Tortworth
Coordinates: 51°38′00″N 2°26′00″W / 51.633333°N 2.433333°W
Tortworth is a hamlet, and civil parish, near Thornbury in South Gloucestershire, England. It has a population of 150,[2]
Tortworth is noted for a huge and ancient chestnut tree, believed to be over 800 years old. The tree, in St. Leonard's churchyard, looks like a small wood because many branches of the main trunk have taken root. Boundary records compiled in the reign of John of England (1166-1216) already shown the "Great Chestnut of Tortworth" in South Gloucestershire, as a landmark; and it was also known by the same name in the days of Stephen (1092/6–1154). This tree measured over 50 feet in circumference at 5 feet from the ground in 1720.[3] The tree is one of fifty Great British Trees, selected in 2002 by The Tree Council to commemorate the Queen's Golden Jubilee.
The Tortworth inlier is the most complete section of "Silurian" rocks in the Bristol and South Gloucestershie area.[4]
The civil parish contains Leyhill prison, and Tortworth Court, former home of the Earl of Ducie but now a hotel. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the manor is recorded as held by Turstin FitzRolf.[5]
References
- ↑ "Parish population 2011.Retrieved 19 March 2015".
- ↑ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : South Gloucestershire Retrieved 2009-10-28
- ↑ Sweet Chestnut Botanical.com – A modern herbal, by Mrs. M. Grieve.
- ↑ British Geological Survey 1:50,000 geological map sheet no 264 (England & Wales series) Bristol & 1" scale Bristol District:special sheet, BGS, Keyworth, Notts
- ↑ http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk
External links
- Tortworth village website
- Tortworth, Andrew Plaster, Bristol & Avon Family History Society Journal, June 2007
- Tortworth Chestnut on Flickr
- Kew Gardens - brief article about the chestnut tree