Westerleigh

Westerleigh
Westerleigh
	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Avon
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Thornbury and Yate;
	List of places UK England Gloucestershire 51°31′N 2°26′W / 51.51°N 2.43°W

Westerleigh is a

M4, 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Yate and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. In the south it includes a steep hill of its own 5 miles (8.0 km) from the crest of the Cotswold hills which is designated an AONB

.

Background

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 green with the houses and church around it, and prosperous. The northern wall and porch of St James church are from the 13th century, as 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, United States.

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.

Governance

An

2011 census was 3,755.^[2] On 1 April 2023 the parish was renamed from "Westerleigh" to "Westerleigh and Coalpit Heath".^[3]

Amenities

The village has two public houses: the New Inn and Ye Olde Inn. As well as Wot Not second-hand shop, and two garages. The village shop has now closed.