Oldland 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

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, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern p ...

, England. The parish includes the villages of Cadbury Heath and

Longwell Green Longwell Green is a suburban neighbourhood and electoral ward in South Gloucestershire, England. It is part of the Bristol Built-up Area, east of the city centre of Bristol. Longwell Green takes its name from the medieval well which used to ...

, and part of

Willsbridge Willsbridge is a village in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire, England, located on the outskirts of Bristol. Willsbridge Castle, situated on a prominent hillside site, was built around 1730, with crenellations added in the nineteen ...

. It does not include

Oldland Common Oldland Common is a village in the far south region of Gloucestershire, England, on the outskirts of Bristol. It is in the civil parish of Bitton, approximately 8 miles between the centres of cities Bristol and Bath. Oldland Common is the b ...

, which is in the parish of

Bitton Bitton is a village and civil parish of South Gloucestershire in Gloucestershire, England, to the east of Bristol and on the River Boyd. The parish of Bitton had a population of 9,307, and apart from the village itself, includes Swineford, ...

History

Oldland was mentioned in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as Aldeland, the Saxon name for "old tract of land". Before the

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

, the overlord of Oldland was King

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of the Norman ...

, who had appointed Alwy as Lord of the area. After the conquest, King William I of England confiscated the land of Oldland and gave it to the

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

as tenant-in-chief. Oldland consisted of six houses with two plough teams. Oldland went through several variations of its name throughout history. Some of the names were Holande, Wholdland, Wooland during the reign of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

, Ouldland after the Restoration of the Monarchy and Eland.

Barrs Court

Barrs Court is a moated

ancient monument An ancient monument can refer to any early or historical manmade structure or architecture. Certain ancient monuments are of cultural importance for nations and become symbols of international recognition, including the Baalbek, ruins of Baalbek ...

which was part of Kingswood Chase, a royal hunting forest (successor to the larger forest of Kingswood, deforested in 1228). The name comes from Lady Jane Barre who owned the land in the mid 15th Century. A

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

existed here from 1485, owned by the Newton family, until it was dismantled in 1740 and replaced with a farmhouse, which is now a ruin. There are a number of monuments in

Bristol Cathedral Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St ...

to the Newton family. One of the original outbuildings, the large cruciform

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

, was converted in the late 1980s into a public house; it is now an Indian restaurant.

Church

Oldland had a chapel constructed in 1280. The chapel served the village as a part of the parish of

with clergymen alternating services fortnightly between Oldland chapel and Hanham after performing services in the morning at Bitton's parish church. The churchyard contained a large yew tree which had been growing since the Tudor period. It remained standing until 2020 when it was blown down by a storm. In 1827, the medieval chapel was demolished following Oldland being made its own parish. The newly constructed St Annes Church was consecrated by the

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...

and the

Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester, England, Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Gloucestershire, County of Gloucestershire and part ...

. In 1981, it was granted grade II listed building status by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

. The church's vicarage and gateway were each granted separate grade II listings.

References

External links

Parish Council websiteSt Anne's Parish Church, Oldland
* {{South Gloucestershire Villages in South Gloucestershire District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire