| Abson | |
|---|---|
 St James the Great Church, Abson | |
  Abson Location within Gloucestershire | |
| Population | 1,930 (Wick and Abson) (2021) |
| • London | 113 mi (182 km) E |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRISTOL |
| Postcode district | BS30 |
| Dialling code | 0117 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Abson is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, it forms part of the civil parish of Wick and Abson.
Abson is located on a minor road between the villages of Wick and Pucklechurch. It is a mainly nucleated in pattern with some additional outlying farms and settlements. The centre of the village is a small village green and the church.
Abson is part of the Church of England parish of Wick and Abson, and is part of the parliamentary constituency of Thornbury and Yate.
The name Abson is a corruption of Abbotston - a place belonging to the Abbot. This was the Abbot of Glastonbury, as the manor of Pucklechurch (including Abson and other surrounding villages) was given to the Abbot after the murder of King Edmund at neighbouring Pucklechurch. [1] In the 16th century the village was called Abston, and was since shortened to Abson. [2]
Blue Lodge, one of the houses, was once the home of Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty. Whilst staying there she witnessed a man killed by a cart and this was incorporated into the novel. [3]
Abson is centred on the church. It is dedicated to St James the Great, and is a Grade I listed building, as are the churchyard walls (with distinctive Bristol Black coping) and many of the graves. The neighbouring farmhouse, stables and barn (which have been converted into homes) are all Grade II listed. [4]
There are two fragments of carved knotwork masonry on the walls as well as a figure thought once to have been a Sheela na Gig, now understood to be a carving of a male figure, high on the East wall. [5] This figure is believed to date from Saxon or early Norman times. [6]
The church contains an early 17th-century pulpit with a sounding board and 18th-century woodwork. [7]
The belltower contains six bells which are still rung by hand. [8]
'Neighbouring villages, and hamlets' | |
|---|---|
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern part of its area falls within the Greater Bristol urban area surrounding the city of Bristol.
Winterbourne is a large village in South Gloucestershire, England, situated just beyond the north fringe of Bristol. The village had a population of 8,965 according to the 2011 census. This has risen to 10,250 at the 2021 Census. The civil parish of Winterbourne is centred on the village and includes the neighbouring communities of Winterbourne Down, Hambrook and Frenchay. To the north-east is the village of Frampton Cotterell and to the west lies the town of Bradley Stoke.
Bredon is a village and civil parish in Wychavon district at the southern edge of Worcestershire in England. It lies on the banks of the River Avon on the lower slopes of Bredon Hill.
Northavon was, from 1983 until 2010, a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Littleton-upon-Severn is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Aust, in the South Gloucestershire district, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England, near the mouth of the River Severn and is located to the west of Thornbury. Historically it belonged to the Hundred of Langley and Swinehead. In 1931 the parish had a population of 179. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Aust.
Batheaston is a village and civil parish 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the English city of Bath, on the north bank of the River Avon. The parish had a population of 2,735 in 2011. The northern area of the parish, on the road to St Catherine, is an area known as Northend.
Doynton is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. The population of this village taken at the 2011 census was 320.
Pucklechurch is a civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, the main settlement of which is the large village of Pucklechurch. The parish also incorporates the hamlet of Shortwood to the west of Pucklechurch village, and Parkfield to the north-west. It has a current population of just over 3200 based on the 2021 census data. The village dates back over a thousand years and was once the site of a royal hunting lodge, as it adjoined a large forest.
Siston is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is 7 miles (11 km) east of Bristol at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon. The village consists of a number of cottages and farms centred on St Anne's Church, and the grand Tudor manor house of Siston Court. Anciently it was bordered to the west by the royal Hunting Forest of Kingswood, stretching westward most of the way to Bristol Castle, always a royal possession, caput of the Forest. The local part of the disafforested Kingswood became Siston Common but has recently been eroded by the construction of the Avon Ring Road and housing developments. In 1989 the village and environs were classed as a conservation area and thus have statutory protection from overdevelopment.
Wick is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is the main settlement in the civil parish of Wick and Abson. The population of this civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,989.
Bleadon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Weston-super-Mare and, according to the 2021 census, has a population of 1,149.
Stowey is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Stowey Sutton, in the Bath and North East Somerset district, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It lies within the Chew Valley, south of Chew Valley Lake and north of the Mendip Hills, approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Bristol on the A368 road Weston-super-Mare to Bath. Stowey and its neighbouring and larger village, Bishop Sutton, form the civil parish of Stowey Sutton.
Somerford Keynes is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, close to the River Thames and about 5 miles from its source. It lies on the boundary with Wiltshire, midway between Cirencester, Swindon and Malmesbury. The parish population at the 2011 census was 479, and a 2019 estimate put it at 558. The parish includes the village of Shorncote.
Stanton Drew is a small village and civil parish within the Chew Valley in Somerset, England, lying north of the Mendip Hills, 8 miles (13 km) south of Bristol, just off the A368 between Chelwood and Bishop Sutton in the area of the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority.
Duntisbourne Rouse is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 70.
The River Boyd is a river of some 7 miles (11 km) in length which rises near Dodington in South Gloucestershire, England. It is a tributary of the Bristol Avon, running in a southerly direction and joining near Bitton. The flow rate at Bitton is an average 19.8 cubic feet per second (0.56 m3/s). It was immortalised in the 1613 poem by John Dennys of Pucklechurch The Secrets of Angling, the earliest English poetical tract on fishing:
And thou sweet Boyd that with thy watry sway
Dost wash the cliffes of Deington and of Weeke
And through their Rockes with crooked winding way
Thy mother Avon runnest soft to seeke
In whose fayre streames the speckled Trout doth play
The Roche the Dace the Gudgin and the Bleeke
Teach me the skill with slender Line and Hooke
To take each Fish of River Pond and Brooke.
Malmesbury is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately 14 miles (23 km) west of Swindon, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Bristol, and 9 miles (14 km) north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upper waters of the Bristol Avon and one of its tributaries.
The Anglican Church Of St Andrew in Blagdon, within the English county of Somerset, was built in the 15th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Pucklechurch was an ancient hundred of Gloucestershire, England. Hundreds originated in the late Saxon period as a subdivision of a county and lasted as administrative divisions until the 19th century.
Tidmington is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District of Warwickshire, England. It is 11 miles (18 km) south from the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, and at the extreme southern edge of the county bordering Gloucestershire. Within the parish is the Grade II* listed c.1600 Tidmington House, and the Grade II* early 13th-century church of unknown dedication. At the 2001 Census, which for statistical purposes now includes the neighbouring parish of Burmington, the combined population was 153.
Media related to Abson at Wikimedia Commons
