| Portbury | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Portbury Location withinSomerset | |
| Population | 827 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | ST502748 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRISTOL |
| Postcode district | BS20 |
| Dialling code | 01275 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°28′12″N2°42′59″W / 51.4699°N 2.7163°W /51.4699; -2.7163 | |
Portbury is a village andcivil parish inSomerset, England, within theunitary authority ofNorth Somerset. The parish includes the hamletSheepway, which is situated on moorland at the northern edge of theGordano valley, between theGordano services on theM5 motorway andPortishead, near theRoyal Portbury Dock. The parish has a population of 827.[1]
The Romans are known to have had a wharf or hard at Portbury, probably for shipbuilding, as the commander of the logistics port of Ad Sabrinam at Seamills was charged with supplying ships to carry troops and supplies to the legions across the Severn in South Wales. It was used for the export of lead and tin from mines on theMendip Hills.[2] Sheepway (Old Englishschip weg) - the port of Portbury - was probably in use in later, Saxon, times. The Marina dock in Portishead had a right-angled southern dogleg navigable down to Sheepway, giving the town its name - the "Port's headland".
Portbury is mentioned in the Exeter Domesday Book (Liber Exoniensis) and was given byWilliam the Conqueror to his second favourite, BishopGeoffrey de Mowbray of Coutances — the "battling bishop" - sword in one hand and crook in the other. (Favourite No. 1 was Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who was William's half-brother and was given the Sussex Godwin land around Bosham.) Bishop Geoffrey crowned Duke William as King of England in a two-and-a-half-hour ceremony in French at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066; the English ceremony that followed took only 40 minutes. The manor had previously been held by theGodwin family, who were the most powerful family in the country.Godwin (d. 1053) was installed by King Cnut as the first Earl of Wessex; Harold, his son, was the loser atHastings in 1066. His daughter Edith was queen toEdward the Confessor. So in Saxon times Portbury must have been an important place, but no pre-1066 record or trace exists. It first appears in written history in the Domesday Book in theHundred ofPortbury, a sub-division of the shire of Somerset.[3] The Domesday Book states, "Godwin held it from the King": Godwin was Harold II's eldest son and also held the title of Sheriff of Somerset. From theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1068 we know that Godwin returned from exile in Ireland with a small force "at the mouth of the River Avon", probably intent on recapture of the former manor, but was routed by Aolnoth, his father's 'Staller' (an adjutant position - now in Willam's employ). Aolnoth was killed in the confrontation, but his surviving family become the Berkeley dynasty - see below. There would have existed in Portbury itself a substantial manor house within defensive boundaries that would have held the court and storehouses for grain and weaponry. The village itself is small but in former times ruled over most of the Gordano valley and the remote satellite enclave of Hamgreen.
In later Norman timesRobert Fitzharding, theReeve of Bristol (the King's local representative), was rewarded with the Manor of Portbury.[2] He purchased other local manors and moved between them with his entourage of upwards of 200 people, so the manor house complex, yet to be found, must have been substantial. He was made the firstEarl of Berkeley. It is said that his wife Eva never left Portbury after moving there, and subsequent Berkeley heirs were brought up there beforeBerkeley Castle was made a comfortable home. She founded the'Whiteladies' convent of St. Mary Magdalene, hence giving Bristol two of its street names. He founded St. Augustine's Abbey, now theBristol Cathedral. It is recorded that the Berkeley family preferred to spend Christmas at Portbury. There is a BerkeleyChantry chapel with early Berkeley family burials inSt Mary's Church dating from around 1190.[4]
Descendants of the Berkeley family married into the family of Coke of Holcombe, Norfolk who held the manor until 1784, when it was sold to James Gordon and inherited by William Abdy. On his death in 1870 it was sold to Sir Greville Smyth of Long Ashton.[2]
Portbury had its own railway station on the Portishead line until the Beeching axe fell. The village main street was cut through by the M5 motorway opened in February 1973. Although the M5 is close, it has actually made the village much less busy as it was previously on the main through route from Bristol to Portishead, from St. Georges, Easton in Gordano and on through Sheepway to Old Bristol Road in Portishead. The Rudgleigh — Easton Bypass and the Portbury Hundred either side of the motorway junction isolated Portbury from through traffic.
Theparish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, andneighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as thevillage hall orcommunity centre,playing fields andplaygrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.
The parish falls within theunitary authority ofNorth Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by 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, andtourism. They are 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 are in the town hall inWeston-super-Mare. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was theWoodspringdistrict of thecounty of Avon.[5] Before 1974 that the parish was part of theLong Ashton Rural District.[6]
The parish is represented in theHouse of Commons of theParliament of the United Kingdom as part of theNorth Somerset constituency. It elects oneMember of Parliament (MP) by thefirst past the post system of election, currentlyLiam Fox of theConservative Party. It was also part of theSouth West England constituency of theEuropean Parliament prior toBritain leaving the European Union in January 2020.
Portbury is well served by roads given the nearby M5 andA369 which links to Bristol and Portishead. Part ofRoyal Portbury Dock is within the parish.
The parish used to have arailway station on thePortishead Railway. The station was closed with the line in 1964. Reopening to Portishead is scheduled for 2026, with an intermediate station at Pill but not at Portbury.
There was a small Augustinian Priory founded in Portbury on land donated by Isabella, Countess of Albemarle in the twelfth century, of which there is still a substantial part remaining in the centre of the village.
TheAnglican parishSt Mary's Church dates from the 12th century, with alteration and extension in the 13th andrestoration between 1870 and 1875. It has a Norman doorway and a grand fifteenth-century porch. Inside there are early Berkeley burials. It is a Grade Ilisted building.[7]
The localClevedon Mercury andPortishead Times newspapers are delivered to residents free of charge usually by Saturday morning.
St. Mary's primary school a small school of just over 105 and also has transport to Gordano school in Portishead.
Berkeley Chantry chapel Portbury.
