Long Ashton, Somerset

Historical Description

Ashton, Long, a parish in Somerset, 3 miles from Bristol station on the G.W. and M.R. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Acreage, 4239; population, 2361. It contains Bedminster workhouse, and the hamlet of Providence. Leigh Woods is a picturesque portion of the parish on the bank of the Avon. The centre of the parish is a fertile wooded vale, partly disposed in market gardens and orchards, for sendingvegetables and fruit to Bristol. The north rises into a range of bleak but picturesque hills, which command a magnificent view of the surrounding country. The south goes up to Barrow Common and Dundry Hill. The chief residence is ASHTON COURT (which see). Many Roman coins have been found, and there are some remains of Roman camps at Leigh Woods. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £350. The church dates from 1390, has a carved Gothic screen, dividing the chancel from the nave and aisles, contains figured stained windows and some handsome monuments, and is surmounted by a tower, with the arms of the Lyons family in stone; it was repaired and restored in 1872. A new church has been built at Leigh Woods at a cost of £3000. There is a Congregational chapel, and one for Plymouth Brethren. A village club was built in 1879. Collinson, the county historian, was vicar.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Long Ashton from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ashton, Long (All Saints))

Maps

Online maps of Long Ashton are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Somerset papers online:

• Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette
• Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser
• Western Gazette
• Wells Journal
• Somerset County Gazette

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Somersetshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.