Charlton, Bristol
51°31′08″N2°35′24″W/ 51.519°N 2.590°W Charltonwas the name of a small village or large hamlet inGloucestershire,England with a Bethel Chapel and Sunday School. It was demolished in the late 1940s. Its site is (in 2020) occupied by part of the derelict runway and safety margins of the formerBristol Filton Airport.The village was located betweenFiltonand what is today theCribbs Causewayout-of-town commercial and retail area immediately north ofBristol.To the north of the village lay fields andOver CourtDeer Park, which is today Bristol Golf Club.
History
[edit]
Charlton was atythingin the ancient parish, and latercivil parish,ofHenburywhich still ecclesiastically covers more than 9,000 acres (14 sq mi). In 1870 Charlton had a population of 425, living in 88 houses.[1]From 1910 to 1915 the place was served byCharlton Halt,on theHenbury Looprailway just south of the village. In 1935 the civil parish of Henbury was abolished, and Charlton was transferred to the civil parish ofAlmondsbury.[2]
TheB4057 roadran through the village.[3]Charlton had farm houses, a public house called theCarpenters Arms,a post office, large houses and a few cottages.
In the late 1940s most of the village was demolished to make way for an extension of the main runway atFilton Airfieldto accommodate the take-off and landing requirements of theBristol Brabazonpropeller-driven airliner. Throughcompulsory purchase,the government offered residents a market price for their homes and offered rehousing in council housing inPatchway,which many took up to retain community links.
Subsequent use of the site
[edit]Filton Airfield, laterBristol Filton Airport,operated until the end of 2012. Although the Brabazon project was cancelled in 1953, the extended runway allowed Britannia production at Filton,VulcanV bombersto be dispersed to Filton during theCuban Missile CrisisandConcordesupersonic airliners to take off after being assembled at Filton. It also enabled flight testing from the Bristol Siddeley and Rolls-Royce flight-test centres. It allowed major overhaul and conversion programmes to be done at Filton onGeneral Dynamics F-111 AardvarkandVickers VC10aircraft.
A mixed use development, to be known as New Charlton, has been proposed betweenPatchwayand Cribbs Causeway, on the site of the runway extension over the village.[4]
Survival of the name
[edit]The name survives in Charlton Common – a public recreation area, to the south of the original settlement – Charlton Road, which led from Passage Road,Westbury on Trym,to the village, and Charlton Lane, which led fromHenburyandBrentry.
In the 1970s the name was resurrected for the new development of Charlton Mead, on the south side of Filton Airfield nearSouthmead,and in 2009 it was used again for the new development ofCharlton Hayes,on the north side of Filton Airfield atPatchway.
See also
[edit]- Heathrow (hamlet),a less populous hamlet demolished similarly
References
[edit]- ^"Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Charlton. Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)".A Vision of Britain.University of Portsmouth.Retrieved14 September2017.
- ^"Henbury CP. Relationships and changes".A Vision of Britain.University of Portsmouth.Retrieved24 December2017.
- ^Ordnance Survey map, 1949Archived1 July 2016 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Cribbs/Patchway New Neighbourhood".Patchway Journal.Retrieved24 December2017.
External links
[edit]- Paul Townsend."The Lost Villages of Bristol".Retrieved5 January2011.
- Google Earth view of Bristol Filton Airport and the site of Charlton
- Closer Google Earth view of the site of Charlton(north of "Charlton Common" )