Almondsbury - a Brief History
by Tony Warner, Almondsbury History Society
The first recorded use of the name Almondsbury occurs in the Domesday Book (1086), spelt ‘Almodesberie’. As in several other villages in this area, the term ‘bury’ means a stronghold or fortified place. The place takes the first part of its name from Alcmund or Ealhmund (various spellings exist), a Saxon landowner. The Domesday Book gives the barest information, namely that there are two hides of land (about 240 acres).
The earliest traces of human occupation is the hill fort now known as Knole Park, which may have been used by the earliest Roman settlers as a defensive post or lookout. Excavations on the site of the Cattybrook brickworks, just below the hill fort showed the remains of a Romano-British settlement, where coins dated to 270 BC were found. After the Saxon invasions during the fifth century, the region became part of the kingdom of the Hwicce, and subsequently part of the kingdom of Wessex. It is probable that the settling of the burh of Alcmund occurred at this time.
The site of Almondsbury as a village was probably dictated by the availability of water from springs arising from the higher ground where the Bristol-Gloucester road runs; these streams still flow after spells of heavy rain.
Not long after the Norman conquest, the manor of Almondsbury became a possession of the monastery of St Augustine in Bristol, whose abbey church now forms part of Bristol Cathedral. The parish church of St Mary must be the oldest building: it is believed to date from the mid-12th century, since when it has been much restored and altered. The Bowl Inn is claimed to be of 
much the same age, but there is no hard evidence of this. There may have been a few cottages built of stone, an easily obtained building material in the area, like the Bowl or No 1 Townsend Lane. Court Farm and its two converted barns were built during the period of monastic ownership probably date from the 15th century. Otherwise the common people lived in timber buildings, probably thatched, of which no traces now remain.
The monasteries were dissolved in the reign of Henry VIII and the Abbot surrendered the Abbey in 1539; the manor of Almondsbury was sold, passing in 1569 to Thomas Chester, a wealthy merchant of Bristol: his son William built the mansion at Knole. The Chester family, later becoming Chester-Master by marriage, owned the manor until the 1920s. The estate was sold to pay death duties and the house was finally demolished in the 1960s - the tower is the only remnant of the original house. For most of its recorded history Almondsbury was an agricultural community with most of the inhabitants employed on the land.
The coming of the railway and the construction of the Severn Tunnel in the 1870s, together with the brickworks at Cattybrook, many people found work other than farming. With the 20th century, the expansion of Bristol and the growth of the aircraft industry at Filton, more and more people found employment in industry. From 1950 onwards, housing development caused a rapid growth in the village; in 1950 there were half a dozen shops, which have all gone. Agriculture employs only a handful of people now.
A rough-and-ready summary of Almondsbury’s history, not to be taken too seriously, could be 400 years of the Romans, 400 of the Saxons, 400 under the monks and 400 (well, 350) under the Chester-Masters!
One might say that with the development of housing and industrial estates of the last couple of decades Almondsbury is hardly a village now, more of a dormitory, but this is hardly fair. There is still a community spirit and a good deal of locally-based activities and entertainment: witness the number of local societies and organisations listed in the Lich Gate. And of course the church plays an increasingly active part in local activities.
Lower Almondsbury has been designated a conservation area. This means that:
- New development must accord with the area’s special identity
- A high standard of design for new development or extensions to existing buildings is expected, in regard to matters such as scale, proportion,materials and colour.
- The demolition, in whole or part, of unlisted buildings in Conservation Areas, requires special consent.
- Special care should be taken to ensure that views into and out of the Conservation Area remain unspoilt.
- Anyone wishing to fell top, lop, etc. a tree within a Conservation Area must give the Local Planning Authority six weeks advance notice in writing
- Advertisement displays are subject to strict control and visual qualities.
Setting
The village of Almondsbury is situated 7 miles north of Bristol, near the M4/M5 Almondsbury Interchange, the 
first four-level motorway crossing in Britain. Almondsbury lies within the Bristol and Bath greenbelt.
The village falls into two distinct parts divided by the A38, with modern ribbon development to the east and the old nucleus of Lower Almondsbury clustering beneath the steep and wooden Almondsbury Hill. Spectacular views across the Severn Estuary are afforded on the descent from new to old Almondsbury.
Character
The village of Lower Almondsbury nestles below the steep, wooded Almondsbury Hill, which shelters and largely obscures the village from above. This landscape feature provides an attractive backcloth to the village and contributes significantly to Almondsbury's character. The woodland is protected by a tree preservation order. The top of this hill provides a superb vantage point with views across the Severn where both bridges are clearly visible.
If one enters the village via Sundays Hill or Hollow Road, the steep wooden descent is attractive and enclosed, gradually opening up by Almondsbury Forge. St Mary's church dominates the village from its position at the foot of the escarpment and its splendid spire rises up revealing its position from the ridge. The small but picturesque village green with pump in the foreground of the church provides a typical village scene, enhanced by cottages of local stone nearby. Almondsbury village is rich in variety and style with stone walls lining the narrow roads, which are especially attractive in the spring and summer, being covered in overhanging vegetation and blooms.