Bathford (pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable) is a village and

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 authorit ...

east of Bath, England. The parish, which includes Warleigh, has a population of 1,759 and extends over .

History

The ancient charter ''Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici'' describes a manor

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

consisting of three tithings or quasi manors: Bathford in the centre, Shockerwick to the north, and Warley arleighto the south. This corresponds closely to the current boundaries. This manor was known as ''Forde'' up until the seventeenth century; the name was derived from the ford that crosses the By Brook, connecting Bathford to neighbouring

Batheaston Batheaston is a village and civil parish east of the English city of Bath, on the north bank of the River Avon. The parish had a population of 2,735 in 2011. The northern area of the parish, on the road to St Catherine, is an area known as No ...

. Near the river crossing is the site of a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

, the

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

of which was found about the middle of the seventeenth century. This villa is described in

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the '' Brief Lives'', his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist ...

's '' Monumenta Britannica'': The ford from which the village derived its name was connected with the Fosse Way. This is mentioned in a Saxon charter of the tenth century relating to the manor. The Fosse Way stills forms the boundary of the parish. Bathford was part of the

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 des ...

of Bath Forum. The old Bathford railway bridge was built by

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...

as part of the Great Western Railway. A station called Bathford Halt closed in 1965. Near Bathford, on the opposite side of the river, is a large meadow known as ''Horselands'' where, according to tradition, the Roman cavalry were exercised. More recently, the area bounded by Ostlings Lane and the Bradford Road (A363) was used to keep the spare horses used to haul the mail coaches up Bathford Hill. They then returned to the field to await the next coach. Some older long-standing residents of Bathford still refer to Ostlings Lane as ''Horses Lane''. Whether the two areas are related is somewhat uncertain. Bathford has been formally twinned with

Artannes-sur-Indre Artannes-sur-Indre (, literally ''Artannes on Indre'') is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population Town twinning * Bathford, Somerset, Great Britain See also *Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department The f ...

in France since 2005.

Governance

The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and

neighbourhood watch Neighbourhood Watch in the United Kingdom is the largest voluntary crime prevention movement covering England and Wales with upwards of 2.3 million household members. The charity brings neighbors together to create strong, friendly and active comm ...

groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

playing field Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functio ...

s and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council. The parish falls within the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

Bath and North East Somerset Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority district in England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. It is part of the Cer ...

which was created in 1996, as established by the

Local Government Act 1992 The Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992, replacing the Local Government Boundary C ...

. It provides a single tier of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and

building control Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, lighting, ...

, local roads, council housing,

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. In order to effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements that must be met in ...

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

s and fairs, refuse collection,

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

. It is also responsible for

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

, social services,

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

, main roads,

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

trading standards Trading Standards are the local authority departments with the United Kingdom, formerly known as ''Weights and Measures'', that enforce consumer protection legislation. Sometimes, the Trading Standards enforcement functions of a local authority a ...

waste disposal Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...

and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the

Avon Fire and Rescue Service Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) is the fire and rescue service covering the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire in South West England. The headquarters of the service is co ...

Avon and Somerset Constabulary Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the county of Somerset and in four districts that used to be in the defunct county of Avon: Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and ...

and the Great Western Ambulance Service. Bath and North East Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

but it is administered independently of the

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

. Its administrative headquarters is in Bath. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Wansdyke

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

and the City of Bath of the

county of Avon Avon () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in the west of England that existed between 1974 and 1996. The county was named after the River Avon, which flows through the area. It was formed from the county boroughs of Bristol and Bat ...

. Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Bathavon Rural District. The parish is represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

as part of North East Somerset. It elects one

Member of Parliament (MP) A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often ...

by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

system of election. It was also part of the South West England constituency of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

prior to

Britain leaving the European Union Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC o ...

in January 2020, which elected seven MEPs using the

d'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest ...

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

Geography

The old walled village of Bathford is on the A363, approximately one kilometre south of the A4. Bathford Bridge is where the A363 crosses the By Brook (also known as Box Brook, The Weaver and Withy Brook). The original bridge was built in the thirteenth or fourteenth century to replace the ford which gave the village its name. Bathford extends up one side of the Avonvale Valley. There are several routes up to the valley ridge, which was once the site of active stone quarrying. This ridge offers commanding views of the valley below and also of nearby

Solsbury Hill Little Solsbury Hill (more commonly known as Solsbury Hill) is a small flat-topped hill and the site of an Iron Age hill fort, above the village of Batheaston in Somerset, England. The hill rises to above the River Avon, which is just over ...

Landmarks

Shockerwick House was built as a country house around 1750 by John Wood the Elder and is now offices and a nursing home. It has been designated as 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 ...

Religious sites

St Swithun's Church, parts of which may date from the twelfth century, is the resting place of Admiral Lord Nelson's sister, Ann. The church has Romanesque origins and the dedication to St. Swithun is thought to have been in 1323 AD. The north aisle and porch were added in 1856, the south aisle and nave in 1870–72 and the west tower between 1879 and 1880.

Events

There is a flower show every September which is usually hosted in the village hall but, in 2022, was hosted in the school hall. Due to

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

the flower show was unable to be hosted as usual. In 2020, nothing happened. In 2021, people put up tables with fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc... in their gardens for people to see.

Education

There is a school in Bathford called Bathford Primary School (formerly known as Bathford CofE VC School).

Notable residents

Danny Kustow Alexander Daniel Kustow (10 May 1955 – 11 March 2019) was an English rock guitarist, known for his dynamic performance style and work with the Tom Robinson Band in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Kustow was born at Queen Charlotte's and Chel ...

(1955–2019), pop musician, guitarist with the

Tom Robinson Band Tom Robinson Band (TRB) are a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson. The band's debut single "2-4-6-8 Motorway" was a top five hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1977, and their third single, "Up A ...

. *

Manny Elias Manny Elias (born 21 February 1953) is an Indian drummer and record producer of British descent. He is notable for being the original drummer with Tears for Fears during the 1980s. Originally a member of the rock band Interview from Bathford ...

(born 1953), rock musician, drummer for

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new ...

from 1981 to 1986.

References

External links

Bathford Parish CouncilBathford Scout Group – 23rd Bath Scouts
* {{Authority control Villages in Bath and North East Somerset Civil parishes in Somerset