Elberton, Gloucestershire

Elberton is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, in the civil parish of Aust.

Elberton

St John's Church in Elberton
Elberton
Location within Gloucestershire
Population99 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceST600886
Civil parish
  • Aust
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBristol
Postcode districtBS35
Dialling code01454
PoliceAvon and Somerset
FireAvon
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

The village is located near the River Severn and the Severn Bridge, and is situated on the main road between the villages of Aust and Alveston. The nearest town is Thornbury and the nearest city is Bristol. Neighbouring villages also include Olveston and Littleton-Upon-Severn.

Elberton is mostly a farming community, with a church, a village hall, and a garage.

History

The name Elberton means the farmstead of a man called Æthelbeorht.[2] The name dates back to at least 1086, when the village was listed in the Domesday Book.[3]

Elberton Camp

The earthworks of an Iron Age defended settlement, Elberton Camp, can be found in the Vineyards Brake woodland overlooking the village.[4]

Quakers

In 1654, in the wake of the English Civil War, the influential early Quaker preachers John Audland and John Camm held a meeting in the village of "1000 people".[5]:81[6][7] Elberton and neighbouring villages remained home to many Quaker families, such as the Goldney family who from 1674 owned Elberton Manor over multiple generations.[8] The family later sold the manor to the Sturge family, who were also Quakers.

Later generations of the Sturge family included the leading abolitionists Joseph Sturge (1793-1859) and Sophia Sturge (1795-1845) who were both born in the village.[9][10] Joseph Sturge purchased a sugar plantation in Montserrat and renamed it Elberton, hoping to demonstrate the commercial viability of a plantation built on free waged-labour, as opposed to slave labour.[11][12][13][Note 1]

Quarry

On the edge of the village lies the former Harn Hill quarry, which has since been filled in as a landfill site. The expansion of the quarry in 1960s saw the demolition of a number of buildings, including the old vicarage. The landfill now serves as a source for biogas generation, producing 2.6MW for the national grid.[14][15]

Miscellaneous

From 1799 to 1802 the Welsh antiquarian Edward Davies was curate to the village.[16]

The organist and composer Basil Harwood composed a hymn tune named after the village.[17][18]

St John's Church

The tower of the Church of St John the Evangelist dates back to the 14th century, while the rest of the church was mostly rebuilt in 1858, and the spire refurbished in 2000. The graveyard includes a number of Grade II listed tombs.[19][14][20]

Notes
  1. There is contradiction between sources on whether the plantation was purchased in 1837 or 1857.

References
  1. "Population Estimates for Settlements and Community Areas in South Gloucestershire" (PDF). South Gloucestershire Council. February 2020.
  2. Mills, A. D. (1 January 2011), "Elberton", A Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199609086.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-960908-6, retrieved 9 November 2020
  3. "Elberton | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. "Elberton Camp". PastScape. Historic England. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  5. Horle, Craig W. (1981). "John Camm: Profile of a Quaker Minister During the Interregnum". Quaker History. 70 (2): 69–83. ISSN 0033-5053. JSTOR 41946938 – via JSTOR.
  6. "Camm, John (1605–1657), Quaker preacher". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4458. Retrieved 13 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. "Audland, John (c. 1630–1664), Quaker preacher". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/69073. Retrieved 13 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. "Goldney, Thomas (1696–1768), ironmaster". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56846. Retrieved 13 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. "Sturge, Sophia (1795–1845), slavery abolitionist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56584. Retrieved 13 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. Tyrrell, Alex (23 September 2004). "Sturge, Joseph (1793–1859), philanthropist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26746. Retrieved 9 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  11. "Olveston and Aust village website". Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  12. "THE MONTSERRAT CONNECTION". sturgefamily.charlessturge.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  13. FERGUS, HOWARD (1982). "Montserrat's Days of Lime and Cotton". Caribbean Quarterly. 28 (3): 10–18. doi:10.1080/00086495.1982.11672010. ISSN 0008-6495. JSTOR 40653502.
  14. "Aust Parish - Olveston and Aust Community Website". olvestonandaust.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  15. "Harn Hill Quarry Landfill Site Landfill Gas Renewable energy scheme / Landfill Gas". www.renewables-map.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  16. "Davies, Edward (1756–1831), antiquary and author". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7232. Retrieved 13 November 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  17. "Tune: ELBERTON". Hymnary.org. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  18. Evans, Robert; Humphreys, Maggie (1997). Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-4411-3796-8.
  19. "CHURCH OF ST JOHN, Aust - 1136391 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  20. "Historic England". List Entry Numbers: 1321068, 1136416, 1128893, 1312800, 1128892, 1321067, 1136408.


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