey in 1001 and appears in Domesday Book as...
Read MoreExplore Limpley Stoke
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The Church of St Mary, previously dedicated to St Edith of Wilton, lies in a strange position, right on the boundary of the ancient parish of Bradford and of Wiltshire. The nave and perhaps lower parts of...
Read MoreOld Pictures: Limpley Stoke
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. A lithograph made from a drawing or painting by Bradford artist Elizabeth Tackle in the late 1840s or early 1850s. Browne’s Folly tower, built in 1848, is visible in the distance, but the railway of 1857 was yet to be made. In the middle...
Read MoreKelston
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Kelston, now a village on the north-western side of Bath in Somerset, was, like Bradford, a manor that belonged to the Abbey of Shaftesbury in the Middle Ages. It seems to have been run as a part of the Abbey’s holdings in Bradford.
No charter granting Kelston to the Abbey has been found, but it was listed in the...
Read MoreBradford Leigh
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Bradford Leigh is an area to the north of the town which now, because of boundary changes, is partly in Bradford, partly in South Wraxall and partly in Holt. The name Leigh suggests that it started as a Saxon clearing in woodland. It was a Tithing of the Bradford Hundred, paired with Woolley. Fairfield, between the Leigh Park crossroads and...
Read MoreWinsley Quarries
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Murhill Quarries lie to the west of the village of Winsley, on the edge of the plateau level. A larger upper quarry was in 1905 the site for the Winsley Sanatorium, now Avon Park retirement village.
Stone from Murhill was used for the façade of Bristol Temple Meads Station.
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Westwood Quarries
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The steep hillside above Avoncliff has been extensively quarried for Bath Stone. Underground workings that cover large areas open from adits near the top.
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Avoncliff Quarry, despite not being worked for a long time, retains several clear faces, showing the...
Read MoreLimpley Stoke Quarries
Although there are signs of small-scale quarrying around the hill that forms most of Limpley Stoke, the main working is underground. Stoke Quarry is operated by the Bath Stone Group. Recent use of Stoke stone can be seen in the modern Bath Spa building and the facing of the Southgate development in Bath.
The photographs were taken during a visit by Bradford on Avon...
Read MoreHolt Leather Industry
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The J. & T. Beaven leather and glove company was founded, according to tradition, in Holt in 1770, although members of the family had been working leather there for some time before. It became a limited company in 1919 with a capital of £50,000 and operated a wool department until 1954 and leather glove-making until...
Read MoreBeavens’ of Holt Oral History Project
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The Museum’s Oral History Group is embarking on a project to record memories of the J.&T. Beaven leather and glove factory in Holt. They are hoping to find and interview as many former workers as possible.
Anybody who would like to help should telephone Jenny Arkell on 01225 782061.
See an article about...
Read MoreExplore Avoncliff
The hamlet of Avoncliff is shared by the parishes of Westwood, on the southern side of the River Avon and Winsley on the northern. It lies in a narrow part of the gorge-like valley, where a weir provided power for mills on both sides. The river, the Kennet & Avon Canal and the railway are the most notable features.
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Holt Junction Station
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The original plan of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1830 was for branches to Bradford, Trowbridge and Devizes, but these were not built. It was left to the Wiltshire, Somerset & Weymouth Railway (WSWR) to build a line from Chippenham to Westbury and beyond, passing through Holt in 1848. Again, promised branches to...
Read MoreThe Museum Collection: Holt
Bradford on Avon Museum now holds the collection of objects relating to the parish of Holt that was assembled by the late Pam Gooding. Below are photographs of a selection of them.
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