Alveston is a village,

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

and former royal manor in

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...

, England, inhabited in 2014 by about 3,000 people. The village lies south of Thornbury and north of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Alveston is twinned with Courville sur Eure, France. The civil parish also includes the villages of

Rudgeway Rudgeway is a village in South Gloucestershire in south west England, located between Alveston and Almondsbury on the A38 trunk road. It lies west of Earthcott, Latteridge, Iron Acton and Yate on the B4059 road. Etymology The name Rudgeway ...

and

Earthcott Earthcott is a hamlet in the civil parish of Alveston in South Gloucestershire, England, between Latteridge and Rudgeway on the B4059 road between the A38 road and Yate. It has a letter box and a small village green, but no other services. I ...

Stone Age

A scheduled

Round barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...

is situated next to Vattingstone Lane on the summit of the prominent hill called Alveston Down. The barrow survives as a circular flat-topped mound measuring approximately 25m in diameter and 1m high. The barrow is known in old documents by the place name 'Langeley' and is mentioned in charters as a meeting place for the Anglo-Saxon Hundred when it was re-used as a moot. It was partially excavated in 1890 when a primary deposit of ashes and burnt bone was discovered beneath a covering of sand and small stones.

Iron Age

A ritual deposit of bones, dating to about 2000 years ago, has been found in a cave in the village. The remains of at least seven humans have been excavated. At least one skull showed signs that it had been pole-axed and then smashed inwards. An adult human femur had been split lengthwise so that the bone marrow could be scraped out. This finding is evidence of cannibalism, which is also suspected from other Iron Age deposits in Britain. Many bones of dogs, and a few cattle and possibly one bear bone, were also found.

Descent of the manor

Domesday Book

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 recorded the following entry for Alveston: . Translated as follows: "In Langeley

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

Earl

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

held Alveston. There were there 10 hides in

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

, 1 plough-team, 23 villeins, 5 bordars for whom there were 22 plough-teams, 2 serfs. There....2 plough-teams, 5 serfs. It returned £12...." This was a very large manor, of 35 households in total. As the manor had been held by King

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the C ...

it was seized into the royal

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

and remained in use as a royal hunting park until 1149.

Illness of William Rufus

Early in March 1093 King William II (1087–1100) was at the royal manor of Alveston, possibly awaiting his passage across the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

to Wales via the

Aust Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about north of Bristol and about south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 ...

ferry. He was suddenly attacked by a serious illness, thought to have been a disorder of the stomach or bowels. He was immediately rushed to Gloucester Castle 25 miles to the north, near which the monks of

Gloucester Abbey Gloucester Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in the city of Gloucester, England. Since 1541 it has been Gloucester Cathedral. History Early period A Christian place of worship had stood on the abbey site since Anglo-Saxon times. Around 681, with ...

were relied upon to provide a medical cure. It was believed the illness had been brought on as a result of the king's sinful behaviour and he determined to repent and make amends. This illness contracted at Alveston thus resulted in the issuance of a charter which elaborated the king's coronation pledge, akin to a charter of liberties. He pledged to protect and defend the church, to abolish

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...

, to abolish unjust laws and deter wrong-doers. He ordered the release of prisoners, remission of debts and all offences against himself he pardoned. He was confined to his chamber for the whole of

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, covering the period 2 March to 17 April 1093. On 6 March he consented to appoint Anselm Abbot of

Bec BEC may refer to: As an acronym House * Bapatla Engineering College * Basaveshwar Engineering College * Bengal Engineering College Curriculum * Business Environment and Concepts, a section of Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination * Bus ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, which he had previously strongly opposed.

FitzWarin

In 1149 it was granted by Henry Plantagenet, then heir to the throne of King Stephen (1135–1154) to

Fulk I FitzWarin Fulk I FitzWarin ( born 1115, died 1170/1) (''alias'' Fulke, Fouke, FitzWaryn, FitzWarren, Fitz Warine, etc., Latinised to ''Fulco Filius Warini'', "Fulk son of Warin") was a powerful marcher lord seated at Whittington Castle in Shropshire in E ...

(died 1171), a powerful

Marcher Lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in F ...

from

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. In 1160 Fulk was in charge of arming and provisioning for King Henry II (1154–1189)

Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is the ...

,Maisel, p.35 the second most important fortress in England after the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. Henry trusted Fulk and valued his services. The grant was a reward for Fulk's loyalty to the cause of Henry's mother the

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

in the civil war with "The Usurper" Stephen. Alveston was inherited in 1171 by Fulk's son Fulk II. During the Barons' wars of the reign of King John (1199–1216) which led up to

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

signed in 1215, Fulk II's son and heir Fulk III FitzWarin (died 1258) rebelled and the manor

escheat Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

ed to the crown and passed temporarily into the stewardship of Hugh de Nevill. In 1204 Fulk III regained possession, but on 30 June 1216 King John ordered that Alveston should be seized once again from Fulk III FitzWarin. On 15 January 1230 King Henry III granted the park of Alveston back to Fulk III FitzWarin, and Fulk is recorded as having incurred a debt of 300 marks for this grant As a royal favour the king pardoned Fulk 200 marks of this debt. Clearly Fulk was then in royal favour as in June 1234 he received from the king a gift of 3 deer from the royal Forest of Cannock. In September he received 2 bucks and 8 does from the royal Forest of Braden, near

Purton Purton is a large village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about northwest of the centre of Swindon. The parish includes the village of Purton Stoke and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll, Purton Common, Restrop, The Fox and Widham. Th ...

, Wiltshire, to help him to stock his deer park at Alveston. In 1236 Fulk was given another 6 does from Braden and 6 more does from the

Forest of Selwood The ancient Selwood Forest ran approximately between Gillingham in Dorset and Chippenham in Wiltshire. It is described by the historian Barbara Yorke as a "formidable natural obstacle" in the Anglo-Saxon period, which was a significant boundar ...

, again to help him stock his park at Alveston. In November 1246 the king gave Fulk another 6 bucks and 10 does for the same purpose. In 1249 Fulk III became involved in a lengthy legal dispute brought against him by Nicholas Poyntz, his near neighbour from

Iron Acton Iron Acton is a village, civil parish and former manor in South Gloucestershire, England. The village is about west of Yate and about northeast of the centre of Bristol. The B4058 road used to pass through the village but now by-passes it jus ...

who had accused Fulk of expelling him from the common pasture of

Tockington Tockington is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Historically the village developed around farming based mainly on the rearing of cattle on the fertile flood plains. In more recent times Tockington has become an attractive location for ...

, which adjoined Alveston manor. Fulk IV FitzWarin fell at the

Battle of Lewes The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and made h ...

in 1264, loyally supporting King Henry III in his struggle against the barons. He left his son and heir a minor, Fulk V (died 1314). Fulk V was awarded in

Wardship In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court". Overview The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient jur ...

, probably by

Simon de Montfort Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

, victor of Lewes, to

Peter de Montfort Peter de Montfort (or Piers de Montfort) (c. 1205 – 4 August 1265) of Beaudesert Castle was an English magnate, soldier and diplomat. He is the first person recorded as having presided over Parliament as a ''parlour'' or ''prolocutor'', an offic ...

(died 1265), "The

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

of the Marcher Lords". He was rescued from this unpleasant position by his warder's death at the

Battle of Evesham The Battle of Evesham (4 August 1265) was one of the two main battles of 13th century England's Second Barons' War. It marked the defeat of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the rebellious barons by the future King Edward I, who led the ...

following which King Henry III re-granted him in wardship to the Fitzwarin's long-time friend Hamo le Strange. In 1273 Fulk V attained his

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Websterancestral romance relates as follows, regarding the donation of Alveston ("Alleston") to Fulk by King Henry (translated from French):

"King Henry called Fulk, and made him constable of all his host; and placed under his command all the force of his land, and that he should take people enough and go to the march, and drive thence Jervard Droyndoun and his power out of the march. Thus was Fulk made master over all; for he was strong and courageous. The king remained at Gloucester; for he was ailing, and not in a condition for labour. Jervard had taken entirely the whole march from Chester to Worcester, and he had disinherited all the barons of the march. Sir Fulk, with the king's host, gave many fierce assaults to Jervard ; and in a battle near Hereford, at Wormeslow, made him fly and quit the field. But before he fled, many were killed on both sides. Fierce and hard war between Fulk and the prince lasted four years, until at the request of the king of France a love-day was taken at Shrewsbury between the king and Jervard the prince, and they embraced mutually and came to an agreement. And the prince restored to the barons of the march all the lands which he had taken from them, and restored Ellesmere to the king; but for no gold would he render White-Town and Maelor. " Fulk," said the king, " since you have lost White-Town and Maelor, I give you instead Alleston and all the
honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
which belongs to it, to hold for ever." Fulk thanked him dearly".

Furthermore:

''Cesti Fouke fust bon viaundour e large; e fesoit turner le real chemyn par mi sa sale a soun maner de Alleston, pur ce que nul estraunge y dust passer s'il n'avoit viaunde ou herbergage ou autre honour ou bien du suen''. (This Fulk was very hospitable and liberal; and he caused the king's road to be turned through his hall at his manor of Alleston, in order that no stranger might pass there without having meat or lodging or other honour or goods of his)".

de Gloucester

On 28 September 1309 Fulk V obtained royal licence to grant the manor of Alveston, which was held in-chief from the king, to Walter de Gloucester (died 1310) for life. Walter was Sheriff of Somerset & Dorset 1293–1298 and in 1309

Escheat Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

or ''citra Trentam'' ("on this side of the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

").Glos. Notes & Queries, vol.3, 1887, p.295 Little is known of the origin or history of this family, but Sir Robert Atkyns (died 1711) in his "History of Gloucestershire" stated him to be a younger son of Fulk FitzWarin, yet failed to explain his deduction. He may in fact have been the son-in-law of Fulk as his widow is recorded with the name of "Margaret Waryn" and was still alive in 1322, as the Inquisition ''post mortem'' of Walter's son Walter (died 1322) (sometime Escheator of Gloucestershire)states her to have been then holding in dower 1/3rd of the manor of Alveston. The grant to Walter (died 1310) in 1309 was in fact made, contrary to the licence, " in fee" (i.e. hereditable) and Walter's grandson, another Walter de Gloucester (died 1360) was still in possession of the manor of Alveston in 1340/1. The trespass of obtaining a grant in fee without licence to alienate a tenancy-in-chief was pardoned on 28 July 1340 to Walter of Gloucester on payment of a fine.

Corbet

The de Gloucester manors of Alveston and "Urcott" ( Earthcott Green) together with Langley

were settled during the reign of

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

(1327–1377) onto the heir of Peter Corbet (died 1363) of Hope, Salop., and later of

Siston Siston (pronounced "sizeton") is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is east of Bristol at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon. The village consists of a number of cottages ...

. Walter FitzWalter de Gloucester (died 1360) had married Petronilla (or Pernel), one of the three daughters of William Corbet (born c. 1280) of

Chaddesley Corbett Chaddesley Corbett is a village and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. The Anglican and secular versions of the parish include other named neighbourhoods, once farmsteads or milling places: Bluntington, Brocken ...

, Worcs., and

, Gloucestershire. In 1342 following this marriage Walter settled the manors of Alveston and Erdecote and the hundred of "Langele" on himself and his wife for their joint lives and the life of the survivor of them, with remainder to their joint issue, and in default of such issue with remainder to Peter Corbet of Syston and his heirs. Peter Corbet (died 1362) was the next younger brother and heir of William Corbet (who presumably was dead by then and unlike his brother had no male offspring) and was therefore Petronilla's uncle. Walter and Petronilla's son Peter de Gloucester married a certain Alice. Peter de Gloucester died childless before 1370, as is apparent from the fact that the settlement made by his father had taken effect by then in granting the de Gloucester lands, including Alveston, to John Corbet (died 1370), the grandson and heir of Sir Peter Corbet (died 1362). John Corbet had outlived his father William who had a short life, but himself died aged only 17, leaving his triplet William Corbet (1353–1378) his heir, who in turn also died young in 1378 aged only 25. Alice de Gloucester, widow of Peter de Gloucester, was then still alive and was recorded in the Inquisition ''post mortem'' of William Corbet dated 1378 as holding 1/3rd dower share of Alveston. The young William Corbet had become a merchant dealing in the wool-trade as on his death he owed the very great sum of £320 for merchandise received to the Bristol merchant and clothier John Canynges (died 1405), father of the great Bristol merchant

William II Canynges William II Canynges (c. 1399–1474) was an English merchant and shipper from Bristol, one of the wealthiest private citizens of his day and an occasional royal financier. He served as Mayor of Bristol five times and as MP for Bristol thr ...

(died 1474). This sum had been incurred before 1375, as a record from that year of Extent for Debts heard before Walter Frampton, Mayor of the Staple of Bristol reveals, and represented several multiples of the annual value of the revenue from all the Corbet family's Gloucestershire manors, and clearly placed the inheritance in a precarious position. Indeed, John Canynges and his business partner William Cheddar the Elder had taken temporary possession of William Corbet's 2/3rds occupancy of Alveston manor as security for their debt, and later granted it by gift to

(died 1474) who held it from them as a "free tenant". Young William's own heir was his sister Margaret Corbet (died 1398), who brought the Corbet manors to her husband William Wyriott (died 1379) from Pembrokeshire. Wyriott died before the couple had produced any offspring and Margaret married secondly Sir Gilbert Denys (died 1422) from Waterton in the lordship of

Coity Coity is a village in Bridgend County Borough, south Wales, part of Bridgend town urban area. Coity is part of the community of Coity Higher and is notable for being home to Coity Castle, one of the best preserved castles in Glamorgan. Other bui ...

, Glamorgan. Thus the manors of Alveston, Earthcott Green and Siston together with Langley Hundred entered into the possession of the Denys family.

Denys

The widow Alice de Gloucester remarried to Alan Eckylsale and the couple remitted all their rights in her 1/3 dower in Alveston in consideration of 100 marks paid by Gilbert Denys and Margaret. who thus had obtained vacant possession of the manor.

Modern Alveston

In the 19th century, the village of Alveston was centred on Church Farm, on the lane leading from

. Some people consider the modern Alveston to be centred on the Ship Inn. The Ship Inn at Alveston is an old Coaching House which dates back to 1589. In the 19th century, the area around the Ship Inn was known as Alveston Green. Most consider Alveston Parade – a small shopping area – to be the centre. The main road to Gloucester originally passed the Ship Inn, before turning east to join the current line of the A38 trunk road. A short bypass was added during the 20th century. Alveston Golf Club (now defunct) was founded in 1903/4. The club was wound up in 1948.“Alveston Golf Club”
, “Golf's Missing Links”.

Marlwood School

Marlwood School Marlwood School (founded 1606) is a state-funded secondary school currently part of the CSET academy chain. Located at Alveston, South Gloucestershire, it is situated on the B3561 on the outskirts of the south-west of the village. Marlwood Scho ...

is a mixed comprehensive which serves Alveston and the surrounding area. The school was founded in 1069 as Thornbury's

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

br>
but relocated to its present site in 1972 when it became comprehensive. It is so named because of its location adjacent to the Marlwood Estate. The school marked its 420th anniversary in 20025 and several events took place in celebration.

Two St Helens Churches

The ruins of Alveston Old Church of St Helens is situated in Rudgeway, south of the modern village of Alveston, along the A38. The separate parish of Alveston was not formed until 1846, before which time Alveston manor was within the parish of

Olveston Olveston is a small village and larger parish in South Gloucestershire, England. The parish comprises the villages of Olveston and Tockington, and the hamlets of Old Down, Ingst and Awkley. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 2, ...

. Following the development and growth of the modern village of Alveston some distance away from the manor house and the Church of St. Helen next door to it, it was determined by the village authorities to build a new church, again dedicated to St Helen, nearer to the new village. The old church fell into disuse and decay, and today only the tower and south aisle wall remain standing, although the structure has been restored to a high standard by the aerospace company

Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

, the owner of both the former manor house, now used for corporate hospitality and known as "Old Church Farm", and the church itself.

Sources

*Meisel, Janet. Barons of the Welsh Frontier: the Corbet, Pantulf and FitzWarin Families, 1066–1272, 1980. *Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004, Vol "F", pp. 953–954 "Fitzwarine (''sic'') family" *Athenaeum, 3 October 1885, Review of MacLean, Sir John, Historical and Genealogical Memoir of the Family of Poyntz, Exeter, 1885, reprinted in
Gloucestershire Notes & Queries, Vol.3, London, 1887
No.1246, pp. 293–296, The Manor of Alveston
Corbet Augusta E. The Family of Corbet, 2 vols., vol.2
pp. 167–180, Corbet of Hope, Siston & Alveston
Bush, Thomas S., The Denys Family and their connection with the Manors of Alveston, Siston and Dyrham. Published in Proceedings of the Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, no.9, Bath, 1901
pp. 58–70
Wright, Thomas, (Ed.) The History of Fulk FitzWarin, an Outlawed Baron, in the Reign of King John. Edited from a Manuscript Preserved in the British Museum, with an English Translation and Illustrative Notes, London, 1855, Printed for the Warton Club
pp. 1–183 text, pp. 183–231 notes.

Notes and references

External links

Alveston Village WebsiteSt Helen's ChurchSt Helen's primary schoolMarlwood secondary schoolMap of Alveston and ThornburyWhite Cottage WebsiteAlveston Methodist Church
{{Authority control Villages in South Gloucestershire District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire Prehistoric cannibalism