| Abbots Leigh | |
Holy Trinity parish church |
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The Priory |
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Abbots Leigh
Abbots Leigh shown within Somerset |
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| Population | 810 [1] |
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| OS grid reference | ST545735 |
| Parish | Abbot's Leigh |
| Unitary authority | North Somerset |
| Ceremonial county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bristol |
| Postcode district | BS8 |
| Dialling code | 01275 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | North Somerset |
| Website | Abbots Leigh web site |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Abbots Leigh is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the centre of Bristol.
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The original Middle English name was Lega and the village became Abbots Leigh in the mid 12th century when Robert Fitzharding (first Earl of Berkeley), who acquired the village as Lord of the Manor, gave the income to the Abbey of St Augustine, Bristol which he founded.
The parish of Abbots Leigh was part of the Portbury Hundred.[2]
The manor house here, also named Abbot's Leigh or Leigh Court, was a resting place of Charles II during his escape to France in 1651. He arrived on the evening of 12 September, staying at the home of Mr and Mrs George Norton, who were friends of the Kings's travelling companion, Jane Lane. The Nortons were unaware of the King's identity during his three-day stay.[3]
A description of the house appears in the book "The Escape of Charles II, After the Battle of Worcester" by Richard Ollard:[4]
"Abbots Leigh was the most magnificent of all the houses in which Charles was sheltered during his escape. A drawing made in 1788, only twenty years before it was pulled down, shows a main front of twelve gables, surmounting three storeys of cowled windows; a comfortable, solid west country Elizabethan house."
While staying at Abbots Leigh, Charles deflected suspicion by asking a trooper, who had been in the King's personal guard, to describe the King's appearance and clothing at the Battle of Worcester. The man looked at Charles and said, "The King was at least three inches taller than you."[5]
The King's escape route is commemorated in the Monarch's Way long distance footpath which passes through the village.[6]
In 1942, Cyril Vincent Taylor (1907–1991) published a hymn tune named "Abbot's Leigh". The tune fits the words of a number of different hymns, and is commonly used with the following hymns: "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken", "Father Lord of All Creation", "God is Here", "Go My Children, With my Blessing" and "Lord, You Give the Great Commission"
The parish is in the unitary authority of North Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. It is also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service.
The parish is in the unitary authority of North Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.It is also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service.
North Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare. Between April 1, 1974 and April 1, 1996, it was the Woodspring district of the county of Avon.[7] Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Long Ashton Rural District.[8]
The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the North Somerset county constituency. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is also part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
The Church of England parish church of the Holy Trinity is a 15th century Perpendicular Gothic building, restored and partially rebuilt in 1847–48 after a fire. The tower has three bells cast in 1781 by William Bilbie of the Bilbie family.[9] English Heritage has designated Holy Trinity a Grade II* listed building.[10]