Cromhall
| Cromhall | |
| Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|
 St Andrew's Church, Cromhall | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST692904 |
| Location: | 51°36’43"N, 2°26’41"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | GL12 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Gloucestershire |
Cromhall is a little, scattered village in Gloucestershire, in the south of the county between Bagstone and Charfield on the B4058, and also borders Leyhill. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was 1,231.
Cromhall is about a mile from Falfield on the A38 Tortworth turn-off. The village is spread out and about a mile long, and claims therefore to be one of the longest villages in Britain; although not as long as Falfield.[1]
The church, St Andrew's, stands at the western edge of the village, towards the valley which parts this part of the village from Abbotside. At the other end of the village towards Yate, there is a small lane called Cowship Lane. In the village there is a clutch of local shops – a post office, garage and a pub called The Royal Oak.[2]
Church, rectory and school
The parish church, St Andrew's, stands on Rectory Lane. It has a fine set of gargoyles and is a Grade I listed building.[3]
The church was built over a monastery, and in memory of that, across the valley is a hamlet named Abbotside.[4]
The associated Old Rectory is a Grade II listed building.[5]
The village school is a Church of England school, also called St Andrews and it stands next to the church.
Local legend claims that that there is a tunnel which runs under the church yard, across the field and eventually comes out at Abbotside. The tunnel is said to have been used in Tudor times during the reign of Henry VIII as a safe passage by monks from the abbey. As with practically all tunnel legends, no substance has been found for this.
History
At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a colliery at Cromhall. The coal was in several strata but they varied so much in thickness, in places being thirty inches thick and in others six inches or dwindled away altogether, that the profitability of the pit was low and it closed. It reopened again a few years later but soon failed again.
The remains of the engine house and shaft top, now completely filled in, are still visible.[6]
The author and writer on natural history Anthony Collett was born here, where his father was the rector. He was the nature correspondent for The Times during the 1910s and 1920s.[7]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Cromhall) |
References
- ↑ Cromhall Village
- ↑ "Cromhall". Southglos.info. http://www.southglos.info/sg/cromhall. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1114974: Parish Church of St Andrew
- ↑ "St Andrews CE VC Primary School, Cromhall". St Andrews CE VC Primary School. http://www.standrews-pri.s-gloucs.sch.uk/. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1114983: The Old Rectory
- ↑ Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1837). The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: Charleston - Copyhold. Knight. p. 287. https://books.google.com/books?id=QA5CAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA287.
- ↑ "Mr. Anthony Collett". The Times (London) (45289): p. 14. 23 August 1929.