Around Saltford
including: Keynsham ~ Corston & Newton St Loe
Set
between Bristol and Bath, but physically closer to the latter is the
small town of Saltford, and the two small villages of Corston and Newton
St Loe, and it is these three communities which are the subject of this
book. Historically all are very old, having each appeared as settlements
of one description or another in the Domesday Book, with Saltford being
described as land for ten ploughs, with around twenty-five or so
families, one of whom was almost certainly a miller, as a mill is
recorded in that document. Until around three hundred years ago, the
River Avon was tidal throughout the parish and, accordingly, in the area
now known as The Shallows, it was possible to be able to ford the river
and cross over into Gloucestershire. Thus with the added bonus of there
being fertile soil in the area, it easily became an ideal spot to
create, either by design or by accident, the beginning of a settlement
on the south side of the river, and was the reason for its name
although, as far as is known there is no connection with salt. At the
time of the Domesday Book, it was spelt Sanford, whilst in the sixteenth
century it had become Sartfford, and thus today’s name has probably
arisen as a result of bad spelling and poor pronunciation. It has
been said on more than one occasion that Saltford has little or no
history, but that would be to deny the fact that it has remained a place
of increasing habitation for well over a millennium. It is true that
historically Saltford has been something of a backwater with no earth
shattering events of national importance having occurred within its
boundary but with a little delving snippets of interest can always be
found. We already know that Saltford was mentioned in the Domesday Book
and, additionally, that the Manor of Saltford was at one time annexed to
the honour of Gloucester, and was held as such by the family of Bayouse
during the reign of Henry lll, and Edward l, before moving to the
Rodney’s who continued to hold the manor throughout the reign of Queen
Elizabeth l after which time the manor became the property of the Duke
of Chandos. Of the Manor House itself, it is believed to be one; if not
the, oldest inhabited house in Somerset, and one of the eldest in the
country, with many Norman features. The church of St Mary the Virgin,
which is to the east of the manor house, was probably constructed during
the twelfth century, and almost certainly occupies the site of an
earlier Saxon church. For many people, today’s Saltford
represents a somewhat sprawling dormitory community with a very busy
main road running through the centre and virtually cutting the town in
two. Two hundred years or more ago, Saltford would have looked to the
casual observer much different, with the main road and the village
huddled along the hill as it fell towards the river and along the river
itself. Closer examination will today show the original quaintness of
the village as it tumbled down the hill along High Street, skirting both
the manor house and the church, with clusters of homes and other
buildings spreading out around the hillside but still keeping close to
that main thoroughfare, before swinging right past the fording point,
and then on through what was very often little more than muddy tracks
towards Bath.
Almost certainly during the years until the eighteenth century, the population of Saltford was less than two hundred, and probably did not go over that number until around 1750. By 1801 the number living in the parish was 223, but this had more than doubled a century later. Somewhat surprisingly by today’s standards, just two miles down the road, the village of Corston had, during the years up to and including the nineteenth century, a larger population, reaching a peak of about 600 during 1840. Mentioned in the Domesday Book as “Corstune” there was land for eleven ploughs, with about twenty families, and a mill to deal with the wheat and barley, which grew favourably in the parish. Around the time of Henry l, the manor was sold by the Church Authorities, to one Sir Roger de St. Lo, in whose family it remained until the reign of Edward ll. when it was taken over by the Inge family. They held the manor for around three hundred years before it passed to the Harrington’s, and subsequently the Langton’s. The oldest building in the village is All Saint’s Church, which is a relatively small structure, standing on the south side of the main road, and has at its west end a small tower (with two bells) surmounted by a low conical spire, and almost certainly dates back to the twelfth century. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Corston contained 78 habited houses with around 84 families, (approximately 370 persons) of which over sixty percent were employed in agriculture, which, in the main, was arable, with excellent crops of wheat and barley being produced. A Roman villa was discovered around 1828 at nearby Burnett, and included a tessellated pavement, a number of small rooms, and small artefacts of pottery and tiles. With other Roman villas and finds having been found in the vicinity of the village, it is almost certain that Corston has been in continual habitation for well over two thousand years. Newton village has, for at least the same length of time, occupied the summit of a large hill, which overlooks the Avon valley. Corston and Saltford, and was held by the Bishop of Coutances at the time of the Conquest, when it would have been about the same size as the two villages it overlooked. After William l success at Hastings, many large, and established Normandy families followed him across to England, including the family of de Sancto Laudo who hailed from the town of St Lo, situated on the River Vire. For the next three hundred years or more this family, who had now adopted the name de St Lo, prospered, owning lands around Newton and at Publow, and ultimately their name became synonymous with Newton which was then Anglicised with the addition of the letter E.
2003
Price £6.00
ISBN: 0-9545117-0-0
