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- source: Family History Library Catalog
- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia
Alveston in South Gloucestershire, England, is a village, civil parish and former manor now inhabited by about 3000 people. The village lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Thornbury and approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Bristol. Alveston is the gateway to the first Severn Bridge both from the A38 road and from Thornbury. The civil parish also includes the villages of Rudgeway and Earthcott.
The ruins of Alveston Old Church of St Helens is situated in Rudgeway, south of the modern village of Alveston, along the A38. The separate parish of Alveston was not formed until 1846, before which time Alveston manor was within the parish of Olveston. Following the development and growth of the modern village of Alveston some distance away from the manor house and the Church of St. Helen next door to it, it was determined by the village authorities to build a new church, again dedicated to St Helen, nearer to the new village. The old church fell into disuse and decay, and today only the tower and south aisle wall remain standing, although the structure has been restored
In the 19th century, the village of Alveston was centred on Church Farm, on the lane leading from Rudgeway to Iron Acton. Some people consider the modern Alveston to be centred on the Ship Inn. The Ship Inn at Alveston is an old Coaching House which dates back to 1589. In the 19th century, the area around the Ship Inn was known as Alveston Green.
For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Alveston. There is a long section titled "The Descent of the Manor" following the local manor through its various ownerships from the Domesday Book (1086) forward.
Research Tips
- Bristol Archives is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for Bristol and its environs are stored.
Online sources which may also be helpful:
- Three maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrate the changes in political boundaries over the period 1830-1945. All have expanding scales and on the second and third this facility is sufficient that individual parishes can be inspected (except in the immediate Bristol area--for Bristol, see English Jurisdictions).
- Gloucestershire Hundreds as drawn in 1832. This map was prepared before The Great Reform Act of that year. Note the polling places and representation of the various parts of the county.
- Gloucestershire in 1900, an Ordnance Survey map showing rural districts, the boundaries of the larger towns, the smaller civil parishes of the time, and some hamlets and villages in each parish
- Gloucestershire in 1943, an Ordnance Survey map showing the rural districts after the changes to their structure in the 1930s
- A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county
- GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish. The emphasis here is on ecclesiastical parishes (useful before 1837)
- A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 and tables of the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. The compiler has gone to a lot of work to provide this material. Respect his copyright.
- The FamilySearch Wiki for Gloucestershire provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
- English Jurisdictions, a supplementary website to FamilySearch outlining local parish boundaries in the middle on the 19th century. The information provided is especially useful for establishing the locations of ecclesiastical parishes in large towns and cathedral cities, as well as changes in their dedications (names). Very useful for Bristol.
- The Church Crawler has a website of photos and histories of English Churches with emphasis on Bristol.
- Unfortunately, the Victoria County History series provided by the website British History Online only provides information on Gloucestershire Churches in this part of the county. More general information on the Bristol and South Gloucestershire area is sadly omitted.
- Ancestry UK has recently added Gloucestershire Burials, 1813-1988; Confirmations, 1834-1913; Baptisms, 1813-1913; Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1813; and Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938. (entry dated 1 Aug 2015)
- Ancestry has also now updated Bristol, England, Select Church of England Parish Registers, 1720-1933 (entry dated 14 Mar 2016)
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