Turleigh

Turleigh
The Old Main Road in Turleigh
Turleigh Location within Wiltshire
OS grid reference	ST805607
Civil parish	Winsley
Unitary authority	Wiltshire
Ceremonial county	Wiltshire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Bradford on Avon
Postcode district	BA15
Dialling code	01225
Police	Wiltshire
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Melksham and Devizes
List of places UK England Wiltshire 51°20′38″N 2°16′44″W / 51.344°N 2.279°W / 51.344; -2.279

Turleigh is a hamlet in the civil parish of Winsley in Wiltshire, England. It lies on a hillside overlooking the Avon valley, about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of Winsley village and west of Bradford on Avon. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the railway between Bath and Bradford on Avon run through the valley below.

In the Middle Ages, Turleigh formed part of the manor of Bradford, held by Shaftesbury Abbey. Farming was the main occupation until the 18th century. The hamlet had a tannery, which closed in the early 1880s, as well as brewing and malting. Turleigh is a conservation area containing 21 listed buildings, including the Grade II* Turleigh Manor. Its springs feed the Turleigh Trows, a series of stone troughs formerly used for the water supply.

History

The name is first recorded in 1341 as Turlinge, followed by Torlyng (1362), Turlin (1699) and Turlyn (1748). It probably derives from the Old English þyrelung, meaning 'piercing through', in reference to the deep valley. Later forms included Turley and Turly. The present spelling dates from the late 19th century perhaps to match other -leigh names in the district.

Turleigh lies in the civil parish of Winsley, which until 1894 was a tithing of the ancient parish of Bradford. In the Middle Ages, the area formed part of the manor of Bradford, held by Shaftesbury Abbey from 1001 until the abbey was dissolved in 1539. The abbey also held the rectory of Bradford, whose glebe made up much of the land. After the Dissolution, part of the manor was sold to John Kent of Winsley. This gave rise to the reputed manor of Winsley-cum-Turleigh, whose main holding in the hamlet was the demesne land of Turleigh Farm. In 1700, the estate was held by Thomas Kent and comprised five houses and about 900 acres in Winsley, Turleigh, Haugh and Bradford. In 1731, the Bradford clothier John Thresher transferred it to William and Richard Long.

Farming was the main source of work until the 18th century. Several houses date from the 16th and 17th centuries, and others were built in the 18th century, including Stoneleigh. Many of the smaller houses were occupied by quarrymen, stonemasons and tanners. The owners of Turleigh Manor and Turleigh House together held more than half the land around the village until the end of the 19th century.

A tannery operated at Turleigh for several centuries. From the early 17th century, about 50 people worked at the tannery and its mill, which dates from the 16th century and was used to grind bark for tanning. The Druce family ran the tannery in the early 17th century, and the Byfield family from 1820. Sale particulars from 1857 stated that the mill had been used as a tan-yard for over a century. Brewing and malting were also carried on from the 18th century. The mill and tannery closed in the early 1880s.

In 1903, a large estate that included the present Turleigh House, the tannery buildings and The Lyns was sold at auction. In 1920, Major Scarth gave the Turleigh Club to the village in trust, providing a club, reading room and garden. It remained in use until 1979. Mains water arrived in the 1930s, followed by gas. Early in the Second World War, piped sewerage replaced privies and septic tanks. The Prince of Wales public house, at No. 265 Turleigh Down, closed in 1952. The bakery closed in 1957, followed by the village shop and off-licence in 1968 and the post office in 1970.

Landmarks

The whole hamlet lies within the Turleigh Conservation Area, designated in 1973, which contains 21 listed buildings. Turleigh Manor is Grade II* listed and the others are Grade II.

Turleigh Manor, for many years known as Turleigh House, stands on a site occupied by a house since at least 1548. John Curll, a clothier from Freshford, built the present house in the late 17th or early 18th century on land that had belonged to the medieval parsonage of Bradford. The parsonage lands were held by the Dean and Chapter of Bristol Cathedral from 1542 to 1861, and the house was one of their three copyhold tenancies, held by the Dicke family of clothiers from 1615 to 1670 and then by Curll until 1707. From 1775 the tenant was Richard Atwood, a clothier and close friend of Edmund Burke, who visited him there. Atwood died in 1808.

Atwood's widow, Ann, who died in 1842, had a chapel built above the coach house. Licensed as a dissenters' meeting house in 1819, it was described as a Baptist chapel by 1827 and closed in 1885. The chapel and the early 18th-century stable block of Turleigh Manor are listed together at Grade II.

A different house, now known as Turleigh House, was associated with the tannery from the mid-18th century. Known in the 19th century as Brooklands and later as Turleigh Mill, it was renamed Turleigh House in 1976. The name Turleigh Mill then passed to the old mill building just below it, which was converted into a house.

The Lyns, on the corner of Green Lane, is thought to be the oldest house in Turleigh and probably began as a 15th-century hall house with a cross wing. Turleigh Farmhouse dates from the 16th or 17th century; its thatched roof and much of its upper floor were later destroyed by fire.

Geography

Turleigh lies on the hillside between Winsley village and the bottom of the Avon valley, about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of Winsley, from which it is separated by a steep, wooded slope; Bradford on Avon lies to the east. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs north and east of the river through the valley below Turleigh. The railway between Bradford on Avon and Bath follows the river and canal, crossing both in the southern part of the parish.

Turleigh lies on Jurassic Great Oolite limestone, the source of Bath stone. The road from Winsley descends through a gorge cut into the rock, past a former quarry. There are many springs where the limestone meets a bed of clay. The strongest spring supplies the Turleigh Trows, a series of seven roughly sculpted stone troughs fed by a conduit from higher up the hill. The water remains at a constant 52 °F (11 °C) throughout the year. Until it was piped to public taps and houses, the spring provided drinking water for residents and livestock. The civil parish of Winsley had a population of 1,920 at the 2011 census; no separate figure is published for Turleigh.

Notable people

• John Daniel Heal, mayor of Brisbane, Queensland, was born at Turleigh in 1825.^{[citation needed]}
• Moma Clarke (1869–1958), journalist, lived in Turleigh.^{[citation needed]}
• Sir Richard Atwood Glass (1820–1873), whose company made half of the first transatlantic telegraph cable, was born in Turleigh.

Notes

References