A Forgotten Landscape

Interpretation points

The interpretation points will consist of up to five small individual panels at eleven sites around the A Forgotten Landscape area. This table shows the location of the eleven sites, also shown on the attached map, and suggested topics and storylines for each panel. These are presented for discussion. The text on these panels is limited to40-50 words each.

No / Location / Topic / Stories– notes to be converted into panel texts
1 / Shirehampton (Lamplighter’s Marsh) / 1 Ferry across the River Avon / This was an important river crossing. It was the lowest safe river crossing of the Avon before it entered the Severn. It ran until 1974 when the M5 Avonmouth bridge opened.
2 Wildlife / Wildlife of the river bank. The river is tidal and has a rich biodiversity in its mud and its banks.
Heronry, waders, mosses and species introduced with railway ballast.
3 Transport up and down the River Avon / The Avon was the ‘motorway’ for the transport of goods between Bristol and the rest of the world.
4 Pirates, pilots and privateers / Tales of the Vale stories of the anchorages and pilot boats, and the opportunities for evading customs duties!
5 The village of Shirehampton – oral histories of local people / The village of Shirehampton grew up around the ferry and is associated with the Kings Weston House estate.
6 Gunpowder magazine / The creation of the gunpowder magazine in 1870s
7 Other historical topics / Birth of the docks.
WW2 gun emplacement.
King William III arrived at Shirehampton on his way back from Ireland.
Pre-fabs built after WW2.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
2 / Avonmouth / 1 Port / The Avonmouth port has been important for shipping of large cargo. It is now one of Britain’s major ports.
2 Industry of Avonmouth / The proximity of this area to the port stimulated growth of industry.
3 River traffic / For centuries, the Severn was and still is alive with shipping, with boats trading between Bristol, Gloucester and the rest of the world. Avonmouth is one of the UK’s major ports with cars and perishable food goods key imports.
4 Pubs of Avonmouth / Interesting stories from local people, including the Avonmouth Hotel pleasure gardens of 1800s.
5 Oral histories of local people / Stories of the growth of Avonmouth and the people who lived here.
6 Other topics / Mustard gas factory and railways – WW1.
WW2 bombing – aircraft used river to navigate up to Bristol.
Pollution from chemical factories – much better now as just steam.
Lead content in blood.
Horse hospital.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
3 / Lawrence Weston / 1 Kings Weston House / History of the house, designed by Vanbrugh. The estate has one of the largest collections of buildings designed by Vanbrugh in the UK.
2 The community farm / How the farm helps urban children to understand and enjoy farming and farm animals.
3 Kings Weston Roman Villa / Discovered during the building of the Lawrence Weston estate in 1947. The skeleton of a man who may have died in a Viking raid was discovered under the mosaic floor.
4 Oral histories of local people / Stories of Lawrence Weston.
5 Other topics? / Drainage of the levels as part of agricultural improvements associated with Kings Weston House.
Origin of name – lands given to St Lawrence Priory in central Bristol.
Weston church dedicated to Roman martyr.
Impact of M5 – noise impacting on people, changing communities.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
4 / Chittening Warth / 1 River Severn / The banks of the Severn have many warths (coastal meadows), gouts (sluices or inlets) and pills (tidal inlets).
2 Transport by water / Historically, taking cargo and people by boat was much quicker than overland. The river was an essential means of transport for thousands of years.
3 Mudflats / The mudflats and beaches attract thousands of migratory birds, with spring and autumn passage and overwintering birds making it a site of international conservation importance with multiple designations.
4 The great Severn Estuary flood / In 1607 a great flood swept through the Severn Estuary causing devastation for communities in the levels. Tsunami?
5 Oral histories from local people / Stories of Chittening Warth.
6 Other topics / Commissioners of Sewers of the 1530s – maps held in Bristol and Gloucester archives.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
5 / New Passage / 1 Railway terminus and ferry / From 1863, people travelling between Bristol and Cardiff could take the train to New Passage and travel across the Severn by ferry to Portskewett. The ferry was abandoned when the Severn tunnel was opened in 1886.
2 History of the railway / The Bristol and South Wales Union Railway, designed by Brunel, connected Bristol to New Passage. It reduced the distance by train between Bristol and Cardiff from 94 miles to 38 miles.
3 The New Passage Hotel / Opened in 1863, the hotel served railway passengers waiting to get across the river by ferry. It failed to attract visitors, though, and went bankrupt in 1867.
4 Disaster for Roundheads! / During the English Civil War Prince Rupert was chased across the river, but the pursuing roundheads drowned on the English Stones after the ferryman assured them it was safe.
5 Oral histories from local people / Stories of New Passage.
6 Other topics / Huge tidal range seen from here.
Post office opened here in 1700s to hold packets sent to and from Wales by the ferry associated with the hotel.
Ferry was almost rammed on one occasion.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
6 / Aust Ferry / 1 Ferry / The Aust Ferry operated between Aust and Beachley on the opposite bank of the Severn. It saved a 60 mile round trip via Gloucester.
2 The car ferry / The car ferry started in 1926 and continued until 8 September 1966, the day before the Severn Bridge opened. The last ferry boat, the Severn Princess, is beached near Chepstow and is being renovated.
3 The Bob Dylan album – No Direction Home / Bob Dylan was photographed as a promotional shot for Martin Scorsese’s film ‘No Direction Home’ that had Dylan’s music in the film.
4 Severn Bridge / The history of the building of the Severn Bridge.
5 Oral histories from local people / Stories of Aust, the ferry and the bridge.
6 Other topics / Short eared owls seen on the levels from here.
Aust cliff and its geology, including feldspar and fossils.
Aust Goddess – Romano-British figurine found in 1800s. The original is in the British Museum and there is a replica in Bristol Museum.
There was a searchlight in WW2 on Aust Cliff.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
7 / Whale Wharf / 1 Whale / A whale beached here in 1885. It attracted thousands of sightseers. Special trains came from London.
2 Plane / A Bristol Britannia belly flopped near here in 1954 during a test flight. The Captain skilfully landed it on the mudflats.
3 The river / The river has carved its way for 220 miles from mid-Wales to its estuary.
4 Wildlife / The Severn is a rich and diverse habitat. It is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, as rich as rainforests and coral reefs!
5 Oral histories from local people / Stories of Whale Wharf.
6 Other topics / Salmon fishing – there were 20 fishings in this area, with 800 putchers catching huge numbers of salmon. Putchers went out on April 16th. Children helped, recorded in school log books.
The bridges changed the current and the fishing declined.
Eels and other migratory fish in the river.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
8 / Littleton-upon-Severn / 1 Levels and rhines / Levels are criss-crossed by a network of waterways that are great for wildlife.
2 Settlement names / Many settlements dating from Anglo Saxon times have ‘ton’ at the end.
3 Local industries and economies / Research from Bob Seddon and Lyn Carnaby.
4 Oral histories from local people / Stories about Littleton.
5 Other topics / Orchards, including fruit and walnut trees brought in by the French in 1066.
Church guidebook and charter.
Smuggling of wine, silk, salt – everybody would have been involved.
Withies and alder beds for making baskets and putchers.
Eels and eeling.
Summer cattle grazing on the river salt marshes.
Dutch 17th C drainage.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
9 / St Arilda’s Church / 1 St Arilda / St Arilda was a saint from Oldbury-on-Severn who probably lived in the 5th or 6th century. She was a martyr, having been killed by a man called Municus who she refused to marry.
2 The levels landscape / The timeless quality of the levels with its scatter of settlements amongst a flat agricultural landscape, with small fields and orchards.
3 Medieval origins of the church and settlement? / Oldbury was named ‘Aldberie’ in the Domesday Book. This name may have derived from Arilda.
4 Oral stories from local people / Stories about Oldbury.
5 Other topics / Church was built within an Iron Age hillfort.
St Arilda’s Well never dries up – it runs red in spring.
There is an annual pilgrimage to the well – 22nd July. Pilgrims’crosses.
The church is sited where cows settle to graze.
Legend has themes in common with other holy wells in Celtic history, e.g. St Winifred’s Well Flintshire.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
10 / Oldbury-on-Severn / 1 Power station and power lines / Pylons and power lines radiate from the power station, showing how the power station provided electricity for a big area. Decommissioned and being replaced with a new power station.
2 The Toot / Latest research into the history of the Toot – Iron Age fort. Current archaeological research. From Iron Age to the nuclear age.
3 Diverse settlements / The river enabled people from other regions and countries to visit and settle, influencing language and place names.
4 Pill / Small inlets and harbours – pills – provided shelter and loading points for boats to cross the river, and go up and down river. It was much quicker travelling by boat than it was overland.
5 Oral stories from local people / Stories about Oldbury.
6 Other topics / Nature walks around the power station.
Social change with the power station – permanent work, compared with temporary agricultural contracts.
Many agricultural stories for the area.
Flooding – the pill was the only outlet for flood water.
The pub is a former mill on the pill.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?
11 / Windbound / 1 The Windbound Pub / The meaning of the name ‘Windbound’ – used by sailors who claimed they could not sail because the wind was too strong and had to wait out the weather in the pub!
2 The river, its tides and currents / The Severn has the greatest tidal range in Europe. The course is constantly changing the mudflats and sandbanks. The banks are crucial for flood protection.
3 Power generation at Oldbury power station / The power station was opened in 1967 and closed in 2012.
4 Wildlife of the River Severn / Wildlife is extremely varied on the intertidal habitats of mudflats, sandflats and rocky platforms, and holds internationally importance for wintering and wading birds on passage.
5 Trade / The Severn was a crucial route for transport of goods and people up and down, and across, the river. The river has complex currents and tides and can be very dangerous.
6 Other topics / Lord Noel Buston walked across the river here.
There are 22 navigation lights along the river.
Shepperdine church – 100 years old.
Barges up the river to Sharpness.
The small fields north of here have wildflowers.
The loss of orchards in the area.
Duck decoys on the Berkeley estate.
Other suggested topics? / Other suggested stories?

Toposcopes

There are three toposcopes interpreting the views of the Lower Severn Valley from key sites at St Arilda’s Church near Oldbury-on-Severn, Woodwell Meadows near Littleton-upon-Severn and Kings Weston House.

No / Location / Landscape features to include / Introduction
1 / St Arilda’s Church / Orchards
Small meadows and pastures bounded by hedges
View over Severn to settlements opposite and beyond into the Forest of Dean and Wales
Vale and river, up and down stream
Two bridges over the Severn / St Arilda’s is built on a prominent local hill and is visible from miles around, and is an excellent viewpoint out over the agricultural landscape and riverscape.
2 / Woodwell Meadows / Traditional meadow
High diverse hedgerows
Woodland
Littleton village and church
Severn Bridge
Second Severn Crossing / Traditional hay meadow, now a nature reserve that is managed for wildflowers and grasses, butterflies and other insects.
3 / King’s Weston House / Motorways
Severn estuary
Lawrence Weston
Shirehampton
Avonmouth
Remnant 18thC agricultural landscape with rhymes / The view from Kings Weston House is a view over a landscape that has changed dramatically, almost beyond recognition, in the last 150 years with major industrial development, road and river transport systems, housing and associated infrastructure and agricultural improvements.

Return to Red Kite Environment, Pearcroft, Pearcroft Rd, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, GL10 2JY, by Friday 16th June 2017