Charfield 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 ...

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, south-west of

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills ...

near the Little Avon River and the villages of Falfield and Cromhall. The parish includes the hamlet of Churchend.

Village

Charfield is a medium-sized village of about 2,500 residents with two pubs, The Railway Tavern and The Plough Inn, a convenience store with Post Office, a cafe, a petrol station with a small shop, a Co-op (opened December 2023) as well as two churches. There are seven main housing areas. Farm Lees, Longs View, Manor Lane and Woodlands have existed for some time. Two new housing developments were built in 2018-2019: St James Mews, opposite St John's Church, and Charfield Village, at the eastern end of the village near the Renishaw PLC site, as well as the Posket Way development, which includes the Bridge Cafe. The primary school has around 250 students. The Church of St James, in Churchend, dates from the 13th century and is a

grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

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 starts in the east in Charfield and then stretches west to Falfield. The ward's population at the 2011 census was 4,678. The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and

neighbourhood watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the Memorial Hall and

playing field Play is a range of Motivation#Intrinsic and extrinsic, intrinsically motivated activities done for recreation. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other high ...

and

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council. The parish council is also a burial authority, and has its own burial ground in nearby Churchend.

Railway

The Bristol-Birmingham main railway line runs through the village. Charfield railway station closed in January 1965 but still stands, and discussions continue about the viability of re-opening it. The costs of re-opening would be shared between Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire Councils since, although the station would be in South Gloucestershire, the nearby Gloucestershire town of Wotton-under-Edge would be a principal beneficiary. The railway line marks the division of the village between two different telephone areas (01453-54x based on Wotton-under-Edge, and 01454-26x based on Falfield). The village is on the outer limits of both areas. The village has now been fibre-enabled, allowing FTTC connections. On 11 October 2022 it was announced that South Gloucestershire Council and Network Rail have submitted a planning application for a new train station in Charfield. The proposed station, to be built on land off Station Road in the centre of the village, will include two platforms serving north and southbound journeys, a pedestrian footbridge, a bus stop, covered cycle parking, and car parking.

Railway history

The Charfield railway disaster was a fatal

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

crash which occurred on 13 October 1928. The

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

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 ...

LMS night mail train crashed under a road bridge near Charfield railway station, killing 15 and injuring 23. Amongst the dead were two children whose remains remain unidentified.

Charfield Memorial Hall and Playing Field

Charfield Memorial Hall and Playing Field is in the centre of Charfield. The Hall has recently been refurbished and the play area upgraded with new equipment.Charfield Community website
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References

External links

Charfield Community Website

Charfield Parish Council Web Site

Charfield Burial Ground
{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Civil parishes in Gloucestershire