Long Ashton, Somerset

Description
Ashton, Long, a parish in Somerset, 3 miles from Bristol station on the G.W. and M.R. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Acreage, 4239; population, 2361. It contains Bedminster workhouse, and the hamlet of Providence. Leigh Woods is a picturesque portion of the parish on the bank of the Avon. The centre of the parish is a fertile wooded vale, partly disposed in market gardens and orchards, for sendingvegetables and fruit to Bristol. The north rises into a range of bleak but picturesque hills, which command a magnificent view of the surrounding country. The south goes up to Barrow Common and Dundry Hill. The chief residence is ASHTON COURT (which see). Many Roman coins have been found, and there are some remains of Roman camps at Leigh Woods. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £350. The church dates from 1390, has a carved Gothic screen, dividing the chancel from the nave and aisles, contains figured stained windows and some handsome monuments, and is surmounted by a tower, with the arms of the Lyons family in stone; it was repaired and restored in 1872. A new church has been built at Leigh Woods at a cost of £3000. There is a Congregational chapel, and one for Plymouth Brethren. A village club was built in 1879. Collinson, the county historian, was vicar.