Cromhall is a village 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. It is located between

Bagstone Bagstone is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Bagstone is on the B4058 between Rangeworthy and Cromhall Cromhall is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is located between Bagstone and Charfield on the B4058, and also bor ...

and

Charfield Charfield is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, south-west of Wotton-under-Edge near the Little Avon River and the villages of Falfield and Cromhall. The parish includes the hamlet of Churchend. Village Charfield is a med ...

on the B4058, and also borders

Leyhill HM Prison Leyhill is a Category D men's prison, located in the parish of Tortworth in Gloucestershire, England. Leyhill Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Leyhill Prison was originally a United States military hospital ...

. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was 1,231.

Location

Cromhall is about from

Falfield Falfield is a village, located near the northern border of the South Gloucestershire district of Gloucestershire, England on the southern edge of the Berkeley Vale, to the east of the River Severn and just falling into the boundary of the Cots ...

on the A38

Tortworth Tortworth is a small village and civil parish, near Thornbury in Gloucestershire, England. It has a population of 147 as of 2011. It lies on the B4509 road, which crosses the M5 motorway to the west of Tortworth. History In the Domesday Book o ...

turn-off. The village is spread out and about 1 mile long, being one of the longest villages in England, although not as long as Falfield.

Facilities

The

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

d church of St Andrews is situated in Rectory Lane and was built over a monastery. There is an area named Abbotside close to the church.

The church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

village school, is also called St Andrews and is situated next to the church. It is said that there is a tunnel which runs under the church yard, across the field and eventually comes out at Abbotside. The tunnel is believed to have been used in Tudor times during the reign of Henry VIII as a safe passage by monks from the abbey. At the other end of the village towards

Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswolds, Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, Somerset, Bath, with regular rail services ...

, there is a small lane called Cowship Lane. In the village there is a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, garage and a pub called The Royal Oak.

Mining History

There were several coal mines in Cromhall which worked two seams of coal, the "Top" and "Bottom". The thickness varied "in places being thirty inches thick and in others six inches or dwindled away altogether". The Old Engine works operated from 1774 to 1795, was resumed in 1815 but soon failed before being reopened again in 1819. A new colliery, to the south of the earlier works, was started in about 1827 but that too had closed by 1854. The remains of the engine house at the New Engine Works and the top of the shaft, now completely filled in, are still visible.

Notable people

The author and writer on natural history

Anthony Collett Anthony Keeling Collett (22 August 1877 – 22 August 1929) was an author and writer on natural history subjects and was nature correspondent for ''The Times'' during the 1910s and 1920s. Collett's father was the Reverend William Collett, a form ...

was born here, where his father was the rector. He was the nature correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' during the 1910s and 1920s.

Notable Buildings

The Parish Church of St Andrew is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and the Old Rectory is listed at Grade II.

References

External links

Cromhall village website
* {{South Gloucestershire Villages in South Gloucestershire District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire