Ashton, Long (All Saints)

ASHTON, LONG (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Bedminster, hundred of Hartcliffe with Bedminster, E. division of Somerset, 3 miles (S. W. by W.) from Bristol; containing, with the hamlets of Kingcot, Providence, Yanleigh, Bower-Ashton, and Rounham, 1926 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 4112 acres, of which 1132 are arable, 2328 pasture, and 428 woodland, waste, &c. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 17. 11.; net income, £117; patrons and impropriators, Sir J. Smyth, Bart., and the family of Langton. There were formerly a chapel and a hermitage at Rounham Ferry, in the parish. In 1661, Francis Derrick gave a piece of land producing about £8 per annum; in 1760, Anne Smyth left a rent-charge of £10; and, in 1822, John Stanton gave £100; which funds are applied towards the support of a school further maintained by subscription. On the eastern point of Ashton hill are two intrenchments called Burwalls and Stokeleigh, now overgrown with wood, which appear to have been Roman camps; and recently, in forming the line of the Bristol and Exeter railway, the foundation of the wall of an ancient village was discovered, with numerous coins of Constantine and Severus, and domestic utensils.