Coordinates: 51°33′24″N 2°34′21″W / 51.5567°N 2.5725°W / 51.5567; -2.5725

Almondsbury
Part of Almondsbury from The Tump. The spire is Saint Mary the Virgin church.
Almondsbury  Almondsbury shown within Gloucestershire
Population	3,800
OS grid reference	ST604843
Civil parish	Almondsbury
Unitary authority	South Gloucestershire
Ceremonial county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BRISTOL
Postcode district	BS32
Dialling code	01454
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Avon
Ambulance	Great Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Filton and Bradley Stoke
List of places: UK • England • Gloucestershire

Almondsbury is a large village near junction 16 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, England.

Description [link]

The village is split by a steep hill, part of the escarpment overlooking the Severn floodplain. At the bottom of the hill is Lower Almondsbury where a pub and hotel, The Bowl Inn, is situated. South Wales, the Forest of Dean, the River Severn and both Severn Bridges are visible from the higher parts of the village.

The Bowl Inn

The pub takes its name from the bowl shape of the land surrounding the estuary. Parts of this whitewashed-stone inn were originally the three cottages erected in 1146 to house the monks building the adjacent church of St Mary the Virgin. The present building became a licensed inn in 1550^{[citation needed]}.

St Mary's Parish church

Also at the bottom of the hill is the local church, dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin.

The church and tower were built in 1140 AD. The lead-covered spire was added some time before 1619.

Another pub, The Swan Inn, is located on the A38, in the upper part of the village, almost opposite an open space known as Almondsbury Tump.

In March 2009 a community shop was opened in the village by the not-for-profit Almondsbury Community Services Association (ACSA), situated opposite the Old School Hall at 14 Church Road. The community shop is staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers. The aim of the project goes beyond a village shop, being a service for the village, to support local suppliers wherever possible, and to be another focal point where people in the village can meet. A proportion of the surplus generated by the shop is returned to community projects and organisations in the village. The main manager of the shop is Alun Evans.

The village also has a motorway police station, a garden centre, and a restaurant/pub .

Sport and leisure [link]

Almondsbury has two Non-League football clubs Almondsbury Town A.F.C. who play at The Field and Almondsbury F.C. who play at Scott Park.

Other sporting facilities include a cricket pitch and a rugby pitch. Almondsbury Tennis Club [1] is on the same site.

Education [link]

Education is provided by Almondsbury Church of England Primary School. This is a state maintained school. The Ofsted report, dated April 2009, rated the school as good (outstanding in places).

Notable residents [link]

Almondsbury is the birthplace of Alex Kapranos, the lead singer of Franz Ferdinand.^[1]

Civil parish [link]

The civil parish of Almondsbury is much larger than the village. It includes the villages of Hortham, Over, Easter Compton, Compton Greenfield, Catbrain and Hallen. It also includes Cribbs Causeway and the site of the village of Charlton, now the western end of Filton Airfield.

When it was originally created in 1866 the civil parish also included Patchway, but not Easter Compton, Compton Greenfield, Hallen, Cribbs Causeway or Charlton, all of which were transferred from the parish of Henbury in 1935. The parish of Patchway was separated from Almondsbury in 1953.^[2]

Notes and references [link]

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Almondsbury

• Almondsbury Church
• Almondsbury Community Services Organisation
• Almondsbury Parish Council website
• Almondsbury in the Domesday Book