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Tockington.

Submitted by John Hervey Mason - 5th October 2000

I am indebted for much of the following information to "A Brief History of Olveston Parish", published by the Olveston Parish Historical Society in 1995.

Situated about 12 miles north west of the centre of Bristol, Tockington lies between Catherine Hill and Fern Hill in the Vale of Severn, and is three miles from the M4/M5 interchange at Almondsbury. It has been part of the parish of Olveston since at least 1742.

Mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Tockintone", the name has since passed through Tokinton, Thokinton, Toketon, to Tockington. Most of the names hereabouts are Anglo-Saxon in origin, Tockington being thought to be derived from "Tocca’s Tun". Tocca was a little known Saxon chieftain who based his Tun (Town) in this fertile valley, close to the edge of the Severn marshes. The Domesday Book entry reads as follows; "Wulfgar, a thane of King Edward’s, held Tockintone. There were 8 hides. 5 ploughs in lordship; 20 villagers, 12 small holders and 10 slaves with 20 ploughs. This manor did not pay revenue before 1066 but its owner lived off it. Earl William held it in lordship. The reeve added 1 plough and a mill 8d. (Now it pays £24 of white money at 20 (pence) to the ora [ounce]."

Following the Norman conquest, the Manor of Tockington was held by the Poyntz family (who had come over with William I) until 1609. Since then it has passed through several hands and has been rebuilt on several occasions in several different locations. The present house was built sometime in the 16^th century and is now a private school.

The Domesday Book recorded 66 inhabitants in Olveston & Tockington villages at the end of the 11^th century. There is no record of population changes until 1711, when the two villages and surrounding land are recorded as having 240 inhabitants. The population rose pretty rapidly over the next century and a half, reaching 1,740 in 1871, and then fell to 1,240 in 1951. In the 1991 census, it stood at 2,045.

The census returns of 1742 and 1851 afford snapshots of the population of the parish

and the occupation of the inhabitants in the mid 18^th and 19^th centuries. In 1742 there were 117 houses, in 1851 there were 300 houses and at the present day probably over 700. The 1742 census was an unofficial one conducted by the then vicar. In general, only the names of heads of households are given and the style is racy. In the 1851 census, about 50 heads of households are shown as farmers (including three bailiffs and a yeoman). Three of these were women. The farms ranged from 7 to 378 acres. Nearly 100 men are listed as "Agricultural Labourers" as no doubt also were members of their families. Specifically mentioned are a shepherd, a game keeper and a colt breaker. Over 150 men are shown as (general) labourers and 85 people were in domestic service. (In 1742 servants were numerically the largest class of employed people). The 1851 return shows more than 60 households with domestic servants living in and, in a few cases, the servants outnumbered the rest of the household. Other occupations represented were gardeners, carpenters, saddlers, masons, sawyers, blacksmiths, a bricklayer, a glazier, a haulier, painters, tilers and plasterers. There were shoemakers (including those described as cordwainers), a coachman, a cooper, a lime burner and a miner. There was a solicitor, a timber dealer, a man described as "keeping market", a dentist, three doctors, an ensign in the Wiltshire Regiment, a lieutenant of the Royal Wiltshire Militia and three outpensioners of Chelsea Hospital. There were dressmakers, a seamstress and a frockmaker, a bonnet maker and a straw bonnet maker, a pillow lace maker and "washwomen" and laundresses. There was also a sprinkling of landed proprietors and other apparently well to do persons.

A feature very noticeable to strangers are the rhines (pronounced reens) which drain the surface water in the area. It must be remembered that most of this area is in the Severn flood plain and much of it would have been marshland which flooded regularly. The drainage of marshland goes back to Saxon times and some of the rhines have Saxon names, such as Old Splott. Up to Tudor times land drainage was the responsibility of individual landowners. Commissions of sewers were set up by Henry VII to take on this work (the commissioners included some of the prominent landowners in the area). The commissions continued until 1930, when, in this area, the South Gloucestershire Internal Drainage Board was established. The rhines formerly had to be maintained by manual labour, but maintenance is now carried out mechanically. The two arterial rhines, Olveston Mill Rhine and Tockington Mill Rhine accept the water from the minor rhines such as Hephills, Olveston Drainage, New Holm, Gunhurn, Bunsham and Niatts. The bank built on the Severn shore to prevent tidal floods has been progressively raised. Recently new sluice gates have been built at Cake Pill Gout and Chestle Pill Gout to control the tidal waters.

Strange as it may seem now, waterways were once a method of transport within the parish, hence the several Port Farms in the area. There were two major waterways, one which connected with the Severn at Cake Pill Gout, with a port for Olveston at the Meads (near Mead Farm) and another which left the Severn at Chestle Pill Gout, passed through Lower Tockington and continued as far as Sheepcombe Farm. At Sheepcombe, goods were transhipped onto pack mules and taken up the old trackway (which still exists today) to Alveston.

Mains water was first introduced to the parish, courtesy of the West Gloucestershire Waterworks Company, in 1907. Initially the supply was to standpipes serving groups of dwellings, but by the early 1950’s most homes in the parish had their own piped water. Before the mains were put in, water came from pumps and wells. During the second world war a survey showed that there were 11 public and 44 private wells in the parish