Stoke Gifford is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

and

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 or ...

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 ...

, England, in the northern suburbs of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

. It had around 11,000 residents at the 2001 census, increasing to 15,494 at the 2011 census. It is home to

Bristol Parkway station Bristol Parkway, on the South Wales Main Line, is in the Stoke Gifford area in the northern suburbs of the Bristol conurbation. It is from London Paddington. The station was opened in 1972 by British Rail, and was the first in a new generat ...

and Stoke Gifford depot, on the London-South Wales railway line, and the Bristol offices of

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 18 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

which took over Friends Life in 2015,

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

and the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

. The parish includes neighbouring

Little Stoke Little Stoke is a village in the parish of Stoke Gifford, situated in South Gloucestershire, England. It is surrounded by Patchway, Stoke Gifford and Bradley Stoke. Home to Patchway railway station, a minor stop on the railway network, the rail ...

, Harry Stoke and Stoke Park. The parish borders

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...

, to the south-west, Patchway to the north west,

Bradley Stoke Bradley Stoke is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated northeast of Bristol,OS Explorer Map, Bristol and Bath, Keynsham & Marshfield. Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey B4 edition (2013). It is near the Severn Estuary of ...

to the north and Winterbourne and Hambrook to the east. To the south Stoke Gifford is served by the Bristol Ring Road, south of this a large green area known as the 'Green Lung' stretches to the inner city area of St Werburghs.

Descent of the manor

Giffard

Following the

Norman Invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the C ...

of 1066,

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 Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

gave the manor of Stoke Gifford to Osbern Giffard, one of his knights. Giffard himself was a native of Longueville-le-Giffard,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, now known as Longueville-sur-Scie, from which the 'Gifford' suffix derives. The 'Stoke' part of the name may come from the Stoke Brook, or may also be a reference to the Saxon word 'Stoche' meaning 'property of or dependent farmstead'. Bradley Stoke and Stoke Lodge, both 20th-century estates, were also given the name. Extensive histories of Stoke Gifford can be found online.

Berkeley

The manor remained in the Giffard family until 1337, when it was granted to Maurice de Berkeley (died 1347), 2nd son of

Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (April 1271 – 31 May 1326), ''The Magnanimous'', feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England, was a peer. He rebelled against King Edward II and the Despencers. His epith ...

(1271–1326). Thus was founded the long and distinguished cadet branch of "Berkeley of Stoke Gifford". In 1553 a new late-Tudor manor house was built by Sir Richard Berkeley (died 1604), 7th in descent from Maurice de Berkeley (died 1347). It became known as Stoke Park, and was rebuilt in 1750 by

Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (c. 1717 – 15 October 1770), was a British courtier, member of parliament, and royal governor of the colony of Virginia from 1768 until his death in 1770. Life Norborne Berkeley was born about 1 ...

(died 1770), from a neo-classical design by Thomas Wright.

Governance

The area falls in the Stoke Gifford

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

. This ward starts in the east at Winterbourne. The total population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 15,494.

Local amenities

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 Brit ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St Michael's is a

Grade II* 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 Ir ...

. The church runs a pre-school nursery in the old vicarage, and a small coffee shop in the Old School Rooms across The Green from the church, which backs onto Parkway railway station. Also in the local area are two parks, each with children's play equipment; a pair of tennis courts and a pub, the Beaufort Arms. There is a row of shops on Ratcliffe Drive including a Tesco Express, dentist and medical centre and few more shops on one of the roads off North Road. There are several large supermarkets within walking distance and most of the local children walk or cycle to nearby St Michael's C of E Primary School & Abbeywood Community School. Stoke Gifford Parish Council provoked national interest and condemnation in April 2016 when they resolved to charge parkrun runners a fee to use a park, resulting in the closure of the event in June 2016. Stoke Gifford Cricket Club in 2018 won the Bristol & District 30 over cricket league.

Expansion in the 20th century

Like much of the nearby area, Stoke Gifford undertook rapid expansion in the 20th century. Before the 1980s Stoke Gifford was just a small village, straggling along the main street, North Road. The Old School Rooms hosts the

Explorer Scouts Explorer Scouts, frequently shortened to Explorers, is the fifth section of The Scout Association in the United Kingdom for 14- to 18-year-olds. The section was introduced in 2001 and formally launched in February 2002, alongside Scout Network ...

, Scouts,

Cub Scouts Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a 'P ...

, Beaver Scouts and Brownies. St Michael's School was praised in the December 2008 report as "...a good school...the care, guidance and support for pupils is outstanding." In 2008, a new pre-school and Nursery opened adjacent to Bristol Parkway because of population increases in the surrounding areas.

Bristol Technology and Engineering Academy Bristol Technology and Engineering Academy (or BTE Academy) was a University Technical College (UTC) that opened in September 2013 in Stoke Gifford, just north of Bristol, England. The University of the West of England and City of Bristol College ...

, a

university technical college A university technical college (UTC) is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is led by a sponsor university and has close ties to local business and industry. These university and industry partners support the curriculum developm ...

, opened in Stoke Gifford in September 2013. It merged with Abbeywood Community School in September 2022.

References

External links

Stoke Gifford parish councilThe History of Stoke Gifford
{{Areas of Bristol Villages in South Gloucestershire District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire