The Parish of Bathford has a population of nearly 2,000 and extends over 1,800 acres.
Bathford village lies just beyond the eastern reaches of the City of Bath.
The City of Bath is a World Heritage Site (Sulis Minervae - the Roman site of the Aqua Sulis) well known for its unique (to the United Kingdom) Hot Springs, its Roman Baths and its splendid Georgian architecture.
(Sadly, Bath may also be known for its poor traffic, parking & public transport)

A view of Bathford Village

If you are interested in Bathford from an historical perspective, you might like to read the Historical Notes at the foot of this page. These notes were extracted from the 1889 edition of Dr Tunstall's book (first published in 1846) and kindly loaned to the website author (Kenneth A Spencer) by Mr Derek Hayes of Bathford.

The old walled village of Bathford can be approached from the A4 from the west (Chippenham) by a sharp left turn at the roundabout at the south-eastern end of the Batheaston-Swainswick (A4/A46) bypass, passing under the railway bridge to pass the Crown Inn on your right (where you can park and walk up the hill if you wish to take the exercise) and going on up Bathford Hill.
If approaching from the M4, come down the A46 all the way to the end of the bypass and take the third exit to go under the railway bridge. You may consider it worth walking back to examine the old Bathford railway bridge which was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as part of the old Great Western Railway. If you do so, you will cross the By Brook (aka Box Brook, The Weaver and Withy Brook) using Bathford Bridge, which was built originally in the thirteenth or fourteenth century to replace the ford which gave the village its name (more details on this aspect are given in the Historical Notes below).

Halfway up Bathford Hill turn right 25 yards before the Post Office, onto Church Street, where you can walk along to see the old walled houses of Bathford. You will also be able to see St. Swithun's Church parts of which may date from the twelfth century and where are buried Ann the sister of the Admiral Lord Nelson, and Eleazer, grandson of Moses Pickwick of Corsham.
Note: There are two scrollable-pannable 180 degree photographs of the view from the church tower, towards the bottom of the St Swithun's page - they are well worth the couple minutes they may take to download!

You may have noticed the folly (Browne's Folly, aka The Pepperpot), up on the ridge (Farleigh Rise). If you wish to see this at close quarters and get some exercise, walk back towards Bathford Hill and turn right to go further up the hill, where it then becomes Bathford High Street. Turn right up Prospect Place and walk up the very steep hill towards the start of the Nature Trail. There are several routes up to the ridge, which was once the site of active stone quarrying.
Once you get there, stop and savour the views of the Avonvale valley and Solsbury Hill
Note: There are two scrollable-pannable 180/360 degree photographs of the view from the  Browne's Folly clearing on Farleigh Rise, towards the bottom of the page - they are well worth the couple minutes they may take to download!

Historical Notes

In his book "Rambles Around Bath", published in 1846, Dr James Tunstall presents an interesting historical snapshot of Bath and its surroundings. An Illustrated Edition of the book was published in 1889 after Dr Tunstall's death, and the following is some of the information presented about the village of Bathford:

"The parish consists of three tithings or quasi manors - Bathford in the centre, Shockerwick to the north Warley [Warleigh] to the south.
The bounds of the manor given in an ancient Charter, AD 957 [*], correspond very nearly with those of the present time.
...
The title of the manor was originally Forde and it was thus designated down to the seventeenth century. The name was derived from a ford, which was formerly the usual means of communication between Bathford and neighbouring Bathampton. It lay immediately below the church.
On a rising ground, near this point, is an old pollard, which marks the site of a Roman villa [**], the hypocaust of which was found about the middle of the seventeenth century.
...
Near Bathford but on the opposite side of the river, is a large meadow called 'Horselands' [***], where, according to tradition, the Roman cavalry were exercised.
...
The ford from which the village derived its name was connected with the Fosse-way ... [which is] mentioned in a Saxon charter of the tenth century, relating to the manor and still forms the boundary of the parish. It may be taken for granted that the village stood on this road, the importance of which may be judged from the following facts. It ran from Cornwall to the City of Lincoln [Lindum Coloniae] , and ... thence to the North of England. It was evidently one of the greatest trunk roads in England in Roman times, as much of the commerce in connection with tin and coal mines of Cornwall and Somerset must have traversed it. There were but two or three roads that could be depended upon for crossing the country, and on these the Romans established stations. It is only reasonable to conclude that Forde was one of them."

*    Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, III. 451.
**  Aubrey's "Monumenta Britanica" describes the Roman villa found in Forde in the seventeenth century: "At Bathford (near the citie of Bathe) was found by digging of a drayning trench deeper than ordinarily in the grounds of Mr Skreene, in the year 1655 a roome underground, which was about 14 foot one way and 17 feet the other. The pavement of which was opus tesselatum [tesselated work] of small stones of several colours. viz., white (hard chalk), blue (liasse), and red (fine brick). In the middle of the floor was a blue bird, not well proportioned, and in each of the four angles a sort of knott. This ground and the whole manor did belong to the Abbey of Bath. Underneath this floor there is water. The floor is borne on pillars of stone about an ell distant the one from the other. On the pillars were laid plank stones on which the opus tesselatum was layd. The water issued out of the earth a little below, and many persuade themselves there is much water in it. This discovered place was so much frequented that it caused Mr Skreene to cover it up again, because the great concourse of people, especially from Bathe, injured his grounds, but he would not cover it so soon that the people had torn up all the work before I came hither to see it, but his daughter-in-lawe hath described the whole floor with her needle in gobelin-stitch. Mr Skreene told me there is another floor adjoining yet untouched."
*** Dr Tunstall refers only to the Roman use of the "Horselands". However, it may be that somewhat more recently than the Romans, the area bounded by Ostlings Lane and the Bradford Road (A363) was used to keep the spare horses used to haul the mail coaches up Bathford Hill. They then returned to the field to await the next coach. Indeed some of the older long-standing residents of Bathford still refer to Ostlings Lane as "Horses Lane".
[Grateful thanks and acknowledgement for the above contribution are due to Mr Stan Cherry of Bathford]
Whether the field by the river which Dr Tunstall's refers to as "Horselands" is the same area as was used by the coaching horses is somewhat uncertain.

Further Information:
Bathford: The Walled Village (Ken & Margaret Waugh)
Bathford Past and Present (Godfrey F. Laurence)
Around Bath in Old Photographs (Peter Jones)
Rambles Around Bath (James Tunstall - historical)

[20080901]

This site, and its contents, except where otherwise stated, are copyright KA Spencer (Software), from June 1996 on.
No part of the site may be used elsewhere for any purpose whatsoever without permission in writing.
Comments to: webmaster@bathford.org.uk [20050101]