Newton St Loe
| Newton St Loe | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Holy Trinity, Newton St Loe | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST703648 |
| Location: | 51°22’53"N, 2°25’34"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 681 (2011) |
| Post town: | Bath |
| Postcode: | BA2 |
| Dialling code: | 01225 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Bath & NE Somerset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North East Somerset |
Newton St Loe is a small Somerset village located between Bath and Bristol in the north of Somerset, close to the Gloucestershire border. The majority of the village is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.
The parish had a recorded population of 681 at the 2011 census.
History
There is evidence of a 3rd-century Roman villa on a site between Newton St Loe and Bath on the south side of the River Avon. It was discovered in 1837 during the cutting of the Bristol-Bath railway line when excavations were carried out and drawings of the site made before much of it was lost in the railway construction. Two mosaics were removed, one of which, known as the Orpheus Mosaic, is now in the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.[1] A further investigation was carried out in 1968 before the widening of the A4 however it is still the case that little is known about the villa.[2][3]
The Saxon manor of Newton, held by Aluric in the time of King Edward the Confessor, was given to the bishop of Coutances by William the Conqueror. At the time of the Domesday Book the bishop was Geoffrey de Montbray also known from his see as Geoffrey of Coutances, a Norman nobleman, trusted adviser of William and a great secular prelate, warrior and administrator. Newton St Loe takes its additional name from the family of St. Lo, who drew their name from Saint-Lô in Normandy; the family, Latinized in documents as "de Sancto Laudo", held the manor in the time of King Richard I.[4]
The parish is recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 with the name Niwetone.[3]
There is a history of coal mining in the area as part of the Somerset coalfield but all mines have now closed. Lower and Middle Coal Measures at depths between 500 and 5,000 feet (152-1,525 m) of the Pensford Syncline, were worked at the Globe Pit in Newton St Loe in the 19th century.[5]
There was formerly a forge at the top of Smith Hill that leads up into the village.
The village school, established in 1698 close by Holy Trinity Church, closed in 1972.[6] The Queen visited the school on 17 April 1956 when she came to the village following her official opening of the Chew Valley reservoir.
The village also once had a Girls' school, now the village hall, built in 1846.[7]
Church
The parish church, the Church of the Holy Trinity, dates back from the 11th century. An interesting feature is its clock, which has only one hand. The church is a Grade II* listed building.[8]
About the village
To the south-west of the village and close to the route of the Wansdyke is the Newton Park campus of Bath Spa University. The site includes the Michael Tippett Centre, named after the composer, with a modern concert hall. The campus is based in Newton Park in grounds designed by Capability Brown and leased from the Duchy of Cornwall. The site has a lake, nature reserve, woodland and farmland.
Newton St Loe SSSI is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest close to the River Avon, also featured in the Geological Conservation Review. The site is designated because it represents the only remaining known exposure of fossiliferous Pleistocene gravels along the River Avon. In conjunction with other sites within the wider area, it has aided the development of a scientific understanding of the history of early glaciation within the West Country. The bodies of mammoths and horses have been found at the site.[9]
Carrs Woodland between Newton St Loe and Twerton is designated as a Local Nature Reserve.[10]
Newton Park
- Main article: Newton Park
The Newton Park mansion, which was built in 1762–65 by Stiff Leadbetter for Joseph Langton,[11] is a Grade I listed building[12] and its estate which is currently home to Bath Spa University. The mansion was used as a Red Cross hospital to house Australian and New Zealand troops in the First World War.[13]
The grounds include Newton St Loe Castle, comprising a keep (which was part of a fortified mansion)[14] and a 15th-century gatehouse,[15] which are both Grade I listed.
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall purchased the Newton Park Estate, which included much property in the village, following the death of the 5th Earl Temple in 1941.[3] Together with the adjacent Manor of Inglescombe (Englishcombe) that the Duchy already owned, this created the Duchy's largest estate outside Dartmoor.[16]
The Duchy's largest rural portfolio office is in the village. This is the headquarters of the eastern district, covering Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, the centralised finance and property services office, and the Estate Surveyor office.[17]
Plans by the Duchy to build 2,000 houses on greenfield land between the village and the outskirts of Bath have caused controversy.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Newton St Loe) |
References
- ↑ Higgins, Charlotte (6 September 2013). "Exhibition to bring Roman empire to Bristol Museum and Art Gallery". Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/sep/06/exhibition-roman-empire-bristol-museum. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
- ↑ "The Story of Newton St Loe villa". Roman Bristol. Archived from the original on 12 November 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061112005743/http://romanbristol.tripod.com/avon/NewtonStLoe.html. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jemima Buoy (March 2007). "Newton St Loe". B&AFHS Journal (Bristol & Avon Family History Society) (127). http://www.bafhs.org.uk/parishes/newton/newton.htm. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ↑ John Collinson and Edmund Rack The history and antiquities of the county of Somerset volume 3 1791, s.v "Newton St. Lo".
- ↑ "Somerset Prospect". Department of Trade and Industry. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070614102847/http://www.og.dti.gov.uk/upstream/licensing/relinqlics/pedl074report.doc. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
- ↑ "The history of the church". Holy Trinity, Newton St. Loe. http://www.holytrinitynsl.org.uk/Church.htm. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1129474: Village Hall, Newton St Loe
- ↑ National Heritage List 1129501: Church of the Holy Trinity
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Newton St Loe
- ↑ "Carrs Woodland". Natural England. http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?themeid=1134163. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ↑ Colvin, Howard: 'A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840' 3rd ed. 1995, s.v. "Leadbetter, Stiff".
- ↑ National Heritage List 1312838: Newton Park
- ↑ "History". Clifton RFC. http://www.cliftonrfchistory.co.uk/references/bush/bishops%20knoll.htm. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1129476: Castle Keep in the Grounds of Newton Park
- ↑ National Heritage List 1136324: Gatehouse, west of the Castle Keep
- ↑ "Newton Park Estate". Duchy of Cornwall. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720134833/http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/aroundtheduchy_newtonparkestate.htm. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ↑ "Duchy Offices and Staff". Duchy of Cornwall. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720134908/http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/managementandfinances_structure_offices.htm. Retrieved 22 January 2011.