bitton church desk top study

An Archaeological and Historical

Desk-Top Survey of

St. Mary’s Parish Church,

Bitton,

South Gloucestershire

BMC 09

Carried out for: St. Mary’s Church PCC and

Benjamin & Beauchamp Ltd.

by

C. & N. Hollinrake Ltd.,

Consultant Archaeologists,

12, Bove Town,

Glastonbury,

Somerset BA6 8JE Telephone/Fax: 01458 833332

Report Number 438

An Archaeological & Historical Desk-Top Survey of

St. Mary’s Parish Church, Bitton

Table of Contents

para.......... Contents ..........................................................page

.................. Summary ........................................................... 1

1.0............. Introduction....................................................... 2

2.0............. Topography and Geology.................................. 3

3.0............. Archaeological Background ............................. 6

3.1............. Roman Bitton .................................................... 6

3.2............. The Churchyard................................................. 7

3.3............. The medieval settlement ................................... 8

3.4............. The Church........................................................ 10

3.5............. The boundary wall ............................................ 14

4.0............. Historical Background ...................................... 27

4.1............. The Domesday Book......................................... 27

4.2............. The Hundred ..................................................... 29

4.3............. The Tythings ..................................................... 29

4.4............. Bitton Prebend................................................... 30

4.5............. The manor of Bitton.......................................... 30

5.0............. Historic Maps.................................................... 32

.................. Discussion ......................................................... 34

.................. Acknowledgements ........................................... 39

.................. Bibliography...................................................... 39

.................. Appendix: Sites and Monuments Record.......... 40

Figures number .... Description..........................................................................page

1 ............... Location ...............................................................................1

2................ The church and the historic core of Bitton...........................3

3................ 1st ed. Ordnance Survey – 1886 ..........................................5

4................ Location of places mentioned in the text .............................6

5................ 1844 Bitton Tithe Map – extract ..........................................8

6................ Photograph of The Grange from the south...........................9

7................ Annotated plan of the church and its environs ....................11

8................ Photograph of S wall of the nave and early plinth ...............12

9................ Detail of ca.1690 painting by Colonel Seymour..................15

10.............. Bitton Church and environs from the tithe map...................16

11-25 ........ Photographs of boundary wall .............................................17-26

26.............. Location of Places mentioned in the text .............................27

27.............. Tithe Map details .................................................................32

1

An Archaeological and Historical Desk-Top Study

of

St. Mary’s parish church, Bitton, Gloucestershire and

Observations on the south boundary wall of the churchyard

Summary

St. Mary’s, Bitton, is a large, medieval parish church with numerous Anglo-

Saxon architectural features. The south boundary of the churchyard is marked by a

stone wall, nearly 3 metres high and less than 4 metres south of the nave wall, that

requires maintenance works. In order to formulate a conservation strategy for the

wall, this desk-based survey has drawn together the historical and archaeological data

for the parish of Bitton, as a whole. Bitton was the centre of a large and important

royal estate in the Anglo-Saxon period, leading to expectations that a wall this close to

a major, pre-Conquest church might contain significant archaeological features. A

rapid, visual inspection, coupled with the evidence from contemporary drawings and

written sources, suggests that the upper half of the wall is relatively modern and the

lower courses are probably either late-medieval or early post-medieval. The most

interesting features in the wall are visible at the base of the south side, where earlier

masonry courses probably indicate the remains of Anglo-Saxon wall foundations.

R. Parrett

R. Cary

R. Tone

R. Isle

R. Yeo

R. Brue

R. F

rom

e

R. Axe

R. A

xe

R. Frome

BRISTOL CHANNEL

ENGLISH CHANNEL

N

0 10 20 30 40 50km

EX

MO

OR

MENDIP HILLS

QU

AN

TOCK

HILL

S

county boundaries

land above 100m o.d. CNH

POLDEN HILLS

Flat Holm

Steep Holm

Taunton

town

Bridgwater

Glastonbury

Minehead

Watchet

Carhampton

BRENDON HILLS

SheptonMallet

CheddarFrome

Bristol

Bitton

Bath

Figure 1. Location map of Bitton and other places mentioned in the text. The rivers

are shown following their original courses.

Bitton Church - BMC 09

2

1.0 Introduction

1.1 The wall between St. Mary’s parish church, Bitton, and the neighbouring

property to the south – ‘The Grange’ – requires maintenance. Standing less than 4

metres south of the church, the wall is listed Grade II, partly because it is thought that

it might have medieval origins (Figures 5 and 10, below). For these reasons, the

Diocesan Advisory Council requested an archaeological report to be carried out on the

wall before repair or maintenance works begin.

1.2 The archaeological report was to consist of two elements:

• a desk-based survey to understand the history and development of the wall;

• a visual inspection and photographic record of the wall.

1.3 This report was commissioned by Mr. Marcus Chantry of Benjamin &

Beauchamp, architects, and was carried out by Charles and Nancy Hollinrake for

archaeological consultants C. and N. Hollinrake Ltd.

1.4 Primary sources such as historic maps and documents were studied in several

locations: Visits to the Bristol Record Office and the Gloucester Record Office were

supplemented with searches through the Somerset and Gloucestershire Sites and

Monuments Records and Historic Environment Records. The internet was searched

for English Heritage records and for relevant papers in the specialist journals.

Standard references were searched for background information.

These searches yielded remarkably little material or discussion of what is,

undoubtedly, a very important ecclesiastical site, highlighting the importance of this

background study and any further works that might follow.


3

2.0 Topography and Geology

Figure 2. The church and historic settlement of Bitton . O.S. map 1964.

2.1 The small village of Bitton lies approximately 10 kilometres SE of the centre

of Bristol, about 2 kilometres SE of the SE edge of the greater Bristol area at

Willsbridge and approximately 8kilometres to the NW of Bath. Keynsham lies

around 2 kilometres to the SW and Saltford is around 2 kilometres to the south, the

latter two towns being situated south of the River Avon, which flows from east to

west through its floodplain forming the south boundary of Bitton parish.

2.2 Bitton is said to take its name from the River Boyd that flows from the north

through Golden Valley and then skirts the western side of the village before joining

the Avon. This river was formerly used to power mills.


4

The village straddles the main road from Bath to Bristol, notorious in the 18th

century as the home of the Cock Road gang of highwaymen (Dunning p. 44). The

older, southern half of the village, which includes the church, lies to the south of the

main A431 road which is the successor to a Roman road, once known as the Via Julia.

2.3 The village stands on ground sloping gently towards the south and the river.

The north end of the village, just north of the road, stands at around 25m above mean

Ordnance Datum (aOD) and the church stands at around 17m aOD. The village lies

within a landscape of gentle hills, with Bitton Hill, immediately to the north, rising to

around 85m aOD and the hills beyond Upton Cheyney, just NE of the village, rising

to around 100m aOD.

‘…It is beautifully varied with easy elevations, and some bolder rising grounds, which

form a very agreeable landscape, as seen from several points of view. The soil is rich

and fertile, consisting chiefly of loam, intermixed with different proportions of sand,

and in some parts a little clay. The greater part is meadows and pasture, both in

common fields and inclosure.’ (Rudder’s County History, 1779 quoted in Ellacombe,

p.2.)

2.4 The church stands at the south end of the village, within and at the extreme

southern edge of a very large churchyard. Immediately south of the church is a

private house, ‘The Grange’ (SMR 5703), along with two smaller houses, ‘Granchen’

(SMR 12539), to the west and ‘The Dower House’ (SMR 12540) to the east. Much of

the south end of the village was formerly church property and ‘The Grange’, a private

house immediately south of the church, was formerly the Rectory. Immediately NW

of the churchyard is Church Farm (SMR 5702) and immediately NE are the Old

Vicarage (SMR 12531) and the Hall, both formerly church properties. The rectorial

tithe barn (SMR 13244) stands immediately west of Church Road, SW of the church.

An extensive area of meadowland lies south of the church complex and south of

Church Road, between Church Road and the River Avon.


5

2.5 Geology

River Terrace gravels lie below the south end of the village with bands of

Cretaceous and Jurassic siltstone and sandstone below the northern part of the village

with bands of Jurassic limestone to the NE and Permo-Triassic red mudstones to the

NW. (Soils of England and Wales).

The area is rich in minerals, containing quantities of coal, as well as quarries

for Pennant sandstone, Blue and White Lias and Oolitic limestones which furnished

the stone for the church (Ellacombe 1881 pp. 2-3).

Figure 3. Bitton 1st edition O.S. map , 1886.


6

3.0 Archaeological Background

3.1 Roman Bitton

ABONE

AQUAESULIS

VIA

FO

SSA

VIA JULIA

TRAIEC TUS

TRAIECTUS

R. Avon

R. Frome

R. Chew

R. Boyde

St. Mary’sBitton

St. Augustine’s

castle

BristolCastle

coastal marshes

Forest of

King swood

Winterbourne

Wapley

Swin eford

Hanham

Oldland

1

1

0

0

4 mi.

6 km..

N

hundred court

minster church

Figure 4. Location of places mentioned in the text.

3.1.1 Written sources

Historical writings usually allude to the road between Bath and Bristol that

passes through Bitton as having its origins in the Roman Via Julia. The Antonine

Itineraries (Itinerarium Proinciarum Antonini Augusti) is a collection of some 225

routes within the Roman Empire, represented as the beginning and end of each route,

the total mileage and a list of stopping places (Rivet and Smith 1979 p. 151).

Itineraries like these formed one of the key pieces of information for the Roman

colonial powers and must have often been copied, with the inevitable addition of

errors (Rivet and Smith 1979 p. 153). Iter XIV begins at Calleva (Silchester), ends at

Isca (Caerleon) and names a variety of Roman towns between, including Aquis Sulis

(Bath), Abone (Sea Mills) and Venta Silurum (Caerwent) (Figure 4). Also mentioned

is a place called Trajectus (‘crossing’), and this probably refers to the Severn Crossing


7

linking the Avon and Sea Mills with Caerwent and Caerleon, traditionally located at

the old ferry crossing at Aust (‘Trajectus’ on the Severn). The problem, however, is

that in the text, Trajectus is located between Bath and Sea Mills, roughly where Bitton

lies now. The name does not at first appear to be appropriate to this location,

although it is known to have been used for river crossings as well as sea routes. A

bridge or even a ferry could qualify Bitton for this name, but would not explain the

omission of a Severn crossing. Rivet and Smith suggest that a repitition of the name,

indicating the Severn crossing, was omitted in error during copying (p. 178).

3.1.2 Archaeological finds

In 1986 a scatter of Romano-British pottery and a quern-stone fragment were

discovered at ST 68606955, in Mickle Mead to the west of the church, during topsoil

stripping for a gas pipeline. (Rawles 1988).

The South Gloucestershire Heritage Environment Records (HER),

incorporating the South Gloucestershire Sites and Monuments Record (SGSMR)

provide the majority of the archaeological references relating to Bitton, with a second,

major source being Ellacombe’s historical writings (Ellacombe 1867, 1881). The

texts of the SMR entries can be found in the Appendix.

The archaeological record demonstrates abundant Roman finds, including

coins, in Bitton, but the focal point for the Roman material is not known. The largest

concentration and the greatest variety of Roman finds have been recovered from St.

Mary’s churchyard.

3.2 The Churchyard

Ellacombe reported finding Roman tesserae in the churchyard with ‘an

abundance of cinerary ware and burnt earth’ (p5). He also reported a hoard of Roman

coins in a ‘small earthenware vessel’.

emperor date

bronze coins

Valentinian I 364AD

Gratian (x4) 367

Valentinian II (x2) 383

Eugenius 392

silver coins

Constantius 306

Arcadius 395

Tetricius n.d


8

In 1850, when a new doorway was pierced into the tower stairwell from the

outside, bricks were found in the masonry of the west wall of the nave; the masonry

was interpreted as Norman and the bricks as Roman (Ellacombe 1881 pp.4-5; SMR

1247; Figure 7).

3.3 The medieval settlement

St. Mary’s

ChurchFarm

TitheBarn

TheGrange

TheVicarage

TheDowerHouse

kitchen

ha ha

wa

ll

wall

wall

River Boyd

Figure 5. Detail of the 1844 Tithe Map with buildings mentioned in the text marked

in orange.

Before discussing the church in greater detail, it is useful to undertake a brief

survey of the other historic buildings in the vicinity of St. Mary’s, all of which were

owned by the church as some time.


9

3.3.1 ‘The Grange’ and associated buildings

Figure 6. The Grange from the south with the church tower in the background.

The house now known as ‘The Grange’ lies immediately south of the church.

It’s ground plan suggests a hall-house of 12th

century origins, converted in the later

middle ages to a hall house and thoroughly re-modelled and re-built during the 17th

and 18th

centuries: John Wood, the Bath architect, was in residence in the 18th

century. The central part of the building is Norman, dating from ca.1250, with 2

wings of about 1440. The adjoining parts, to east and west, are later, probably Tudor

(SMR 5703). Attached to the main house is a dovecote (SMR 5704). English

Heritage has guaranteed ‘The Grange’ the protection accorded to a Scheduled

Monument (number 201002). The grounds of the house are separated from the

common fields by a ‘ha ha’ (a ditch acting as a stock-proof fence without impairing

the view) (SMR 17161).

‘Granchen’, now a separate property, was formerly the kitchen wing to ‘The

Grange’. The name ‘Granchen’ is said to be a shortening of ‘Grange’ and ‘kitchen’

and this was the original function of the building; the extensive cellars and the size of

the hearth all bear this out ( SMR 12539).

The ‘Dower House’, with its 16th

century origins (SMR 12540), was probably

part of the complex of buildings associated with the Grange during that period. The

first floor ceilings are made from panelled pew ends removed from the parish church.

The wall that is the primary subject of this investigation separates this group of

buildings from the church. Although the wall might have medieval origins, the only

architectural fragments identified in the wall are a ‘doorway with square head and

late-C17 mouldings’ opposite the first bay of the chancel (SMR 12538).


10

3.3.2 Church Farm

To the north of the church, Church Farm’s name is misleading; on the 1886

OS map it is called ‘Court Farm’. Many of the early buildings in the farmyard still

survive. The farmhouse, said to be the oldest house in the village, is so well-

preserved that it has been accorded the protection of listing as a Scheduled Monument

(number 201001) by English Heritage. The left hand part of the building appears to

be the older, the main evidence being a 2-light, late-C12/early-C13 window on the

east wall (now internal) (SMR 12536). This farmhouse is the old manor house of the

village, given by Henry II in 1151 to Robert Fitzharding of Berkeley. Old records

show accounts for building operations there in 1286 (SMR 5702).

Within the farmyard are a 16th

century dovecote (SMR 12537), a barn which

has been suggested as 18th

century (SMR 5407), and another barn of early-17th

century or earlier date, which might have functioned as a former church house (SMR

18112). Another building of probable 17th

century origin has a number of surviving

features which indicate its former use as a brewhouse (SMR 17639), reinforcing the

interpretation of a church house: many churches had associated brewhouses for the

churchwardens to brew the drink for the fundraising events known as ‘church ales’

(Bush 1994 p.77). The wall separating Church Farm from the churchyard includes a

16th

century doorway (SMR 18111).

3.4 The Church

St. Mary’s, Bitton, displays several examples of pre-Norman Conquest work,

often referred to as ‘Anglo-Saxon’ (SMR 1247). During his time as the vicar of

Bitton, the Rev. Ellacombe attempted to describe the various building phases of the

church, following the written sources and the evidence he collected from the fabric of

the building. His work has more recently been corroborated by Taylor and Taylor.

The locations of the various features they describe have been added to Figure

7 below in an effort to determine the relationship between the standing buildings and

the various descriptions of buried masonry. The observations fall within three main

periods: pre-Norman Conquest/ Anglo-Saxon, Norman/ Romanesque and medieval/

Gothic.


11

towerC14th

St. Catherine’s chapel1299

chancelC14th

b

ccg

i jk

gh

f

f

a

de

Figure 7. St. Mary’s, Bitton, with neighbouring buildings as they appeared on the

tithe map.

1) pre-Norman Conquest / Anglo-Saxon

a Chancel Arch

The semi-circular arch constructed of plain voussoires resting on plain jambs

of long-and-short work; was revealed in the 19th

century when an ornamented plaster

of Paris surface treatment dating from the 1760s was removed (Ellacombe 1881 p.5).

This arch was destroyed in 1843 and replaced with the present mock-Norman arch of

1846, although a few traces of the original may still be seen (Taylor and Taylor 1965

p. 74; SMR 1247).


12

Above the arch, visible from the nave, can be seen the remains of a pre-

Conquest Rood which was probably larger than life size (Taylor and Taylor 1965 p.

74; SMR 1247).

b nave

Figure 8. South wall of the nave, just east of the Norman doorway, resting on a

plinth. The ashlar displays diagonal tooling and is tinged pink, probably by fire. A

blocked opening is visible to the left of the downpipe.

The north wall of the nave is largely original while the south wall is a later

rebuild on the original Saxon plinth (Taylor and Taylor 1965 p. 74). At 95ft, the nave

is an exceptional length for an Anglo-Saxon church (ibid. p. 73), but b marks the

place some 100 feet from the west side of the chancel arch where an entrance step was

found at a depth of 6 inches when the pavement of the floor was raised (Ellacombe

1878 p. 6), suggesting that the pre-Conquest nave was even longer than the present

one. The walls were significantly higher than present: over 27 feet above the floor,

judging from the Rood (a; mentioned above), which is still in situ (Taylor and Taylor

1965 p. 74).

The great size, alone, is testament to the importance of this church and the

presence of a major piece of sculpture supports that interpretation of high status.

c Outside of the tower, in line with the south wall of the church, foundations of

two, flat buttresses were seen, suggesting that the length of the nave was truncated

when the western tower was built (Ellacombe 1881 p. 7). Ellacombe described these


13

buttresses as Norman, but without further description they might be equally

interpreted as pre-Conquest.

The upper parts of the north wall of the nave contain traces of round-headed

windows which may be either pre-Conquest or late-Norman inserts (Taylor and

Taylor 1965 p. 76; SMR 1247).

d Transepts / Porticus

Near the east end of the north wall are ‘large stones of an archway of much

earlier date than the Norman Conquest, and near the ground is a block of masonry

which the least tutored observer would see is of the same character as that in the little

church of St. Lawrence at Bradford-on-Avon.’ (Ellacombe, quoting a report of the

Somerset Archaeological Society visit in 1876, p. 74). Ellacombe speculated that this

arch may have opened into a side tower which existed before the west tower was

built.

e Outside of this spot, in 1842, foundations were seen extending 4 feet beyond

the present nave wall. The masonry was described as having ashlar faces, badly

burnt. At the same time, quantities of decorated floor tiles, some bearing the arms of

De Vivon and Berkley, were recovered, along with Roman flue tiles (Ellacombe 1881

p. 8-9).

f The arch seen by Ellacombe has been re-interpreted as the northern arch of an

Anglo-Saxon porticus (side chapel), illustrating the existence of former porticus on

both sides of the eastern end of the nave (Taylor and Taylor 1965 p. 74; SMR 1247).

The foundations of the south transept, containing the graves of the de Button (or

Bitton) family, formerly extended some 12 feet into the garden of the Parsonage

(Ellacombe 1865 p.8). The location of the southern porticus is marked by masonry

scars on the outer nave wall; the northern porticus has been sketched in on Figure 7 to

match, for illustrative purposes only, although porticus were usually of different

proportions. The footings of the southern porticus are clearly visible in Figures 11

and 18, extending into the garden of ‘The Grange’


14

2) Norman church

The Norman church was comprised of

• a long, single-aisled church of great height; a row of small windows was high

up on the nave walls; the nave walls had been lowered and a Norman corbel

table laid;

• g: northern, southern, and, probably, western, rich doorways, inserted into the

Saxon nave walls (Taylor and Taylor p. 74); they are not placed

symmetrically;

• f: either:

o north and south transepts, or

o a south transept and northern tower in the location of pre-Conquest

porticus.

o

Nothing remains of the Norman chancel (Ellacombe 1881 p.10).

3) 13th Century

f The effigy of Robert de Button was discovered in 1826 just outside the south

side of the church, in what was probably the mortuary chapel of the Buttons

(Ellacombe in Nichols p.197).

h Written sources attest to the dedication in 1299 of the chapel of St. Catherine,

constructed on the north side of the church by Thomas de Button, Bishop of Exeter, to

serve as a chantry chapel for his parents’ graves (Ellacombe p.11; SMR 1247).

4) 14th Century

Both the chancel and the buttressed western tower have been dated to the 14th

century (Taylor and Taylor p.73; SMR 1247). The floor was raised by 6 inches when

the tower was built (Ellacombe 1881 p.10).

3.5 The boundary wall

3.5.1 Dividing the churchyard from ‘The Grange’ and the ‘The Dower House’ is a

long boundary wall that lies just 3.8m (12ft 6 in) to the south of the church. Before

this wall could have been constructed, the southern transept / south porticus (f) would


15

need to have been demolished. The date at which this might have occurred will be

discussed at the end of this paper, whilst the description of the wall fabric will be

considered below.

Further evidence relating to the boundary wall comes from a series of

representations. Firstly, an oil painting on wood displayed inside the church, detail of

which is reproduced below. It was painted by Colonel Seymour, a tenant of ‘The

Grange’ in about 1690. This view from the east shows, in order from the left, The

Dower House, The Grange and the church of St. Mary with the wall. The section of

the wall just east of the church, now demolished, still shows as a broad ridge crossing

the churchyard. The wall south of the nave is not seen and might be obscured by the

eastern wall, or it might not yet have been built; there are two pieces of information

this painting provides, however:

1. If the south boundary wall existed in the 1690s, it was only about half of

the height of the present wall;

2. The south transept / porticus had been demolished by this time.

Figure 9. Detail of painting by Colonel Seymour, ca. 1690.

Inspection of a collapsed section of the wall in the field to the east of the

church confirms the information conveyed by the painting: the collapse in the wall

displays two bonding agents and signs of three phases of construction (Figure 23).

The lower two thirds of the wall is bonded with yellow-orange lime mortar, while the

upper half is bonded by grey lime mortar with ash or coal inclusions.


16

3.5.2 The other images are a series of photographs taken by Marcus Chantry,

architect for Benjamin and Beauchamp architects, on 19th

March 2009, after

landscaping works in the grounds of ‘The Grange’. The exposed, lowest courses of

the wall incorporates masonry which appears to be the remnants of demolished walls.

Using the architectural elements of the standing church, it is possible to sketch in the

locations of these remnants of earlier masonry. These are indicated on Figures 7 and

10.

Figure 10. Bitton church and associated buildings and boundaries as they appear on

the tithe map with features mentioned in the text indicated.

The annotated photographs of the south side of the wall follow. Rapid visual

inspection of the north side of the wall undertaken by the authors detected no further

features in the wall other than those mentioned in the SGSMR (12583). Similarly, no

early architectural features are detectable on the south side of the wall above the

lowest few courses. Indications from the photographs suggest that these features

would have been invisible and below the surface before the ground level was reduced

by landscaping, and the implication is that similar features might exist below ground

level on the north side of the wall.


17

Figure 11. A general view of the landscaping from the grounds of ‘The Grange’,

looking east. The south transept/porticus is visible as a green ridge on the right,

below the trees. Small areas of earlier masonry are visible in the lowest courses of the

wall.

Figure 12. A general view of the north side of the same stretch of the wall. The only

features visible are the small recess of unknown function at the bottom right and a

piece of re-set architectural stone in the middle.


18

Figure 13. General view of the landscaping at ‘The Grange’, looking west. Shadows

have been digitally lightened.

Figure 14. Landscaping at ‘The Grange’. Masonry ‘i’, showing as lighter patch,

cannot be accurately located from this photograph. Rough location indicated on

Figure 10.


19

Figure 15. Landscaping at ‘The Grange’. This is the same church window as appears

in the last photograph. The lower courses are slumping and are cut for a drain pipe.

Above this, three ashlar blocks with diagonal tooling are outlined in red. The wall

here appears to have been undermined. The original ground level appears at the left.

Looking NW.


20

Figure 16. Landscaping at ‘The Grange’. Opposite the next bay east of the last

photograph; relic masonry is exposed, marked on Figure 7 and 10 as ‘j’. The base of

the wall and a few masonry breaks are marked with yellow lines.


21

Figure 17. Opposite the next bay to the east of the previous photograph; no earlier

masonry is visible, but the wall can be seen to have been undermined. Shrubs and

climbers have been planted against the wall.


22

Figure 18. The south transept/porticus can be seen as a grassy ridge to the right of

the picture. The lower yellow line is the base of the wall, and some possible masonry

breaks are also highlighted in yellow. These are less pronounced than the relic

masonry indicated in earlier photographs.


23

Figure 19. A door in the boundary wall, marked k on Figure 7 and 10, is positioned

opposite the door in the chancel. It is impossible to be sure that this doorway was

original to the wall, or whether it is a fragment of architectural salvage inserted into

an existing wall.

Figure 20. The same doorway from the north shows no sign of any architectural

features.


24

Figure 21. The south boundary wall of the churchyard east of the church is pierced

by a post-medieval doorway but otherwise displays few architectural features. The

stump of the earlier eastern boundary wall is visible to the left of the doorway.

Figure 22. A small building depicted on the 1

st edition O.S. map has been

demolished, leaving whitewash and some brick inserts where a door once existed.


25

Figure 23. The eastern extension of the wall, beyond the churchyard, has a small area

of collapse.

Figure 24. Composite photograph showing the collapse of the wall. Three phases of

building are visible:

1) the earliest phase is visible as a white line on the intact area to the left; this is the

height of the wall in Colonel Seymour’s painting above (Figure 9.);

2) above this is a later phase of building; both these phases used a yellow-orange lime

mortar; the later phase of this yellow-orange mortar contains more rubble stone within

the mortar.

3) above this is a phase of walling bonded with grey, ashy mortar, probably 18th

or

19th

century in date.


26

Figure 25. This section of wall, extending westward along the path to the western

tower, is not included in the SMR plan but is probably part of the same wall as that

included in the SMR. Again, no features are visible above ground. Photo courtesy of

Marcus Chantry.


27

4.0 Historical Background

The history and archaeology of Bitton owes a great deal to the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe,

curate and later vicar of the parish (1817-50) (Dunning 1992 p. 44). Most of the

information on which this historical survey is based draws on his work.

4.1 DOMESDAY BOOK

The first mention of Bitton, in Domesday Book, reveals it as the head of a large,

complex, royal estate.

ABONE

AQUAESULIS

VIA

FO

SSA

VIA JULIA

TRAIEC TUS

TRAIECTUSR. Avon

R. Frome

R. Chew

R. Boyde

St. Mary’sBitton

St. Augustine’s

castle

BristolCastle

coastal marshes

Forest of

King swood

Winterbourne

Wapley

Swin eford

Hanham

Oldland

1

1

0

0

4 mi.

6 km..

N

hundred court

minster church

Figure 26. Location of places mentioned in the text.

entry 1, 9: Land of the King

In SWINEHEAD hundred in the time of King Edward there were in the revenue 36

hides in BITTON [BETUNE], with its two members WAPLEY [WAPEIEI]

and WINTERBOURNE [WINTREBORNE].

In lordship there were 5 ploughs; 41 villeins and 29 bordars with 45 ploughs.

18 slaves with 1 mill.

In the time of King Edward this manor paid one nights’ revenue; now it does likewise.

This large estate was probably divided with Bitton having 16 hides, Wapley 8 hides

and Winterbourne 12 (Ellacombe 1881 p. 56-61). The size of a hide was intended to


28

be the amount of land necessary for the subsistence of an extended family, and so

could vary from place to place. In the South and Southwest of England this is usually

taken to be around 120 acres, making the area of the Bitton estate some 4,320 acres.

Whether this included the extent of the Forest of Kingswood is not clear.

entry 78, 13

In Swinehead Hundred Dunn holds BITTON [BETONE] from the King. He held it

himself before 1066. 2 hides, 1 of them paid tax, the other belonged to the church.

In lordship 2 ploughs

5 villeins and 2 bordars with 5 ploughs.

4 slaves; meadow 10 acres

The value was £6, now £3.

The parish of Bitton contained two principal Tythings (or Hamlets), called Oldland

and Hanham, and the district of Kingswood (Ellacombe 1881 p. 56-61).

entry 5, 1: Land of Bishop Osborn

In Swinehead Hundred the Bishop of Exeter holds ALDELANDE. Alfwy, a man of

Harold’s, held it and could go where he would. 2 hides, 1 hide [of] which pays tax,

the other not. In lordship 2 ploughs;

1 villein and

6 small holders with 1 plough.

2 slaves; meadow 10 acres

Value then £4, now 20s.

60,7: Land of Arnulf of Hesdin

Humbald holds HANUN from him. Edric held it. ½ hide in lordship

2 ploughs with

8 bordars and

4 slaves.

The value is and was 40s.

A gap of about four letters follows the ‘1/2 hide’ in this entry, suggesting that some

crucial detail of the hideage of this holding has been erased. Unless this estate was

separately assessed, the vill of Bitton probably originally contained 20 hides

(Ellacombe 1881 p. 56-61).

Ellacombe listed the following Domesday entry as relating to Bitton, although this is

not necessarily universally accepted (Ellacombe p. 165-6).

In BERTONE King Edward held 9 hides. 7 were in lordship, 4 ploughs

and 14 villeins and 10 bordars with 9 ploughs

7 slaves.

Of this manor 2 thanes hold 2 hides and have 9 ploughs. They cannot be separated

from the manor.

One mill at 4s.

The reeve of Kind William accrued 8 bordars

2 millstones and 1 plough.

In the time of King Edward it was worth £9 2s plus 3,000 loaves for dogs, 16s.


29

4.2 The Hundred

Bitton constituted a Hundred (afterwards called the Hundred of Swineheved,

Swinehead and later called Swineford). Rev. Ellacombe was able to collect a few

details about the procedures at the hundred court. The tythings were represented by

the tythingmen of ‘Buttone, Upton, Rectoria, Oldlond prima, Oldlonde secunda,

Hanam prima, and Hanam secunda’. Four ‘milites’ (knights, constables) were elected

at each court and sworn in as a jury by the steward (Ellacombe 1881 p. 86).

The Lessee of Beach (or La Beche) Farm had to do suit and service at the

manor court of Bitton, held by the Prebendary twice a year (Ellacombe 1881 p. 46).

Beach Farm is listed in old terriers as being part of the ‘Parsonage Manor’ (Ellacombe

1881 p. 45).

Kingswood

The Forest of Furcis or Furchis extended into Somerset under the name of

Filwood. It was under the jurisdiction of the Constable of Bristol Castle, which was

appurtenant to Bitton (Ellacombe 167 p.166). It became known as the Forest or

Chace of Kingswood by the time of Edward I (Dunning 1992 p. 97). The place-name

element fyrhth(e) is translated as ‘land overgrown with brushwood, scrubland on the

edge of forest’ (Gelling and Cole p. 224-5). The word was applied to at least two

other medieval hunting forests: Duffield Frith (foresta de Duffeld, in 1332) and

Chapel en le Frith, part of the Peak Forest. Barre’s Court, in Oldland, just on the

boundary of Kingswood (Rudder p. 297), was a former moated site (Aston p. 97).

4.3 The Tythings

Bitton had two dependent hamlets – Oldland and Hanham – both of which had ancient

chapels appurtenant to the Vicarage (Ellacombe, 1881 p. 37).

• Hanham (or Hanham Abbots) had a Norman chapel with a Norman font,

which was still in place when Ellacombe wrote. In 1330 the parish was

granted to Keynesham Abbey.

• Oldland chapel was mentioned in a grant of 1280, but did not appear in the

Taxation of Pope Nicholas or Henry VIII, nor was Ellacombe able to find any

record of its foundation (1881 p. 37-8). He describes the interior as ‘divided

into two sides, and a Chancel, separated from the nave by a coarsely wrought


30

screen’. ‘The clergymen of Bitton used to serve this Chapel, and the other in

Hanham, every alternate Sunday, having served the mother Church at Bitton

in the morning…’ (Ellacombe 1881 p. 38).

4.4 Bitton Prebend

Bitton Prebend was founded at an unknown, but early, date and was part of the

Cathedral Church of St. Mary’s, Salisbury. Before 1552 it was in the diocese of

Worcester (Ellacombe 1881 p. 4).

Old terriers refer to the ‘Parsonage Manor’, presumably reserved for the living

of the Parson, consisting of

• the mansion house, outhouse, garden, etc.;

• closes of pasture, c22 acres;

• the ‘tythe of corn, grayne, hay and hoppes’ from the parish and hamlets

belonging to it;

• several copyhold estates totalling some 300 acres, leased for 1, 2 or 3 lives;

• Beach Farm

• Tibbot’s Grove.

A search for the origins of the Prebend at Salisbury Cathedral library found

nothing (Ellacombe 1881 p. 42). Ellacombe did find a sequence of leases for this

property, held at Salisbury, beginning in 1538. From the earliest lease, the following

conditions continued until 1853:

• the lessee is to pay for repair of the Chancel of the parish church and for a

certain portion of the fencing of the churchyard;

• the lessee is to provide the Prebend plus 3 men-servants with ‘good and

sufficient house room, diet, lodgings, provender, fodder, litter and stable room,

or grass, for 4 horses or geldings yearly, if he shall happen to repair thether

[sic].’ (Ellacombe 1881 p. 45)

After 1568, Sir John Seymour lived more or less permanently in the Parsonage. The

endowment of the Prebend was sold in 1857.

4.5 The manor of Bitton

‘Bitton, with its members Wapley and Winterbourne, rendered one night's

ferm… the manor seems to have remained in the King's hands till the reign of Henry

II’, when he gave the Manor House (now Church Farm) to Robert Fitzharding of

Berkeley (Taylor 1889 p. 193; SMR 5702).


31

In 1323 David le Blund died seised of half the manor and hundred of Bitton,

the gift of his mother Petronilla de Vivon. Included in the inquest was ‘a capital

messuage, garden, dovecote, etc’ (Ellacombe 1867 p. 199). This was still called ‘The

Court’ in Blund’s day, appearing in the subsidy roll in 1327 (Ellacombe 1867 p. 200),

and appears as ‘Court Farm’ on the 1886 OS map (Figure 3). ‘The manor had passed

before 1652 into the hands of John Mallet, esq…who in the survey of Kingswood

Chase made in that year is called the “chief Lord” ‘ (Ellacombe 1867 p.199).

Bitton manor house would have housed the manorial court, administering the

estate first described as Dunn’s Domesday Book holding (entry 78,13).

The Vicarage house was in existence by 1280 and Ellacombe reported that

some old parts still remained in the house in his time (1881 p. 47).


32

5.0 Historic maps

Inclosure map

(Q – RI – 23 Pt. 1 Mickle Mead, 1865) horse ferry across the River Avon is marked

Tithe map

Gloucester Record Office (GRO) reference: EP/A/32/8

St. Mary’s

ChurchFarm

TitheBarn

TheGrange

TheVicarage

TheDowerHouse

kitchen

ha ha

wa

ll

wall

wall

River Boyd

Figure 27. Tithe map (detail).


33

plot name owner tenent use

1 church & churchyard Rev. Ellacombe self

2 house, buildings,

garden

Thos. Freemantle Bt. Edward Frere

3 house, outbuildings,

garden

Thos. Freemantle Bt. Edward Frere

3a orchard & garden

4 field pasture

5 Nine Acres pasture

5a plantation plantation

6 Croft pasture

7 house, offices,

garden

Rev. Ellacombe self

8 school house & court Rev. Ellacombe self

9 young orchard John Nash Bush &

Thomas Thompson

Bush

Hannah

Herringshaw

orchard


34

Discussion

Roman Bitton

South of the Bristol-Bath road, the minor roads in and around the village

outline a triangle pointing south towards the River Avon. If the Antonine Itinerary

has been correctly understood (Rivet and Smith 1979 p. 153, 178), these subsidiary

roads could have been created as traffic left the Via Julia to head for the ferry crossing

(Trajectus).

The hoard found in Bitton churchyard (Ellacombe 1881 p.5) contained a coin

of Eugenius dated to 392AD. This demonstrates occupation in the area up to the last

days of the Empire in Britain and the coin could well have arrived in the last

consignment of coinage sent from Rome; by 410 the Emperor Honorius was advising

the British to look to their local decurions, and not to Rome, for their defence. Finds

of Roman building materials and pottery point to Roman buildings close-by and the

tesserae from mosaic floors suggest high status: a villa, for example. Roman bricks

were found incorporated in early masonry in the church (Ellacombe 1881 p. 4-5).

Bitton church and its associated buildings – now known as ‘The Grange’,

‘Granchen’ and ‘The Dower House’ – occupied the southern point of the triangle.

The history and topography of the other buildings associated with the church – the

Tithe Barn, the Vicarage and possibly Court/Church Farm – suggest that at one time

the entire triangle south of the main road might have formed part of the church

precinct (Figures 3, 10, 26).

Early churches on or near Roman buildings are not unknown but are poorly

understood. The archaeological deposits illuminating the relationship between these

churches and the earlier Roman buildings are rarely seen and there is no consensus on

their interpretation. Along with the other questions surrounding the introduction of

Christianity into the British Isles, solving this puzzle is one of the great challenges of

modern scholarship. The site is a good candidate for continuous occupation between

the Roman and the medieval periods.

The royal estate

When the place-name Bitton first appears in the written sources it is as the

capital messuage (chief property, headquarters) of a very large royal estate of 36 hides

recorded in Domesday Book.


35

Little is known of this large estate but its importance in the Anglo-Saxon era is

not in dispute. The key facts known about this estate are:

• This was probably very productive farmland. It paid firma unius noctis

(‘one night’s revenue’) instead of money to the royal fisc; this means that it

provided enough food to support the extensive royal retinue and its animals for

one night (DB entry 1,9; Taylor 1889 p. 123). The amount and variety of food

this involved has not been recorded, but it must have been great.

• The royal household was often, possibly even regularly, in residence.

• The greater part of the estate includes the Forest of Kingswood. This is not

necessarily an unbroken spread of mature trees; the tree cover would have

been a combination of wildwood, wood pasture and enclosed coppice stands,

as well as the scrubland which gave it the name of ‘Furcis’ (Gelling and Cole

p. 224-5). There could well have been clearings with small industrial

settlements dedicated to exploiting the forest products or coal or iron mining

communities. The law of Kingswood would have been forest law, however,

and the hunt would have been protected and pursued throughout the forest, a

name describing royal hunting preserves.

• The Forest of Kingswood was under the jurisdiction of the Constable of

Bristol Castle (Ellacombe 167 p.166).

• The only church recorded was on the King’s land at Bitton.

• The royal estate constituted a hundred with the earlier court held at Bitton.

In Domesday Book, Somerset contained more royal estates of this type than

any other county. This is a relic of the estates belonging to the House of Wessex, one

of whose great strongholds before they became the kings of a united England was the

county of Somerset (Hill 1981 p. 100). Several of the larger estates in Somerset

resemble Bitton in size and in the range of settlement types. The royal estate of

Wedmore, including Cheddar and Axebridge and the estates of Carhampton and

Cannington, for example, each paid one night’s revenue, and contained royal forests

and defensive structures, and each contained Hundred courts and early, royal

monasteries (Figure 1). The more that these royal estates are examined, the more

similarities emerge ,and it is likely that study of these large royal estates as a group


36

would illuminate the functions of individual estates, as well as the history of the little-

understood period between the end of the Roman Empire and the Norman Conquest.

There is not space here to explore the similarities between these estates and the

Welsh royal estates revealed in the 10th

century Laws of Hywell Dda, king of Dyfyd

(now Pembrokeshire); suffice it to present the suggestion that some of these English

royal estates may well have had their origins in the pre-Anglo Saxon Dark Age.

The Hundred of Bitton

The royal estate of Bitton, Winterbourne and Wapley was administered at the

Hundred Court at Bitton before being transferred to near-by Swineheved (Ellacombe

1881 p. 86). The hundred system of local government first appears fully functional in

the Domesday Survey, where it forms the basis of the survey and the pre-Norman

Conquest system of taxation. The details of the procedures at the Hundred Court are

rarely seen, usually signifying that this was one of the few Hundred Courts still sitting

in the 18th

and 19th

centuries (Webb). The tithingmen from ‘Rectoria’ probably

represented the one hide holding owned by the church at Domesday without being

described in the survey (Domesday Book entry 78, 13).

The church of Bitton

The 1 hide Domesday estate is typical of Saxon minsters (Aston and Isles

p.88). Although the assets of the Bitton estate are not listed in the Domesday Book,

they were probably much like those at the church of St. Carantoc at Carhampton:

Lands of King William: entry 1.6

Williton, Cannington and Carhampton [Carentone]

King Edward held them. They have never paid tax, nor is it known how many

hides are there. Land for 100 ploughs..........

It pays £100 116s 161/2d to the ora. Before 1066 it paid firma unius noctis.

Lands of the King's Clergy: entry 16.6

In the lands of Carhampton church lie 11/2 hides.

In lordship 11/2 ploughs & 1/2 hide with a priest, 1 villager and 8 smallholders

[who have] 1 hide & 11/2 ploughs. Pasture, 40 acres; woodland, 15

acres. 1 cob.

Value 30s; value when the Bishop died, 40s.

The terrier of the Parsonage Manor, Bitton, probably describes the hide belonging to

the church at the time of Domesday (Ellacombe 1881 p. 42).


37

The church of St. Mary at Bitton displays many signs of being a pre-Conquest

minster foundation:

• The attached chapels or daughter chapels demonstrate Bitton’s role as a

mother church (Aston and Isles p.133).

• The exceptional size of the Saxon church is a good indication of its

importance.

• Other signs include important early sculpture, such as the remains of the rood.

• Ellacombe refered to ‘the clergymen of Bitton’ serving at the daughter chapels

at Oldland and Hanham, an expression he probably copied from an old

document (Ellacombe 1881 p. 38). This may have a bearing on the

requirement of the lessee of The Grange to provide for the Rector and 3 other

men and suggests that St Mary’s may have formerly housed a college of

canons.

‘The Grange’ lies so close to the church, and its history is so tied up with the

church, that it would appear that the two buildings might, at one time, have been

attached. The conditions of the lease of The Grange identified this property as that

referred to as The Parsonage Manor in the terriers (Ellacombe 1881 p. 41, 45; SMR

5703). A Hundred court would have been held by the Rector, probably twice yearly,

going by the lease of Beach Farm (Ellacombe 1881 p. 46), with the court probably

held in the Rectory, although it might have been in one of the barns at Church Farm, if

that indeed once functioned as the Church House (SMR18112)

The conditions listed on the leases give some indication of the type of

activities which took place in the Rectory before the Dissolution: its income provided

for the Rector and at least three other men and their horses. The Rector of such an

important church might have required this number of mounted men to support the

work of the rectorial court (see the ‘milites’ or constables elected for the hundred

court, 4.2 above), but it is equally likely that the Rectory had previously supported a

number of clerks, perhaps a small college of secular canons. If a small college of

canons was disbanded at the Dissolution, with their conventual buildings leased to a

gentleman like Sir John Seymour, a wall to protect the boundaries of the newly-

privatised residence would have been desirable.


38

The boundary wall

It is most likely that the wall, the subject of this investigation, would have

been erected by 1538 - the time of the first lease on file in Salisbury - if not earlier. In

the 13th

century Robert de Button was buried in the south transept of the church and

by the 16th

century this part of the church had been demolished and a boundary wall

was built over the foundations. If the south transept was converted from an earlier

pre-Conquest porticus, this might have become ruinous and required demolition at

any time between the 13th

and 16th

century, but there may have been no need for a

boundary wall before the Rectory was let out.

The most likely scenario is probably to be found in the lease itself, with its

responsibility to pay for the repair of the chancel of the church and for a portion of the

fencing of the churchyard. The repair of the chancel was probably attached to the

Rectory and was another of the duties to ensure the smooth running of the parish

assumed by the new tenant, and the wall south of the church was probably for the

benefit of security of the new tenement. The lack of soil and debris between the

elements of earlier masonry and the masonry of the boundary wall might argue for a

short interval between demolition of the south transept / porticus and other walls, and

the erection of the present wall.

The partial collapse of the wall in the field east of the graveyard exposed the

core of the wall. This showed that there are two phases visible within the wall,

possibly three. The earliest phase seen employed a yellow-orange, sandy lime mortar

and this lay below another phase, either late-medieval or early post-medieval with a

similar mortar but containing more small fragments of rubble stone. The top courses

were bonded by late-18th or 19th century, grey, ashy mortar. The whole wall is

pointed, on the north side, by grey, Portland cement.

Visual inspection of the wall revealed very little of interest on the northern

side, and on the southern side the areas of relic masonry were entirely contained in the

lowest few courses exposed by the recent landscaping. It would appear that the

stumps of demolished walls were incorporated within the boundary wall and that it

was built with little or no foundations, leaving the soil below largely undisturbed.

The frequency and variety of the blocks of relic masonry do not readily lend

themselves to explanation or interpretation, especially when they have not been

accurately surveyed. What can be declared with confidence, however, is that the

lowest courses of the wall and the soil it rests on contain archaeological deposits of


39

great interest. Bitton is a place of great historical and archaeological importance and

the church and its ancillary buildings would have acted as a focus for much of this

activity. The soils containing the archaeological residues of this activity are the only

surviving data available to us.

Charles and Nancy Hollinrake

19th

November 2009

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This survey was commissioned by Marcus Chantry, who generously donated his

photographs of the southern side of the boundary wall. Ann Willis, the

churchwarden, was very helpful in escorting us around the church and churchyard.

David Ellis, South Gloucestershire Archaeologist, kindly offered the Sites and

Monuments Records and Historic Environment Records and maps at no charge.

Thanks go to the staff of the Bristol Record Office and the Gloucestershire Archives

for all their help.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aston, M., ‘Medieval Settlements in Avon’, in Aston, M., and Isles, R., The

Archaeology of Avon, Avon County Council.

Bush, Robin, 1994, Somerset: The Complete Guide, Wimbourne.

Dunning, Robert, 1992, Somerset and Avon, Stroud.

Ellacombe, Rev. H.T., 1867, ‘Some account of the manor of Button or Bitton, Co.

Gloucestershire, in Nichols.

Ellacombe, Rev. H.T., 1881, History of the parish of Bitton, Exeter.

Gelling, Margaret, and Cole, Ann, 2000, The Landscape of Place-Names, Stamford.

Hill, David, 1981, An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford.

Moore, J.S. (ed. and trans.) 1982, Domesday Book 15: Gloucestershire, Chichester.

Nichols, John Gough, ed., 1867, The Herald and Geneologist, London.

Rawes, B. (ed.) Archaeological Review No 12, 1987, Transactions of the Bristol and

Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 1988, Vol. 106, 219-224

Rivet, A.L.F., and Smith, Colin, 1979, The Place-Names of Roman Britain, London.

Rudder, Samuel, A New History of Gloucestershire

Soils of England and Wales, SW England, 1:250,000.

Taylor, Charles S., 1889, An Analysis of the Domesday Survey of Gloucestershire,

Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological society

Taylor, H.M. and Taylor, J., 1965, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, Vol 1. Cambridge

University Press.

South Gloucestershire Sites and Monuments Record

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice, English Local Government Vol. I–X (1906 through 1929)

The plan of St. Mary’s is based on that found on the Church Plans Online Website


40

APPENDIX

SMR number 1246 Roman Settlement Bitton (ST 68203 69429)

Roman bricks were found in the W wall of the nave of Bitton church in 1850 &

tesserae from a Roman pavement have been found with an abundance of

cinerary ware, a C4 coin hoard, burnt earth in the churchyard and vicarage

garden. Roman coins have also been found in abundance in the

neighbourhood. Roman finds are abundant in the area but it is not known

what form the occupation took, or its exact location. A settlement at Bitton

(Trajectus) is known from the Antonine Itinerary but not exactly site located.

Roman finds have been made in the village from time to time. From distances

given in the Iter XIV, Trajectus should fall near Bitton and it is possible that a

small station near Bitton could have had this name.

SMR Number 14575 Archaeological Watching Brief – 1994 (ST 68133 69338)

The church yard covers a large area, part of which covers a Roman settlement of

unknown form (SGSMR 1246) the cutting of a pipe trench along the southern

edge of the path that leads from the church to Church Road gave an

opportunity to view any possible stratigraphy. Apart from a small section of

two vaults, partly lying under the gardens of houses to the south of the

churchyard, only a fairly constant humic layer was exposed ca.0.75m deep.

Near to the gate into the churchyard this layer was less deep and ‘natural’ was

exposed at a depth of ca.0.50m. No cut features or finds were recorded. The

deposition of the layer partly predates the present layout of the churchyard and

?Church Road and is almost certainly agricultural in origin.

SMR Number 1247 St Marys Church, Bitton (ST 68200 69330) Grade I

Anglo-Saxon origins on an earlier British site. Norman re-modelling with inserted

Decorated and Perpendicular style windows. St Catherine's Chapel (north side)

added 1298-9. West tower 1370s. Late C14 chancel. Transept removed C15.

Restored in C19. Built of rubble with Ashlar dressings and medallions to

parapet, later date roof. Consists of long, 5 bay, aisless nave, with 2 bay north

chapel (St Catherine's, now Lady Chapel) added by Thomas de Button

(Bitton), Bishop of Exeter, taller 2 bay chancel with priest's door, Tower and

Vestry. Blocked Norman south door with continuous order, see Keynsham

Abbey (founded circa 1170) across the river, and nook shafts; the doorway

was repaired in 1822. Small, probably reset, Norman doorway to north of

Tower (in Vestry) with outer order of elaborated chevron forming lozenges

and dogtooth (again probably 1170s or 1180s) and with a later moulded

pointed arch inserted. Vestry fits in angle of tower and Lady Chapel. Very

good, large, 3-stage, west tower with diagonal buttresses supporting pinnacles

on set offs and later parapet with traceried and pinnacled crenellation, also

with spoiled capped stair turret to north-west. Rather narrow west door with

royal head stops to label, large later Perpendicular window over. Paired

windows to belfry with Somerset tracery. Rood stair projection to north with

memorial tablets applied to it and rood loft windows to south. Interior: Two

sculpted feet above the chancel arch presumably indicate a colossal rood (circa

1000AD). Former porticus arch in north wall gives the width of the Anglo-

Saxon church. Saxon chancel arch now masked by Norman chevron work of

1846 (by Rev H T Ellacombe)'. The Lady Chapel is rather smart Bristol work

with cusped rear arches, 3 bay sedilia and piscina with crocketted labels,


41

headstops, cusped arches and carved vaults behind. Printed west door with

flanking cusp-headed windows, ball flower-stop. Stop fragments in the Lady

Chapel include a carved hand of God, presumably from the Rood, and 2 coffin

tops, one with effigy, from the chancel. Chancel and vestry both have stone

vaulted ceilings. Nave roof of hammer-beam type, made from wood out of a

wrecked ship (cedar boards on oak) 1867, designed by H N Ellacombe who

also designed the pew ends. Marble reredos by John Wood II 1760. Numerous

memorials inside the church; in chancel John Burlie died 1627, John Seymour

died 1663 (female supporters and weepers), H T Ellacombe and 3 wives [in

Gothic style presumably designed by him in the 1820s or 1830s, although he

lived till 1885 (inscribed as 188V)]. In the nave Francis Stone died 1641

(dated 1659), Stephen Roswell died 1650. Also incorporated in the fabric are

two strapwork panels from Barrs Court (see Oldland CP) under stone

memorial and over entrance into Lady Chapel.

St Mary's has a late Saxon nave with blocked archway to the chapel or transept at the

E end of the N wall of the nave. Other Saxon indications are the remains of an

older chancel arch, marks of rood at great height in the E wall of the nave &

the great length of the nave. Roman bricks in the masonry of the W wall,

Chancel & present tower 1377. Perpendicular tower. Lady chapel dated about

1300. A south transept disappeared in 1298 when the Lady Chapel was built to

the N.... under the site of the old transept which was then found to have

extended at least 12 feet southwards into the Grange garden.

The Grange

SMR Number 5703 The Grange, Church Lane, Bitton (ST 68181 69312) Listed

Grade II

English Heritage monument number 201002: C12 century origin medieval hall house,

C17-18th

rebuild

C12 origins, converted in later middle ages to hall house and thoroughly re-modelled

and re-built in C17 and C18. John Wood, the Bath architect, lodged here.

Ground plan suggests a converted hall house, one wing completely rebuilt in

C18 limestone rubble with slate roofs. Three ashlar chimneys with moulded

capping. Consists of 3 storey, 3 bay centre block, gabled projecting 2 window

wing to right, mid-C18 2 storey 2 bay ashlar-built wing slightly set back to left

with hipped slate roof. Cornice and parapet to left hand wing. Off-set buttress

to left of entrance. Central block has glazing bar sash windows, brick reveals

to first floor, bolection architraves, moulded cills, cornices and relieving

arches to ground floor. Small single light and C17 or early C18 to left on

ground floor. Doorway inserted to right with above a plaster panel depicting a

bird (the crest of the Seymours who held the Grange from the Reformation till

1770). Sashes in bolection architraves to right hand wing, moulded coping to

gable, relieving arches over windows, blind square panel in gable with

bolection architrave and cornice. Central square headed door opening with

pediment replacing a window. Sashes in plain architraves to left hand wing,

cambered head door opening with keystone to right with bracketted open

pediment and date T N 1761 on one of the jambs. Return to east has stepped

chimney, wall has been lined to left with extra masonry skin. Gate piers and

gates linking south-east corner with boundary of the Dower House. Interior:

The ground floor room to east is panelled (formerly 2 rooms) and dates from


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mid C18 (when John Wood II was lessee). Three doorways in west internal

wall, one of them with Tudor arch head said to represent screens exits. The

staircase which is in the former stair-turret appears to be a pastiche. Part of

the church holding of land, later became ecclesiastical manor. The main house

with the remains of its pigeon house is the present 'Grange'. At the reformation

it passed to the Seymours, family held it to the 1770s. John Wood the younger

leased it between 1758-67 and he did alterations.

The centre part of the building is Norman, dating from c1250, with 2 wings of about

1440.

The adjoining parts to E and W are later, probably Tudor.

SMR Number 5704 Dovecote, The Grange, Bitton (ST 68188 69312)

The Manor house with the remains of its pigeon house is the present 'Grange'.

SMR Number 12539 ‘Granchen’, No 27 Church Road, Bitton (ST 68162 69304)

Listed Bldg Grade II

Former coach-house or stables to the Grange. Early C18. Rubble with ashlar quoins,

high-pitched pantile roof, hipped. Two storeys. Three elliptical-headed

arcaded openings to ground floor (now blocked with later-inserted casements).

moulded surrounds, keystones, imposts. Moulded string course at first floor

level. Three circular openings with moulded surrounds and 4 keystones to first

floor. Right hand return elevation has pilastered archways now a window and

2 irregular pairs of casements separated by flat mullions. Modern extension to

left (Grange Cottage) not of special interest.

Amended in 2002 as follows.

Former kitchen wing to The Grange. Early C18, with later alterations. Local rubble

stone originally rendered, with Bath stone ashlar dressings. Hipped pantile

roof. Rectangular plan.

EXTERIOR: Triple arcade to ground floor with entrance to centre: elliptically-arched

openings with ashlar surrounds, moulded imposts and keystones. Openings

now infilled with inserted modern casement windows. String course at first

floor level. Upper floor has three round windows with moulded surrounds,

with keystones at the cardinal points. Lower third of windows infilled with

rubble; swivelling windows retain old glass. Rear (garden) elevation is plainer

and more altered, with modern windows. East elevation altered.

INTERIOR: now partially subdivided, the ground floor is dominated by a large open

hearth, with an elliptical arch of moulded ashlar, with keystone. Cellar is

extensive, sub-divided into two main sections with barrel-vaulted roofs, with

original wine bins, slate chopping block, etc. Upper floor retains several early

C19 cast iron grates. Roof structure substantially intact.

HISTORY: The name ‘Granchen’ is a shortening of ‘Grange’ and ‘kitchen’: this was

the original function of the building, which is attached to the separately-listed

Grange [q.v.]. The extensive cellars and size of the hearth all bear this out. The

arcaded south front was clearly intended for show, and can be compared with

the garden house of c.1720 at Widcombe Manor, with also has a triple arched

loggia to the ground floor and a hipped roof (but concealed behind a parapet:

the elevation of 'Granchen' seems to have been altered in this respect). The

building was extensively refurbished in the 1960s and –70s when the eastern

extension was added. John Wood the younger is believed to have occupied the


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Grange in the later 18th century, but the front is more likely to be of an earlier

date than this.

SMR Number 17161 Ha Ha - The Grange, Church Road, Bitton (ST 68172

69262)

A ha ha, a dry ditch or sunken fence which divided a garden from the adjacent land

without interrupting the view, was noted at this location. Ha-ha and retaining

wall, C18 approx. 65m long limestone, Pennant and Lias rubble-stone wall

forming the southerly boundary of The Grange and the Dower House.

SMR Number 12540 The Dower House, Bitton, (ST 68207 69287) Listed Bldg

Grade II

C16 origins, C17 and C19 alterations. Built of coursed rubble with quoins. Pantile

roof. One and a half storeys. Three dormer gables to front. Three windows,

C19 stone mullioned casements. Original dripmoulds to attic windows.

Continuous weathered string to ground floor windows and flush relieving

arches (a late C17 feature). Left hand return has 2 dormer gables, an extension

with doorway and similar window treatment. Interior: Early C18 stair at rear

(imported from another building and re-modelled) with carved cut string and

turned balusters, 2 per tread, wide handrail; patched up panelling below. First

floor ceilings made from the panelled pew ends removed from the parish

church.

SMR Number 12538 Boundary Wall, The Grange Bitton

Possibly of medieval origin, restored C18 and C19.

Boundary wall running between the parish church of St. Mary and the Grange, and

turning south-west for approx. 95 yards along road frontage to The Dower

House.

Rubble, between 9 and 12 ft. high, one section on south-west reduced to 7 ft. The

main section has a set back about 25 yards from west end. Returned at east end

to enclose garden of the Dower House to the east (about 130 yards). Opposite

first bay of the chancel is a doorway with square head and late C17 mouldings.

To east of this on south side is a late C19 segment headed summer canopy

with cast-iron scrollwork.

Church Farm

SMR Number 12536 Church Farmhouse, Church Road, Bitton (ST 68169

69410) Grade II*

English Heritage monument number 201001 (C13th origin)

Reputedly the oldest house in the village. Mediaeval origins, remodelled mid-C19

externally and internally in C17. In 2 parts, 2 storeys rubble with slate roofs.

Left hand part older with 2 large buttresses, ' L'-plan with irregular windows.

On first floor one 3- light chamfered mullion window (left hand buttress cut

away to accommodate it). ~ Two later windows on ground floor (one sash, one

casement). Door to left (incorporating an oak surround). Right hand section set

back, 2 windows 2 and 3-light casements with cambered heads. Lean-to porch

in angle. Gabled rear wing of left portion has door and squint slit. Interior: the

principal feature is a 2-light late C12/early C13 window (now internal) on east

wall of main part of left portion, the mullion is patterned, possibly formerly


44

projecting chevrons since rounded off. The principal ground floor room of the

left portion has very heavy beams and a wide fireplace with chamfered wood

surround of the C18. Stairs at angle with rear wing. Stud partition between rear

wing and back of main portion, studs and rails chamfered; one original C17

oak door surround with reeded moulding dying into ogee stop at base, door

has decorative strap hinges. This house was the former manor house of the

village.

SMR Number 5702 Manor House, Church Farm, Church Road, Bitton (ST

68130 69410)

This farmhouse is the old manor house of the village given by Henry II in 1151 to

Robert Fitzharding of Berkeley. Old records show that the house was built in

1286. The manor passed in time to the Blounts. By 1652 the Dennis family of

Pucklechurch owned and lived at the Bitton house and farmed the land.

SMR Number 12537 Dovecote, Church Farm, Church Road, Bitton (ST 68138

69429) Grade II listed

C16 altered. Rubble with rough ashlar quoins. Square plan. Pantile roof with gables,

south gable with coped verge and saddlestone. Blocked doorway on east side,

hollow chamfer pointed arch. To north is a later wood lintel square head stable

door. Interior lined with nesting boxes, replacement queen post roof.

Segmental arches to adjoining stable to east not of special interest.

SMR Number 5407 Barn (1) Church Farm, Church Road, Bitton (ST 68121

69436) Grade II

Probably C18. Rubble with ashlar quoins. Pantile roof. Coped verges with

saddlestones. Central draught doors with wooden lintel. Cast-iron tie-plate to

right bearing royal coat of arms (4 times). Slit vents. Six bays. Stable to south-

east with pantile roof links barn to dovecot.

SMR Number 18112 Barn (2) Church Farm, Church Road, Bitton (ST 68181

69408)

Possible former church house, later part barn to south, now store. Early C17 or earlier.

Limestone and pennant rubble under pantiled, later roof with continuous ridge

line. Pennant slate eaves course. Formerly two storeys with gables to east,

several blocked windows and doorways. 3 chamfered floor beams, the third

now built into gable end. Ovolo 2-light windows to west and doorway. Large

fireplace, chimney demolished. VAG report, Cmmdr. Williams.

SMR Number 17639 Brewhouse, Church Farm, Church Road, Bitton (ST

68179 69404)

This building is of probably C17 origin and has a number of surviving features which

indicate its former use as a brewhouse. Historic Building Report

SMR Number 13712 Stable, Church Farm, Church Road, Bitton, (ST 68121

69436).

Probably C18. Rubble with ashlar quoins. Pantile roof. Coped verges with

saddlestones. Central draught doors with wooden lintel. Cast-iron tie-plate to


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right bearing royal coat of arms (4 times). Slit vents. Six bays. Stable to south-

east with pantile roof links barn to dovecot.

The Vicarage

SMR Number 12531 The Old Vicarage, Church Lane, Bitton (ST 68217 69441)

Grade II Listed In 2 parts, southeast section built 1778, south-west portion enlarged and rebuilt 1823

and later. Coursed rubble with freestone quoins and dressings, hipped slate

roof. Earlier part 2 storeys, 3 bays with recessed centre, windows 2:1:2 sashes,

only first floor left hand retaining glazing bars. Central portico with flat

entablature on 2 Tuscan columns. Cornice and blocking course. Later part

larger in Tudor-Gothic style, two and a half storeys, parapet carried on

modillions. Irregular with octagonal chimney shafts, mullion windows and

various gables. Ground floor bay window to south-east. Attached to the north

of the house by a lower extension Is a gabled former coach-house, rubble with

slate roof, pigeon holes in gable to west. It is said to contain inscriptions inside

including advice 'to my successor' by Rev H T Ellacombe 1835 (he also wrote

an excellent archaeological account of the Parish Church). The house is

screened from other aspects by the famous and exotic arboretum by Rev H T

Ellacombe, who wrote ‘In a Gloucestershire Garden’ and ‘In my Vicarage

Garden and Elsewhere’ circa 1893.

Boundary walls

SMR Number 18111 Boundary Wall, St. Mary’s church, Bitton (ST 68177

69382)

Wall, gate piers, gates doorway and walls, C16 walling and doorway with C19 gate

piers and gates and wall heightening to Church Farm. Lias, limestone and

pennant, mostly coped. Raised with string over chamfered Tudor-arched

doorway with pyramid stops. C19 3-plan door. Iron 5-bar gate with hoop brace

and scrolled stile. Pennant gate piers are tooled to pattern.

SMR Number 12532 Walls, The Old Vicarage, Bitton (ST 68201 69436) Grade

II The Old Vicarage is screened to west by a high rubble wall running to the lych gate of

the churchyard. 1820s or 30s. About 50 yards long, from 7-12 ft high. Includes

Tudor arch gateway with panelled spandrele and lozenge stops to label to

south-west of house. Modern battened doors to arch not of special interest.

SMR Number 13244 The Tithe Barn, Church Road, Bitton (ST 68100 69295)

Alterations but still retains same attractive character and detailing retain on LL..

bitton church desk top study

Documents

bitton church

roman bitton

bitton prebend

manor of bitton

marys parish church

marys church pcc

historic core of bitton

bitton tithe map extract