Olveston
Encyclopedia
Olveston is a small village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and larger parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 in South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The parish comprises the villages of Olveston and Tockington
Tockington
Tockington is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Historically the village developed around farming based mainly on the rearing of cattle on the fertile flood plains. In more recent times Tockington has become an attractive location for commuters, being situated within the Green Belt and...

, and the hamlets of Old Down
Old Down
Old Down is a hamlet in South Gloucestershire, near the larger villages of Olveston and Tockington and a mile west of Alveston. A tourist attraction called Old Down Country Park now occupies the country house in the village, and there is also a pub, The Fox, as well as several sporting facilities...

, Ingst
Ingst
Ingst is a hamlet in the parish of Olveston in South Gloucestershire, England. It consists of five households, most of which are farms with cattle.The M48 motorway passes by the hamlet.- External links :*...

 and Awkley
Awkley
Awkley is a hamlet in the parish of Olveston in South Gloucestershire, England.- External links :*...

. Alveston
Alveston
Alveston is a commuter village of roughly 3000 people about south of Thornbury, South Gloucestershire and approximately north of Bristol, England. Alveston is twinned with Courville sur Eure, France. It has two hotels, a variety of small shops, several parks and fields, two churches and a...

 became a separate parish in 1846. The district has been inhabited since the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

, and the salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

es that made up almost half of the parish, were progressively drained in Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 and Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 times. A sea wall was constructed at the same time to prevent flooding from the nearby estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

 of the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

.

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

The parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of St Mary the Virgin was built around 1170 and rebuilt in 1370. It was struck by lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...

 in 1605 and the bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...

s, spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....

 and much of the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

 were destroyed. The tower was rebuilt the following year, and the church has been restored and enlarged in later years. Parish registers survive from 1561. The church contains the funerary brass(dated to 1506), and was the burial place, of Sir Walter Denys (d.1506) and his father Maurice Denys
Maurice Denys (Sheriff)
Maurice Denys, Esquire, was twice Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1460 and 1461. The Denys family were stated by Sir Robert Atkyns, the 18th.c...

(d.1466), esquire, both lords of the manor, seated at Olveston Court.

The Denys Family of Olveston Court

The remains of the mediaeval fortified manor of Olveston Court stand on the western outskirts of the village. It was for a while the seat of the Denys family of nearby Siston
Siston
Siston is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England east of Bristol Castle, ancient centre of Bristol, recorded historically as Syston, Sistone, Syton, Sytone and Systun etc. The village lies at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon...

 who had inherited Olveston manor, together with nearby Alveston, Earthcott Green, Siston and a moiety (1/2) of Aust
Aust
Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, the historical site of the eastern terminal of the Aust Ferry crossing route over the River Severn between England and Wales, believed to have been used in Roman times as a continuation of Icknield Street which led from Eastern England...

 together with the rights of the Hundred Court of Langley, in 1380 on marriage to Margaret Corbet, granddaughter of Sir Peter Corbet(d.1362) Lord of Caus, Shropshire. In addition to these Gloucestershire lands, the manors of Lawrenny in Pembrokeshire and Hope-juxta-Caus in Shropshire were also inherited. Due to the possibility for confusion between Alveston and Olveston, the Inquisition post mortem of Sir Gilbert Denys
Gilbert Denys, knight
Sir Gilbert Denys of Siston, Gloucestershire, was a soldier, and later an administrator. He was knighted by Jan 1385, and was twice knight of the shire for Gloucestershire constituency, in 1390 and 1395 and served as High Sheriff of Gloucestershire 1393-4...

, taken at Chipping Sodbury on 25 June 1422, is given here:

Gilbert Denys held of the King in chief in his demesne as of fee by knight service the manors of Alveston and Earthcott and the Hundred of Langley, total annual value £19 5s. There are in the manor of Alveston 40s assize rents and £6 rents of tenants at will at Michaelmas, Christmas, Easter and the Nativity of St. John the Baptist in equal portions, 300 acres pasture worth yearly 5d an acre, and a 20 acre meadow worth yearly 12d an acre. There are in the manor of Earthcott 40s rents of tenants at will. The Hundred of Langley is worth 40s yearly.

By a charter dated at Olveston on 20th Jan. 1420, shown to the jurors, he held jointly in tail male with his wife Margaret (2nd. wife Margaret Russell), who survives, the manor and advowson of Olveston, reversion to Gilbert's kinsman Nicholas Denys for life, remainder to the right heirs of Gilbert, by feoffment of Robert Stanshawe, John Broune, Robert Coderyngton and John Vaghorn, vicar of St. Nicholas, Bristol. The manor is held of the Bishop of Bath & Wells of the King, service unknown, annual value £20.


It is likely the Hundred Court of Langley, under the hereditary jurisdiction of the Denys's, met within the precincts of Olveston Court, which would also have had its own manorial court. The Denys family had lived in Glamorgan, S. Wales during the 13th. & 14th. centuries, most lately at Waterton, near Ewenny Priory, Coity Lordship. The family, it seems, temporarily moved to Olveston Court from Siston in 1422, when the widow of Sir Gilbert Denys(d.1422) obtained Siston as her dower, passing a life interest in it to her younger 2nd. husband John Keymes. Keymes died in 1477, upon which the Denys family regained vacant possession of Siston. However it seems they had become accustomed to Olveston Court since it was in Olveston church that both Maurice Denys
Maurice Denys (Sheriff)
Maurice Denys, Esquire, was twice Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1460 and 1461. The Denys family were stated by Sir Robert Atkyns, the 18th.c...

(d.1466) and his eldest son Sir Walter Denys(d.1506) were buried, in the middle of the choir (chancel) as the Denys monumental brass
Denys brass, Olveston
The Denys monumental brass in Olveston Church, Gloucestershire, dates from 1505, and is one of only about 80 Monumental brasses of Gloucestershire surviving today. It was erected following the death of Sir Walter Denys in 1505, and shows the latter together with his father Maurice Denys, both ...

 (dated 1505) in the church states. The brass states that they were each in succession lord of the manor of Alveston and Irdecote (Earthcott Green). Also probably born at Olveston Court was Maurice's 3rd. son Hugh Denys
Hugh Denys
Hugh Denys was a courtier of Kings Henry VII and of the young Henry VIII. As Groom of the Stool to Henry VII, he was one of the King's closest courtiers, his role developing into one of administering the Privy Chamber, a department in control of the royal finances which during Denys's tenure of...

(d.1511), by his second wife Alice Poyntz, da. of Nicholas Poyntz of Iron Acton. Hugh Denys was Groom of the Stool
Groom of the Stool
The Groom of the Stool was the most intimate of a monarch's courtiers, whose physical intimacy naturally led to him becoming a man in whom much confidence was placed by his royal master, and with whom many royal secrets were shared as a matter of course...

 to King Henry VII, an important figure in the management of the royal and national finances. Sir Walter Denys was by Katherine Stradling, da. of Sir Edward Stradling of St. Donat's Castle, Glamorgan, being therefore Hugh Denys's 1/2 brother. On the death of Sir Gilbert Denys in 1422, Stradling had obtained the valuable wardship and marriage of his 12 year old heir Maurice, whom he had married off to his da. Katherine. Katherine appears to have died very soon after giving birth to Walter. Katherine's mother was Joan Beaufort, the illegitimate da. of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, a son of John of Gaunt, by Alice FitzAlan
Alice FitzAlan (1378-1415)
Alice FitzAlan, Lady Cherleton was an English noblewoman, being the daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel. She was the wife of John Charleton, 4th Baron Cherleton...

, da. of 11th. Earl of Arundel. Beaufort became a member of the regency government on the accession of his infant nephew as Henry VI in 1422. Stradling, probably through the influence of Beaufort, had obtained the license to marry off his young nephew John Kemeys of Began, Monmouth, to Sir Gilbert Denys's widow, Margaret Russell. It was this latter marriage which forced the Denys family from Siston to reside at Olveston Court until Kemeys's death in 1477.
The will of Sir Gilbert Denys appointed Henry Beaufort as an overseer, perhaps suggesting a connection from Gilbert's early military service under John of Gaunt. In his will Denys had requested his widow to take a vow of chastity, which clearly was made impossible by Sir Edward Stradling who had married her off to John Kemeys within 7 months of Gilbert's death.

Non-Conformist Chapels

St. Mary's church parish register also includes details of births and burials of Quakers, who had a Meeting House in the village for nearly 200 years. Methodist chapels were built in Olveston (1820), Tockington (1840), Awkley (1856) and Old Down (1933).

Montserrat, West Indies

Joseph Sturge
Joseph Sturge
Joseph Sturge , son of a farmer in Gloucestershire, was an English Quaker, abolitionist and activist. He founded the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society . He worked throughout his life in Radical political actions supporting pacifism, working-class rights, and the universal emancipation of...

 (1793–1859), born in nearby Elberton, was a member of the Quaker Meeting. He purchased a plantation in Montserrat to demonstrate that slavery was unnecessary, and named it Olveston, now a village on the island.

New Zealand

An historic, early 20th century, house in the inner suburbs of Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 is named Olveston House
Olveston (house)
Olveston is a substantial house in an inner suburb of Dunedin, New Zealand. It was built between 1904 and 1907 for a wealthy merchant David Theomin, . He had originally emigrated to New Zealand from the village of Olveston, South Gloucestershire, England...

, after the birthplace of the original owner.

Population and Industry

The census of 1851 shows about 50 farms, and that the parish was mainly agricultural up to the time of the Second World War. The associated trades of blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

, saddle
Saddle
A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...

r and carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

 etc. were supplemented by stonemasons and lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...

 burners, there being good quality limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 in the parish. After the mechanisation of farming, and the growth of the aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

 industry at nearby Patchway
Patchway
Patchway is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated northwest of central Bristol. The town is a housing overflow for Bristol being contiguous to Bristol's urban area, and is often regarded as a large outer suburb. Nearby are the other Bristol satellite towns of Filton and Bradley Stoke....

 and Filton
Filton
Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about from the city centre. Filton lies in Bristol postcode areas BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building...

, the parish gradually became a home for commuters. The area contains an ancient woodland, Wildacre, owned and operated by the Woodland Trust.

External links

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