Olveston
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- This article is about the English village. For the stately home in New Zealand, see Olveston (house)
Olveston is a small village and larger parish in South Gloucestershire, England.
The parish is comprised of the villages of Olveston and Tockington, and the hamlets of Old Down, Ingst and Awkley. Alveston became a separate parish in 1846.
The district has been inhabited since the Stone Age, and the salt marshes that made up almost half of the parish, were progressively drained in Roman and Saxon times. A sea wall was constructed at the same time to prevent flooding from the nearby estuary of the River Severn.
The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was built around 1170 and rebuilt in 1370. It was struck by lightning in 1605 and the bells, spire and much of the chancel were destroyed. The tower was rebuilt the following year, and the church has been restored and enlarged in later years. Parish registers survive from 1561, and also include details of births and burials of Quakers, who had a Meeting House in the village for nearly 200 years. Methodist chapels were built in Olveston (1820), Tockington (1840), Awkley (1856) and Old Down (1933).
The census of 1851 shows about 50 farms, and the parish was mainly agricultural up to the time of the Second World War. The associated trades of blacksmith, saddler and carpenter etc were supplemented by stonemasons and lime burners, there being good quality limestone in the parish. After the mechanisation of farming, and the growth of the aircraft industry at nearby Patchway and Filton, the parish gradually became a home for commuters.
An historic, early 20th century, house (http://www.olveston.co.nz/home.php) in the inner suburbs of Dunedin, New Zealand is named Olveston, after the birthplace of the original owner.
