| Westerleigh | |
The New Inn, Westerleigh |
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Westerleigh
Westerleigh shown within Gloucestershire |
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| Population | 4,800 (approx) |
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| OS grid reference | ST670818 |
| Parish | Westerleigh |
| Unitary authority | South Gloucestershire |
| Ceremonial county | Gloucestershire |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRISTOL |
| Postcode district | BS36 |
| Dialling code | 01454 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Northavon (to be replaced by Thornbury and Yate) |
| List of places: UK • England • Gloucestershire | |
Westerleigh is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England near the edge of the Cotswold hills. The village is located between Yate and Bristol, nearby villages include Nibley, Wapley, Iron Acton, Coalpit Heath and Codrington.
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The village is first mentioned in a Saxon document of 887AD. At that time it was probably just a clearing in the woods with possibly a wooden church. Westerleigh is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.
In medieval times the village would probably have been a green with the houses and church around it, and prosperous. The northern wall and porch of St James church is from the 13th century, as is the carved stone pulpit. The church was rebuilt in the perpendicular style, with the tower (once used as the village lock up) added at a later date. The 700th anniversary was celebrated in 2004.
By 1600 the village supported a shoemaker, a blacksmith , a sawyer, a flour mill, a malt house and two public houses. In 1617, John Crandall was baptised to James and Eleanor Crandall at St. James the Great church, and became one of the founders of Westerly, Rhode Island, USA.
The discovery of coal in 1660 provided employment for the villagers, with further finds at Coalpit Heath and Parkfield providing more employment. The mines closed in the last century, when the coal was exhausted.
By 1876 occupations in the village included farmers, a bootmaker, shopkeepers, innkeepers, butchers, a plasterer, a blacksmith, a wheelwright, a market gardener and a carrier. At the end of the 19th century many of the old houses were demolished. At the beginning of the 20th century, the railway and mining provided most of the work. Now residents find work in nearby Yate, Chipping Sodbury and Bristol, and in the village itself.
The village has two public houses, the New Inn and Ye Olde Inn. Wot Not second-hand shop and two garages are the only shops in the village.
In the late 18th century roads were built to Downend. The Great Western and Midland railways were constructed in the 19th century. Westerleigh Junction was a crossing point of east-west and north-south main lines. In particular it is considered to be the present end of the line from milepost zero at Derby. Westerleigh formerly had a goods depot on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway. Demolished in the 1960s as part of the Beeching Axe cuts, the site is now the home of one of Murco Petroleum Ltd's oil storage terminals.
| Coalpit Heath | Yate | Chipping Sodbury | ||
| Ram Hill | Wapley | |||
| Westerleigh | ||||
| Henfield | Pucklechurch | Hinton |