Bitton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern p ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England, to the east of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and on the River Boyd. The parish of Bitton had a population of 9,307, and apart from the village itself, includes Swineford, Upton Cheyney, Beach,

Oldland Common Oldland Common is a village in the far south region of Gloucestershire, England, on the outskirts of Bristol. It is in the civil parish of Bitton, approximately 8 miles between the centres of cities Bristol and Bath. Oldland Common is the b ...

, North Common and part of

Willsbridge Willsbridge is a village in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire, England, located on the outskirts of Bristol. Willsbridge Castle, situated on a prominent hillside site, was built around 1730, with crenellations added in the nineteen ...

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

with the same name exists. This ward does not cover as much of the outskirts of

as the parish. The total population of the ward taken at the 2011 census is 3,509.

Transport

The A431 road runs through the village. Beyond Bitton the road routes north-west to

and south-east to Kelston. The

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

Avon Valley Railway is based at Bitton railway station. The

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

Bristol and Bath Railway Path runs alongside the railway. Bus Routes 19, 37, 441, 443 and 684 run down the A431 and go towards

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and

City Centres and suburbs.

Sport

Bitton A.F.C. are the local football team and Bitton CC are the local cricket team. They both play at the Recreation Ground, immediately south of the A431, just west of the village. Bitton Road Runners is a running club based in the east of Bristol which caters for all running abilities. Founded in 1986 to help people better enjoy the sport of running, it is a thriving club with over 300 members in both junior and senior sections.

Notable people

H. T. Ellacombe, the inventor of the Ellacombe apparatus used for bell-ringing, was curate from 1817 to 1835, and vicar from 1835 to 1850. His son H. N. Ellacombe, vicar from 1850 to 1916, was active in the 1860s in the distribution of the robust, large, early-flowering

snowdrop ''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family (biology), family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leav ...

Galanthus nivalis ''Galanthus nivalis'', the snowdrop or common snowdrop, is the best-known and most widespread of the 20 species in its genus, ''Galanthus''. Snowdrops are among the first bulbs to bloom in spring and can form impressive carpets of white in areas ...

'' 'Atkinsii' "''that grew at the south wall in his garden in Bitton.''"Page 65 of Stern F C, ''Snowdrops and Snowflakes – A study of the Genera Galanthus and Leucojum'', The

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

, 1956 Bitton is the birthplace of author Dick King Smith and actress Richenda Carey, and was home to television presenter

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English businessman, and former television presenter, radio DJ, writer and producer. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK, pres ...

. Also Harold Crofton Sleigh the founder of H.C.Sleigh Shipping Company & Golden Fleece Petroleum Company,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, lived in Belmont House with his parents, in 1881. The landscape and equestrian painter Allen Culpepper Sealy was born in the village in 1850.SEALY, Allen Culpepper
Suffolk Artists, accessed 23 Apr 2024

Bibliography

Ellacombe, Henry Thomas ''History of the Manor of Bitton'', 1869. Ellacombe, Henry Thomas ''History of the Parish of Bitton'', 1881.

References

External links

Parish Council website

Parish Church of St Mary's, Bitton

Website of Bitton Road RunnersLocal History Group (Bitton Parish History Group)
{{Authority control Villages in South Gloucestershire District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire