Tortworth

Tortworth
Tortworth
 Tortworth shown within Gloucestershire
Population 147 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceST7093
Civil parishTortworth
Unitary authoritySouth Gloucestershire
Ceremonial countyGloucestershire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Wotton-under-Edge
Postcode district GL12
Police Avon and Somerset
Fire Avon
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentThornbury and Yate (UK Parliament constituency)Thornbury and Yate
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire

Coordinates: 51°38′00″N 2°26′00″W / 51.633333°N 2.433333°W

Tortworth is a hamlet, and civil parish, near Thornbury in South Gloucestershire, England. It has a population of 150,[2] and is noted for a huge and ancient chestnut tree, believed to be over 1000 years old. The tree, in St. Leonard's churchyard, looks like a small wood because many branches of the main trunk have taken root.

Boundary records compiled in the reign of John of England (1166-1216) already shown the "Great Chestnut of Tortworth" in South Gloucestershire, as a landmark; and it was also known by the same name in the days of Stephen (1092/6–1154). This tree measured over 50 feet in circumference at 5 feet from the ground in 1720.[3]

The civil parish contains Leyhill prison, and Tortworth Court, former home of the Earl of Ducie but now a hotel. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the manor is recorded as held by Turstin FitzRolf.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Parish population 2011.Retrieved 19 March 2015".
  2. ↑ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : South Gloucestershire Retrieved 2009-10-28
  3. ↑ Sweet Chestnut Botanical.com – A modern herbal, by Mrs. M. Grieve.
  4. ↑ http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk

External links