Tockington | |
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Location within Gloucestershire | |
OS grid reference | ST609864 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRISTOL |
Postcode district | BS32 |
Dialling code | 01454 |
Police | Avon and Somerset |
Fire | Avon |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Tockington is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Historically the village developed around farming based mainly on the rearing of cattle on the fertile flood plains. In more recent times Tockington has become an attractive location for commuters, being situated within the Green Belt and well connected with Bristol. It is south of Olveston and is located in a steep valley. The village also has the Swan Inn, a popular pub. The centre of the village, where the pub is located is a triangular junction.
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Tockington like this:
TOCKINGTON (Lower), a tything in Almondsbury parish, Gloucester; 3¾ miles S by E of Thornbury. It has a post-office under Bristol, and cattle fairs on 9 May and 6 Dec. Real property, £4,975. Pop., 464. Houses, 109.
Tockington Manor is a boarding preparatory school, which opened in 1947. The three-storey stone building was largely constructed around 1712 but incorporating elements of an earlier house. In World War I it was used as a hospital. [1] [2]
Before WWII it was privately owned by the Salmon family. At the outbreak of war it was commandeered as a dispersal site for the Bristol Engine Company's design office. The estimated cost, largely for building a number of additional huts in the grounds, of £9,000 was considered too much, so the main office staff were instead moved to the Fry's chocolate factory at Somerdale and only leading staff and their support staff, a total of 70, went to the Manor. [3] Apartments were made for senior staff and after Roy Fedden, Bristol's chief designer, was coincidentally bombed out of his house in Bristol on 25 September 1940, during a raid targeted on Bristol's Filton factory, he took up permanent residence. [4] Close House, Upper Tockington Road, was also used as a lodging house. The pre-war garden staff were kept on, now digging for victory to supply the kitchens.
The Tockington Manor office was where new engine developments were first planned. One of these had major significance, as Bristol's first gas turbine engine, the Theseus turboprop. This was a source of great disagreement, as Fedden thought that Bristol should concentrate on existing piston engines, but was over-ruled by Frank Owner, Head of the Project Office. This led to Fedden's resignation in 1942, at the height of the war. [5]
Towards the end of the war, once the threat of air raids was over, the design office returned to Filton and afterwards the house was returned to the Salmon family. They sold the estate in 1946. The Manor was bought by ex first-class cricketer Major Tovey, who opened it as a private school. [3] His son, Richard, later served as headmaster of the school for 38 years.
There is a small limestone quarry to the rear of the Manor. Along with the Manor this formed part of the pre-war Salmon estate. During the war, it was considered to use this quarry as an isolated and enclosed place for engine testing. In the end, Failand Quarry to the south-west was used instead. [3] The quarry is now a climbing site. [6]
The hub of the village is 'The Green' and where its church, pub and bus stop are all located. Next to the Swan Inn, a Grade II Listed Building, is an old style red phone box and which is used as a book swap.
The village church: Olveston and Tockington Methodist Church was formed in 2004 when the two former village churches united. The church, in the form of a Chapel, was built in 1897. The Chapel was extensively renovated in 2007 and now incorporates a toilet with disabled access and a kitchenette. At full capacity the Chapel seats 60. Its minister from 1 September 2018 is the Rev Simon Edwards. Services are held in the Chapel on Sundays at 10:00 am.
Tockington has no shops, but there are several farm shops in the surrounding area. There are also supermarkets and a large shopping mall at nearby Cribbs Causeway as well as those in the nearby town of Thornbury.
Bus services to and from Tockington are operated by Stagecoach Group Gloucester.
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean.
Thornbury is a market town and civil parish in the South Gloucestershire unitary authority area of England, about 12 miles north of Bristol. It had a population of 12,063 at the 2011 Census. This was put at 12,459 in 2019. Thornbury is a Britain in Bloom award-winning town, with its own competition: Thornbury in Bloom. The earliest documentary evidence of a village at "Thornbyrig" dates from the end of the 9th century. Domesday Book noted a manor of "Turneberie" belonging to William the Conqueror's consort, Matilda of Flanders, with 104 residents.
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in South West England. It comprises multiple suburban areas to the north and east of Bristol as well as a large rural hinterland. South Gloucestershire was created in 1996 from the northern section of the county of Avon, which was abolished at that time.
Alveston is a village, civil parish and former manor in South Gloucestershire, England, inhabited in 2014 by about 3,000 people. The village lies 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Thornbury and 10 miles (16 km) north of Bristol. Alveston is twinned with Courville sur Eure, France. The civil parish also includes the villages of Rudgeway and Earthcott.
Almondsbury is a large village near junction 16 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, England, and a civil parish which also includes the villages of Hortham, Gaunt's Earthcott, Over, Easter Compton, Compton Greenfield, Hallen and Berwick.
Falfield is a village, located near the northern border of the South Gloucestershire district of Gloucestershire, England on the southern edge of the Berkeley Vale, to the east of the River Severn and just falling into the boundary of the Cotswolds. It is the last parish on the northern boundary of South Gloucestershire. The area has a Wotton-under-Edge (GL12) post code and so is often incorrectly listed as being in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire. Falfield is one of the longest villages in England, alongside local village Cromhall.
Tytherington is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, situated 2 miles (3.2 km) south east of Thornbury. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was 666.
Olveston is a small village and larger parish in South Gloucestershire, England. The parish comprises the villages of Olveston and Tockington, and the hamlets of Old Down, Ingst and Awkley. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 2,033. Alveston became a separate parish in 1846. The district has been inhabited since the Stone Age, and the salt marshes that made up almost half of the parish, were progressively drained in Roman and Saxon times. A sea wall was constructed at the same time to prevent flooding from the nearby estuary of the River Severn.
Rudgeway is a village in South Gloucestershire in south west England, located between Alveston and Almondsbury on the A38 trunk road. It lies west of Earthcott, Latteridge, Iron Acton and Yate on the B4059 road.
Horfield is a suburb of the city of Bristol, in southwest England. It lies on Bristol's northern edge, its border with Filton marking part of the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Bishopston lies directly to the south. Monks Park and Golden Hill are to the west. Lockleaze and Ashley Down are on the eastern fringe. The Gloucester Road (A38) runs north–south through the suburb.
Box is a large village and civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) west of Corsham and 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Bath. Box also falls in the easternmost part of the Avon Green Belt. Besides the village of Box, the parish includes the villages of Ashley and Box Hill; Hazelbury manor; and the hamlets of Alcombe, Blue Vein, Chapel Plaister, Ditteridge, Henley, Kingsdown, Middlehill, and Wadswick. To the east the parish includes much of Rudloe, formerly a hamlet but now a housing estate, and the defence establishments and related businesses on the site of RAF Rudloe Manor.
Fishponds is a large suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about 3 miles (5 km) from the city centre. It has two large Victorian-era parks: Eastville Park and Vassall's Park. The River Frome runs through both with the Frome Valley Walkway alongside it. A restored mill found at Snuff Mills near the Vassall's Park end of the river has kept its original waterwheel, which can still be seen and heard turning. Eastville Park has a large boating lake with central wildlife reserves. Fishponds is mainly residential. Two main bus routes pass through. Housing is typically terraced Victorian. The high street shops include an international supermarket, Asian food store, charity shops, takeaways and Lidl, Aldi and Morrisons supermarkets. It has a small student population from the presence of the Glenside campus of the University of the West of England. The name Fishponds derives from when it was a quarry district, like nearby Soundwell. The empty quarries became large fishponds, which have since been filled in. One remained until the mid-1970s, when it was officially closed: a popular swimming area named "The Lido" by locals. It now belongs to an angling club.
Iron Acton is a village, civil parish and former manor in South Gloucestershire, England. The village is about 2 miles (3 km) west of Yate and about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of the centre of Bristol. The B4058 road used to pass through the village but now by-passes it just to the north.
Sir Alfred Hubert Roy Fedden MBE, FRAeS was an engineer who designed most of Bristol Engine Company's successful piston aircraft engine designs.
Alvington is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England, situated on the A48 road, six miles north-east of Chepstow in Wales. The parish had a total population of 506 at the 2011 census.
Ashleworth is a village and civil parish in the Tewkesbury district of Gloucestershire, England, with a population of 540, about six miles north of Gloucester. It has a riverside pub, the Boat Inn. The oldest part of the village is Ashleworth Quay, on a flood plain on the west bank of the River Severn.
Leckhampton is a district in south Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The area is in the civil parish of Leckhampton with Warden Hill and is part of the district of Cheltenham. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 4,409.
The BS postcode area, also known as the Bristol postcode area, is a group of 37 postcode districts in South West England, within eight post towns. These cover the city of Bristol, north Somerset and south Gloucestershire.
Thornbury railway station served the town of Thornbury in Gloucestershire. The station was the terminus of a short 7.5-mile (12 km) branch from Yate on the Midland Railway's line between Bristol and Gloucester.
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