Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury is an ancient market town which, although only eight miles north-west of Bristol, has retained a lively country flavour. Visitors to the town will notice the long Market Square or Chepynge, as it was called in medieval times, hence the prefix Chipping.
Man has occupied the land around Sodbury for thousands of years.
The earliest evidence of occupation dates back to the Neolithic burial chamber found on the high ground at Grickstone Farm , just off the A46. The Iron Age Hill fort, often referred to locally as the Roman camp, is in the same area, as is the site of one of England’s prehistoric ridgeways. Gradually man’s occupation moved from the hill tops down into the vale. Our twice a year “Sodbury Mop” is a remaining link with the old agricultural fairs held around Lady Day and Michaelmas Day. In its original days it was mainly a hiring fair for farm labour, but gradually it progressed to being a holiday for farm workers and an event for which local children had a day off school. Today it is still a major event in the calendar but is far removed from a celebration of the start or end of the agricultural year!
Whit Monday Horse Fair 1909. A traditional event when the working horses were dressed up and put on parade. Note the caption ³The Crowds Arriving² clearly this was a big event in the town. Note also the pinnacles at either end of the Horse Trough. These were removed to support the iron collection during the First World War.
In the early part of the twelfth century William Crassus decided to build a New Town on his lands at Sodbury. This was the start of the planned town of Chipping (Market) Sodbury towards the western end of his lands. Market Charters were granted in the early part of the thirteenth century. The wide high street you see today is a legacy of its being modelled on a typical medieval pattern which consisted of burgage plots along both sides of a wide main street with a narrow back lane running behind some areas. Markets and fairs were held from that time right up to 1954 when the regular market was closed. Over the years the market had been famous for wool, cloth, sheep, cheese, cattle and general farm produce.
Our twice a year “Sodbury Mop” is a remaining link with the old agricultural fairs held around Lady Day and Michaelmas Day. In its original days it was mainly a hiring fair for farm labour, but gradually it progressed to being a holiday for farm workers and an event for which local children had a day off school. Today it is still a major event in the calendar but is far removed from a celebration of the start or end of the agricultural year!
The New Town covered only 108 acres and was built on a cross roads of the east west Bristol to Oxford road and the north south ancient salt route and pilgrims’ way – between Kingswood and Keynsham Abbeys. The choice of the site was also influenced by the presence of the river. The market town conferred certain rights on the residents as well as providing an income for the Lord of the Manor and it became the focal point and farming centre for the area.
The Police Station was built in 1862, on the site of the former Duke William Inn, and is probably the oldest working station in the area. Just outside the Police Station is the Clocktower, now housing the tourist information centre, which was originally built as a memorial to Lt Col Blathwayt of Dyrham.
The facade of the Town Hall was built in 1858 and whilst the building itself has been thoroughly modernised it actually stands on the site of the 15th Guild Hall.
A high view from the roof of the Moda Hotel. About 100 years ago showing the quite street and the view to the hills. A typical quiet scene and very different from that seen on Market Days.
The town has never been particularly prosperous, and has never had any major rebuilding phases, so the medieval planned layout of the town can still been seen in many aspects of our townscape of today. The wide street for the market, the houses which front right on to the market pitchings, the buildings which form a pinch point on the western side of the main street to close in the market, the long thin burgage plots behind each of the houses, the presence of the medieval Town Hall and the plentiful supply of market pubs and coaching inns are all a reflection of the original planned town.
Over the centuries the population of Chipping Sodbury has been around 1000 and it was not until the developments of improved communication in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that the population expanded to that which we have today. The parish boundary has been changed so it is impossible to do a comparison, but those living within the old 108 acres must still be fairly close to 1000. The major difference is that in earlier times all of those who lived in Chipping Sodbury made their living from agriculture or directly related business.
Today the town, and the majority of its occupants, no longer rely on agriculture as their main business, but the old centre, which was laid out in medieval times, still provides a focal point and commercial centre for the modern community.
Around the town we see other features which have historical connections. The common,which embraces some parts of the old park mentioned in the Domesday Book, is still available for use by the town and some properties in the street still have stints, which give the owners rights to keep animals on the common at certain times of the year. Common allotments remain dotted around the town and the open land at the Ridings provides the town with essential open space.
For many centuries the administration of the town was by a Bailiff and his Burgesses. This team covered all aspects of running the town including the use of town lands by the residents – these lands included the Rag, an area that is roughly what is now Couzens and Ross Close, the Common and the Ridings as well as various properties in and around the town.
Upon the creation of Parish Councils in 1894 the Bailiff and his Burgesses lost their powers, but the lands and buildings, which had their roots in ancient charities, continued to be available for the benefit of the residents of the town, but now under the control of a number of charities. Originally these benefits would have been related to keep for animals or production of crops and education but today the use is more towards leisure activities.
The core of Chipping Sodbury is now designated as a Conservation Area and this should ensure that the layout and characteristic buildings should remain well into the future. A look at the existing buildings, and old maps, tell us much about the history and fortunes of the town. The street layout tells us much about the old market place. Maps of the 1700’s show the existence of buildings in the centre of what is now Broad Street. Just by the entrance to the present Wickwar Road was the old Shambles or butchers quarters, at the bottom, near the War Memorial, was the old Market building. This was perhaps like a small version of the building at Tetbury and served, at different times, as the market office, schoolroom and even as the town lock up.
The War Memorial is on the site of, and incorporates, parts of the old cross. In 1552 a market cross was erected, replacing an earlier version, at the bottom of the street. In around 1770 this demolished and moved to a garden in Brook Street, where it remained until the 1840’s, when it was transferred to the grounds of the newly formed Catholic Church. In 1920 the original base and shaft were incorporated in the War Memorial erected just about on the original site.
No church was included in Crassus’s original plan and inhabitants used the church at Old Sodbury. However in 1284 a Chapel of Ease was built. To build this it was necessary to use part of the gardens of a number of the original burgage plots – this “robbing of land” can easily seen be if you look at any map of the town! The church was enlarged over the years with the last major growth in the 15th century when the South Aisle was added. In the Victorian period the church underwent a restoration programme under G E Street, the noted church architect. During the rework all windows were remade, the memorials in the main body of the church were moved to the ringing chamber and the porch was added.
The original coaching road to the east via Hatters Lane. The Tudor House is one of the oldest buildings in the town
One of the oldest properties in the town is Tudor House in Hatter’s Lane. This is a galleried hall house and has had a chequered history. It is thought that a one time this was the home of the master weaver Richard Colymore. In the early 1900’s it served as a cheap “doss house”, by the 1950’s it had been sub divided into several cottages which had become quite squalid and was at risk of being demolished. Luckily, at the last moment, the historic significance was realised and a fund raising and restoration programme was completed after which the building became the HQ of the local Conservative Association.
There are a number of properties in the street that have a Georgian appearance but these are generally much older than the frontages suggest. In the mid 1700’s there was a craze to make houses fit in with the fashionable Georgian symmetrical style. New facades were added, complete with Grecian style porches, which, at the time, were available as “catalogue items”. In several examples an inspection will reveal where the old top storey gabled windows have been concealed behind the fake Georgian parapets.
Communication has influenced the development of the area. The earliest route was an ancient Ridgeway known as the Jurassic Way, which runs along the ridge near the Grickstone Farm barrow and the Iron Age hillfort at Old Sodbury. Roman roads are evident in the area but, passing through Sodbury, was the salt route from Droitwich and the Pilgrims Way between Kingswood and Keynsham Abbeys. Later, coaching routes passed through Sodbury and this brought the need for coaching inns, which also served as market inns.
In the late 1700’s turnpike, or toll, routes were developed. The North South route was opened up along the old Pilgrims Way towards Wickwar and the East West route was built along what is now Horse Street towards Old Sodbury and along to London. The milestone in Horse Street is a reminder of the toll road as it states “108 Miles to Hyde Park Corner”.
Improved road building materials made transport easier and quicker, but the advent of the railway improved long distance travel almost beyond comprehension. The first local station to open was at Yate, 1844, and Sodbury people had to travel to Yate to access the rail network. Mr Bees ran a horse drawn flyer from the Portcullis in Chipping Sodbury to Yate Station to connect with the rail service
On 29th November 1897 the Duchess of Beaufort cut the first sod for the creation of the new railway, the Badminton Line between, Patchway and Wootton Bassett.
It was six years before the station opened at Chipping Sodbury. The main purpose of the line was to provide a quicker route from the South Wales coalfields to London, but the benefit to Chipping Sodbury was enormous. Suddenly goods and passengers could reach local towns and London with ease and Chipping Sodbury became the busiest of the stations along the line and no doubt improved the wealth of the area.
Typical shops 100 years ago. The newsagent, the saddlers, Dowding¹s Ironmongers shop and Perritt¹s off licence, which sold beer from the Hill House Brewery at Old Sodbury. Murray Dowding developed the business into the new fangled photography and many of the images of the past were taken by Murray Dowding. Murray left a large legacy of his work which is enjoyed to this day.
The age of the motorcar came in the early 1900’s and, as the 20th century developed, motor vehicles took over as the everyday means of transport. The freedom of travel by car changed the nature of Chipping Sodbury as industry and commerce took over from agriculture as the main place of employment, and commuting to work in Bristol and Bath became commonplace.
The changes in employment and lifestyle have made a major impact on leisure activities. One hundred years ago work was long and holidays were short, so the spare time pursuits were less varied than those of today. The markets and fairs, Sunday School outings, following the hunts, and using the limited facilities at the Reading Rooms were part of the entertainment on offer, but sporting pursuits were followed by many people.
Chipping Sodbury has a long and distinguished history of sports clubs, which in the main, have had the benefit of facilities on lands owned by the Town Trust or earlier charities.
The Chipping Sodbury Golf Club celebrated its century in 2005, whilst the Cricket Club dates from 1860 and the Football club has a history going back to 1885.
Of course other sports and games have been played in Sodbury for centuries including all manner of pub games and there is even mention of children having time off school for “Sodbury Races”. These were horse races held between a few of the local gentry around the 1860’s and 1870’s.
Who knows what sports will be played in another one hundred years, but we wish present and new clubs a long and successful future.
