Henfield, Gloucestershire

Henfield
Gloucestershire
Henfield
Location
Grid reference:	ST678793
Location:	51°30’45"N, 2°27’54"W
Data
Post town:	Bristol
Postcode:	BS36
Dialling code:	0117
Local Government
Council:	South Gloucestershire

Henfield is a hamlet in Gloucestershire, between Coalpit Heath and Westerleigh, adjoining the hamlet of Ram Hill immediately to the north, in the south of the county. This was once a coal-mining village, until 1949 when the last pit closed.

History

This is a small hamlet which has seen considerable land use change over the recent centuries moving from a traditional agricultural landscape to an active coal mining area by the beginning of the nineteenth century.

The coming pf coal transformed the place, form the calm of farming to the noise and pollution of mining and the railway which came to serve the mine. The population climbed and new miners' cottages were built in Henfield by the Coalpit Heath Colliery Company.

Before the end of the nineteenth century, the New Engine Pit closed, but the railway sidings and engine shed at New Engine remained and labour moved to the nearby Parkfield and Frog Lane Pits.

Bitterwell Close - a former railway siding

The last coal mine was the Frog Lane Pit at Coalpit Heath, and this closed in 1949. Henfield reverted to its agricultural roots, a quiet clustered hamlet surrounded by pastoral agricultural land. There were new additions at that time with the introduction of Henfield Village Hall and a little ribbon development along the convergent minor roads.

The area was peaceful in the 1950s and early 1960s with little in the way of noise and light pollution. The construction of the M4 motorway to the south of the hamlet in the late 1960s began to change the character of the area and with the expansion of Bristol and Yate.

Henfield has since the expansion of the city and the motorways become a commuter village. Riding stables and farms for horses have opened, and the Kendleshire Golf Course too.

Industrial Archaeology

Coal Mines

Henfield is situated near the centre of the North Bristol Coal Field, this area at one time having been a prolific coal mining community. Coal had been mined in this area since the fourteenth century and most likely even earlier. However it was Sir Samuel Astry, Lord of the Manor of Westerleigh c1680 who started mining on a grander scale and his descendants, or their business partners, continued to be connected with the Coalpit Heath Colliery Company.

Within Henfield itself there were four mines operational in the early nineteenth century:

A relic from the hamlet's industrial past

• Serridge Engine Pit, sunk in 1785 and located near to Serridge House. This mine was linked by an early tramway to the old Ram Hill pit.
• Orchard (or Middle Wimsey) Pit, opened in the late 18th century. It was active at the time the Dramway was completed in 1832 but was superseded by the New Engine Pit soon afterwards.
• No. 11 Pit: little is known of this pit other than its location south of the above pits.
• New Engine Pit, sunk around 1824. It was the only one of the Henfield pits that was still operational after 1867.

It had a depth of 502 feet 10 inches which at that time was recorded as the deepest shaft sunk in the trough of Coalpit Heath. In the mid-nineteenth century New Engine Pit was the main pit for the Coalpit Heath group of mines. Most coal for this area was drawn from this pit, the other shafts being kept open for pumping and ventilation. On the New Engine Pit site today there are the remains of a horse gin and an engine house, while the area itself is called New Engine. In 1930 it was recorded that there was an 1832 Acraman steam engine at the New Engine colliery site that was being used to drive a saw mill. However, there is no trace of this engine today.

The underground map of around 1850 shows that the underground roads of the nearby Ram Hill Colliery and Churchleaze pits on Ram Hill joined together with those of the Serridge Engine and New Engine pits.

Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway

The old dramway trackbed

In the Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway Act of 19 June 1828, Parliament authorised the construction of a horse-drawn railway from Ram Hill to the River Avon in Bristol. It was completed and in use by July 1832. At the same time the Avon and Gloucestershire Railway constructed a connecting line from near Mangotsfield to the River Avon at Keynsham.

The Ram Hill Colliery was the northern terminus and near of Bitterwell Lake (then known as Bitterwell Pond, a colliery drainage sump, there was also a southern spur to New Engine Pit; technical facilities were provided there and it served as a supply depot to other local pits. When New Engine Pit ceased extraction itself, the support facilities continued in use, and it came to be named New Engine Yard.

These early railways provided cheap and easy transport from the mines of Coalpit Heath to the wharves on the Avon at Keynsham and Bristol. They were built as single track railway, built to the gauge of 4 ft 8 in gauge, with passing places along the route. The whole length of the railway was built on a downhill gradient dropping 225 ft along the route.

The railways were colloquially referred to as the dramway and in recent times this has been formalised by usage on signs indicating the footpath facilities, and on Ordnance Survey mapping.

Disused railway line near Bitterwell Lake

In 1839 a main line railway, the Bristol and Gloucester Railway obtained its Act of Parliament; this authorised it to take over the Bristol and Gloucestershire line, and to make a main line railway to Gloucester. The railway was to be on the broad gauge (7 ft 0¼ in, 2,140 mm) and this required the colliery lines to be converted too. It opened on 5 June 1844. The Coalpit Heath group of pits had by then declined, and the line to them beyond New Engine Yard was not converted.

In around 1860 a northern branch was constructed near Boxhedge Farm that served the new Frog Lane Colliery at Coalpit Heath. Following the closure of the New Engine Pit towards the end of the nineteenth century, railway infrastructure at Henfield remained in the form of railway sidings and engine shed. These served the Frog Lane Colliery until its closure in 1949. Some dilapidated built remnants of the railway remain including the old engine shed at New Engine Yard and weighbridge house near Boxhedge Farm.

About Henfield

Bitterwell Lake

Fishing at Bitterwell Lake

Bitterwell Lake, also referred to as Bitterwell Pond, is situated near the junction of roads leading to Coalpit Heath and Ram Hill. This man-made lake is used as a fishing lake and is owned by Westerleigh Parish Council, and used for bathing, fishing, model yachting and boat hire. It was acquired by the Parish Council in 1930, once owned by the Coalpit Heath Colliery Company. The company used it to soak the pit props for the mine.

The lake is over 3 acres in extent and at the time of purchase was surrounded by numerous stone and tiled buildings and two detached cottages with gardens.

Bitterwell Lake

It is difficult to establish when precisely the lake was excavated but it was after 1845 as it does not appear on the Westerleigh Tithe Map 1845 and before 1881 as it is clearly shown on the 1st edition (1881) Ordnance Survey Map. There is also uncertainty about the functions of Bitterwell Lake in relation to the mines at Henfield. It may have supplied reservoir water for the mine engines. Sluices regulated water in the lake and within living memory the overflow went to The Clamp, another reservoir pond that had been constructed near the Serridge Pit.

In the 1930s Bitterwell Lake received wide coverage in the newspapers across the Empire claiming that it was the home of Tarzan who lived in a tree-house and climbed like a monkey. The Mercury, in Hobart, Tasmania, reported on 10 October 1934 that:

in the woods around Bitterwell Lake, near Bristol, is a man aged 20, who lives in the tree tops wearing only a leopard skin. His name is Bernard Skuse but he is known to his friends as Tarzan.

"That's my favourite tree" he told the "Daily Express" Bristol correspondent pointing out the tallest of a number of trees clustering round the lake. He was at the top in ten seconds swinging through the branches of adjacent trees to reach it.

He lives in an eyrie among the leaves which he built himself. It has a wooden floor and a thatched roof. His explanation of his predilection for this mode of life is: "I like it so I do it."

He is bronzed with a perfectly proportioned muscular body. He explained that his feet are rather flat, which makes climbing easy. When not at work he hunts with a spear, a knife and a bow and arrow. When he feels hot he dives into the lake.

Nowadays Bitterwell Lake is solely used for fishing but at the same time represents an important local amenity for the surrounding area. A record 8.5 lb eel was caught at Bitterewell Lake in 1922. This held the national record for almost half a century.

Kendleshire Golf Club

Practice area at the Kendleshire Golf Club

Kendleshire Golf Club is a parkland golf course is five minutes from the M32. The 'Hollows' and 'Ruffet' Courses were opened in the summer of 1997, designed by Adrian Stiff In the summer of 2002 the 'Badminton Course', designed by Peter McEvoy, was opened. In addition there is the 'Academy Course', a six-hole, par three practice course.

There are also two putting greens, either side of the clubhouse, a practice range, two bars, a restaurant and a function room.

Society

Henfield Village Hall

Henfield Village Hall is a village facility which hold regular community events, including Saturday dances, whist drives, youth club meetings, jumble sales as well as being a setting for the annual village shows. It has since modernisation been known as 'Henfield Social Club'.

Newman Field is a small recreation area next to the Village Hall and Bitterwell Lake. The land was donated by Jo Newman to the community in 1974.

Play area at Newman Field

Outside links

• The Manor C of E Primary School, Coalpit Heath