| Abbots Leigh | |
|---|---|
 | |
 The Priory | |
  Abbots Leigh Location withinSomerset | |
| Population | 799 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | ST545735 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bristol |
| Postcode district | BS8 |
| Dialling code | 01275 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Abbots Leigh web site |
| 51°27′39″N2°39′23″W / 51.4607°N 2.6564°W /51.4607; -2.6564 | |
Abbots Leigh is a village andcivil parish inNorth Somerset,England, about 3 miles (5 km) west of the centre ofBristol.
The originalMiddle English name wasLega, and the village became Abbots Leigh in the mid-12th century whenRobert Fitzharding (1stEarl of Berkeley) purchased the manor, having been rewarded asLord of the Manor of Portbury by the king. He also purchasedBedminster, Hareclive and Billeswick manors. He went on to found theAbbey of St Augustine at what was Billeswick, and bequeathed the income from the parish to support the abbey. Because of this connection to the abbey, when theDiocese of Bristol was carved out of theBath and Wells,Gloucester andWorcester diocesan territories (Patent Roll, Henry VIII, Art. 9, June 1542) the new diocese's boundary was drawn to include the parish, including the Saxonenclosure at Hamgreen which had been part of Portbury manor lands until then. All the surrounding parishes in Somerset are in Bath and Wells diocese. The parish map shows this meandering historic boundary which putsSt Katherine's School and Chapel Pill Farm both within the parish.
The parish of Abbots Leigh was part of thePortburyHundred.[2]
The manor house here, also named Abbot's Leigh orLeigh Court, was a resting place ofCharles II during hisescape to France in 1651. He arrived on the evening of 12 September, and stayed at the home of Mr and Mrs George Norton, who were friends of the King'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 bookThe Escape of Charles II, After the Battle of Worcester by Richard Ollard:[4] Watercolour images of Abbot's Leigh House[5][6][7]
"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 theBattle of Worcester. The man looked at Charles and said, "The King was at least three inches taller than you."[8]
The King's escape route is commemorated in theMonarch's Way long-distance footpath which passes through the village.[9]
In 1942, duringWorld War II, Rev. Cyril Vincent Taylor (1907–1991), then a producer of Religious Broadcasting at theBBC and stationed in the village, wrote ahymn tune which he named after it. The tune was originally written for thehymn "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken". This hymn had usually been sung to the tune "Austrian Hymn", orGott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, but since the national anthem ofthen-enemy Germany was also sung to that tune, new music was needed in wartime Britain. Other hymn texts now commonly sung to the same tune include "Father Lord of All Creation", "God is Here", "God is Love, Let Heaven Adore Him", and "Lord, You Give the Great Commission".[10][11][12]
The parish is in theunitary authority ofNorth Somerset which was created in 1996, under theLocal Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier oflocal government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area, includinglocal planning andbuilding control, local roads,council housing,environmental health, markets and fairs,refuse collection,recycling,cemeteries,crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. It is also responsible foreducation,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 theAvon Fire and Rescue Service,Avon and Somerset Constabulary and theSouth Western Ambulance Service.
North Somerset's area covers part of theceremonial county ofSomerset but it is administered independently of thenon-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall inWeston-super-Mare. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was theWoodspringdistrict of thecounty of Avon.[13] Before 1974 that the parish was part of theLong Ashton Rural District.[14]
The parish is represented in theHouse of Commons as part of theNorth Somersetcounty constituency, which elects oneMP, currentlySadik Al-Hassan of theLabour Party.
TheChurch of England parish church of theHoly Trinity is a 15th-centuryPerpendicular Gothic building,restored and partially rebuilt in 1847–48 after a fire. The tower has six bells, three of which werecast in 1781 by William Bilbie of theBilbie family.[15]English Heritage has designated Holy Trinity aGrade II* listed building.[16]
