Purton, Lydney

Purton
View over the River Severn at Purton
Purton Location within Gloucestershire
OS grid reference	SO670046
District	Forest of Dean
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Forest of Dean
List of places UK England Gloucestershire 51°44′21″N2°28′42″W / 51.73913°N 2.47844°W / 51.73913; -2.47844 Coordinates: 51°44′21″N2°28′42″W / 51.73913°N 2.47844°W / 51.73913; -2.47844

Purton is a hamlet on the west bank of the River Severn, in the civil parish of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It lies opposite the village of Purton near Berkeley on the east bank of the river.

The name of the place derives from the Old English pirige tun, meaning "pear orchard". ^[1] It was mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Purton was a small port, and there was a ferry across the river, Purton Passage, to the other Purton by 1282. In the late 18th and early 19th century, there was also a ford across the river here. In 1740, the removal of a large rock from the river bed on the Berkeley side caused the river to shift its channel. This meant only a single crossing a day was possible and led to a decline in the trade. The river had returned to its old channel ten years later, although it was altered by another shift in 1761. In the late 18th century and the early 19th the river was often forded at Purton, but some people, misjudging the tide times, were drowned. ^[2] The ferry continued in use until 1879, when it was replaced by the Severn Railway Bridge. ^{[3] [lower-alpha 1]}

The manor house is a Grade II* listed building. It dates from 1618 and lies immediately above the Chepstow/Gloucester railway line which passes in a deep cutting at that point. It has a principal block, of three storeys and three bays, ^[4] parallel with the river and a wing which projects to the north-east, with a small extension added in the 19th century. Historic England, in its listing record, describes the manor house as "an important survival, somewhat modified over the centuries". ^[5] A barn to the west of the manor house is listed at Grade II. ^[6] Old Severn Bridge House, which Verey and Brooks note was formerly a hotel, ^[4] is also Grade II listed. ^[7]

To the north of the hamlet, the Purton Viaduct crosses the road from Etloe. Designed in 1830, and contemporary with the Stockton and Darlington Railway, it was planned as part of a crossing of the Severn, the Purton Steam Carriage Road which was never completed. ^{[lower-alpha 2]} Historic England consider the viaduct of "considerable historical and industrial archaeological interest". ^[9]

Footnotes

1. David Verey and Alan Brooks, in the their 2002 revised edition, Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean, in the Pevsner Buildings of England series, describe the hamlet of Purton under the entry for Blakeney. ^[3]
2. Plans for the Purton Steam Carriage Road were strongly opposed by those whose commercial interests it threatened and the bill to permit construction was defeated in Parliament. ^[8]

References

1. Mills 2003, p. ?.
2. Baggs & Jurica 1996, pp. 46–84.
3. Verey & Brooks 2002, pp. 198–199.
4. Verey & Brooks 2002, p. 198.
5. Historic England. "Purton Manor Farmhouse (Grade II*) (1186617)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 3 December 2022.
6. Historic England. "Barn 25M west of Purton Manor Farmhouse (Grade II) (1186618)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 3 December 2022.
7. Historic England. "Old Severn Bridge Hotel (Grade II) (1121864)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 3 December 2022.
8. "Purton Steam Carriage Road". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
9. Historic England. "Purton Viaduct (Grade II) (1299210)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 3 December 2022.

Sources

• Baggs, A.P.; Jurica, A.R.J. (1996). "Lydney". In C.R.J. Currie; N.M. Herbert (eds.). A History of the County of Gloucestershire: Bledisloe Hundred, St Briavels Hundred, the Forest of Dean. Victoria County History. Vol. 5. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-197-22787-9.
• Mills, Anthony David (2003). A Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-198-52758-9.
• Verey, David; Brooks, Alan (2002). Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean. Buildings of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0-300-09733-7.