Flax Bourton

Coordinates: 51°25′20″N 2°42′40″W / 51.4223°N 2.7112°W / 51.4223; -2.7112

Flax Bourton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish, with a population of 715, is situated within the Unitary Authority of North Somerset, on the edge of Nailsea Moor on the A370 road 5 miles (8.0 km) south west of Bristol city centre.

The village has a primary school, one pub named The Jubilee Inn, a church dating back to Norman times and is the home of Backwell Flax Bourton Cricket Club.

History

Backwell Hillfort between Flax Bourton and Backwell is an iron age hill fort.

To the north of the village and close to the Bristol to Exeter railway line a mill was built on the Land Yeo. It may have existed at the time of the Domesday Book and strong documentary evidence exists from 1769. Between 1839 and 1885 the river was diverted into the tailrace of the mill, eliminating a bend in the river. All that remains of the three storey mill is a single storey garage of a private house.

Farleigh Hospital and the Church of St. George was built in 1837 as a Workhouse for the Bedminster Union. Also on Old Weston Road is the former Long Ashton Magistrate's Court and Police Station, which was built 1857-58 by John Norton, and is now home to the Coroner's court for Bristol and North Somerset.