Coldharbour Walk
St Michael’s Church,
Stoke Gifford: the early church records from 1508
were kept in the vestry, window may be Norman. The 10 commandments are on
the west wall.
Sun Life Lake
A new pathway winds round the artificial lake. The water tapped for the
lake is also the source of the little stream which winds its way behind New
Road to Stoke Brook. The path follows the route of the old church path to
Harry Stoke Road. The public footpath is diverted via Church Road and
Westfield Lane.
Nowhere
A place where the three parishes joined, Stoke Gifford, Winterbourne and
Frenchay. On the original map, the boundary lines were not quite accurate.
'If it is not in any of the other parishes, it must be nowhere; was the
quote. Future maps were drawn correctly, but the name stuck.
Maules Nursery
The nursery is closed, and was most recently used for collecting rare
breeds.
Army Camp
At the junction of Coldharbour Lane and Filton Road there used to be an
army camp near the site of the Crest Hotel. It had lots of wooden huts which
were taken over by residents after the war in 1945.
Filton Cemetery
The footpath route now comes along the edge of a ridge known as Simms
Hill; a physical feature that has to be preserved, according to the previous
Structure Plan. The Cemetery lies over to your right.
Dower House
Stoke House was built in 1563 by Sir Richard Berkeley. The Berkeley
family having taken over the Stoke Gifford
manor in 1338. The house was largely remodeled in the mid 18th century by
the architect and gardener Thomas Wright, who also landscaped the Park. The
'Dower House' is Grade 2 listed. In 1907 the Reverend Burden bought Stoke
Park to establish a colony for the treatment of the mentally handicapped.
Little of the original or 18th century style of the house is now visible.
Walls Court Farm
The Manor of Walls is recorded as being the third manor comprising the
Parish of Stoke Cifford. An area of considerable woodland known as 'le
Walls'. The farm was mostly so poor that it earned the name of 'Starve‑all
Farm'. In the 19th century Thomas Proctor transformed Wallscourt Farm into a
model estate. He left in 1861; and almost 100 years later, Hewlett Packard
‑ an American computer company ‑ bought the land (1960). They
faced a dilemma of whether to demolish or retain the classic structure. The
company chose to retain and restore the old building as a training centre.
Harry Stoke Colliery
Harry Stoke colliery was a post‑nationalisation venture which was
intended to open up the north Bristol area of the coalfield. The colliery
was a pair of drifts which passed through the beds at a gradient of 1 in 3.
It was also intended to sink shafts once the drifts had reached the deeper
measures; and thus the Harry Stoke Mine was to have been the beginning of a
major scheme in the area. The driving of No. 1 drift commenced in the autumn
of 1952. Unfortunately the bed roof conditions in the seam lowered
productivity to a level where the colliery became uneconomic and the
National Coal Board closed the mine in June 1963.
Mile Straight
From the railway bridge at Parkway Station, New Road the old road, runs
SW and was known as three quarter mile, or the mile straight. This road from
Stoke Gifford to Filton replaced an older road which ran to Conygre Farm in
Filton. New Road has also been replaced, for through traffic, by Brierley
Furlong.
© Stoke Gifford Parish Council
