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Explore Turleigh

Winsley, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire

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Turleigh is a hamlet within the modern parish of Winsley, to the west of Bradford. It lies on the hillside between Winsley and the floor of the valley of the River Avon, reached by lanes down two steep-sided combes and by another that leads to Bradford; a track once seems to have led to a ford across the Avon to Freshford in Somerset. It is all residential now- shops, farms, post office and public house have all gone.

The name may have come from a word that refers to the Avon valley cutting through the hills. In early forms it was Turlyn, but the final letter became lost as Turly or Turley. The present form, Turleigh,  dates from quite late in the 19th century and may have been an attempt to make it conform with the other -leighs in the district.

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Turleigh Manor HouseTurleigh Manor House has an early Georgian front of ashlar of seven bays, two floors and attic, with a broken pediment over the door. The western side wall has cross mullion-and-transom windows, which would seem to be of an earlier date. It was part of the medieval Bradford parsonage or rectorial lands that passed to Bristol Cathedral 1542-1861. Edmund Burke (1729-97) may have visited the house and Rev William Romaine (1714-95) is said to have written his ‘Walk and Triumph of Faith’ here in 1771. The house was built in about 1700 for clothier John Curll and his wife Querina, on the site of older buildings, but altered later.

former Zion Baptist Chapel, TurleighTo the right of Turleigh Manor is a coach house with a fancy window in an upper storey. This was a Zion Baptist Chapel that was built early in the 19th century  for Ann Atwood, who lived in the big house. It functioned as a chapel until 1885.

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Turleigh TrowsTurleigh Trows (the local variant of troughs) is a series of interconnected basins cut from stone, through which passes water from a spring near the bottom of the deep combe that runs down from Winsley village. Originally providing clean drinking water for residents and livestock, for brewing or for washing woollen cloths, the water was piped to provide a supply to public taps and houses in Turleigh.

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Uplands, Green Lane, TurleighThe road called Green Lane leads towards Avoncliff and contains several old houses, including a former brewery and farms. The largest house is called Uplands and dates from around 1700. It has ashlar quoins and parapet with a small pediment, but the walling is built of rubble stone that was probably originally meant to be rendered.

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The Lyns, TurleighThe house that is known as The Lyns, on the corner of Green Lane, may be the oldest in Turleigh. It seems to have started out as a 15th century hall-house with a cross wing, perhaps originally built with a timber frame that has been replaced by the present stone walls.

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Turleigh HouseTurleigh House was previously called Brooklands and, in the early 20th century, Turleigh Mill because of the old tannery mill just below it. It is a long early 19th century 2-storey building under a mansard roof, with a canted bay on the garden side. A 2-storey extension was added on the eastern end in the 20th century, replacing a conservatory.

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Turleigh CottageJust downhill from and adjoining Turleigh House is Turleigh Cottage, formerly Brooklands Lodge, a three-bay house with the central bay slightly projecting and containing the door under a pediment, flanked by two windows.

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The Malthouse, TurleighMany of the buildings have names beginning with “The Old …”, such as the Old Post Office (closed 1970) and The Old Bakery (closed 1957), reflecting how Turleigh has been converted to a purely residential area.

This large building is the Old Malthouse.

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former Prince of Wales, TurleighTurleigh also had a public house –The Prince of Wales– which was at number 265 on Turleigh Down, on the Bradford side. It operated as a pub from the 1860s until it closed in 1952, since when it has been a private house. It was long associated with Bertie Raymond, a colourful character who was landlord from the late 1930s to the end.

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