Filton

Filton
Filton  Filton shown within Gloucestershire
Population	10,607 [1]
OS grid reference	ST6078
Unitary authority	South Gloucestershire
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BRISTOL
Postcode district	BS34
Dialling code	0117
	01454
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Filton and Bradley Stoke
List of places UK England Gloucestershire

Coordinates: 51°31′45″N 2°34′09″W / 51.5293°N 2.5692°W / 51.5293; -2.5692

Filton is a suburban town in South Gloucestershire north of the City of Bristol, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) from the city centre. Filton lies in Royal Mails postcode areas of BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building.^[2][3][4] Further north are the towns of Patchway and Bradley Stoke.

The name of the town comes from the Old English feleþe (hay), and tūn (farm, field). The name dates back to at least 1187.

Filton has large areas of open space, which includes several playing fields, a golf course, plus a large private airfield (closed runway, see Filton Airfield)

Connections, districts and facilities

Filton can be reached from Junction 1 of the M32 motorway, or from Junction 16 of the M5 motorway. The town has a railway station, Filton Abbey Wood.

Districts within the town include East Filton, Filton Park and Northville. East Filton, which has grown up east of the Bristol-South Wales railway line and is mostly in the neighbouring civil parish of Stoke Gifford, contains the offices of the Ministry of Defence Defence Procurement Agency, plus a shopping park. Filton Park is a suburb of Bristol and lies directly on the city border, sandwiched between the A38 trunk road and Southmead Road. Filton itself lies to the north and east of Filton Park. Monks Park is to the south. Housing in Filton Park is mainly privately owned, semi-detached and 1930s built. Pre-World War I properties in the district tend to be quite large, with generous gardens. Extensive playing fields border the north-western side of Southmead Road. The golf links, on the hillside beyond, is owned by Filton Golf Club. The area has a primary school and a playgroup. Filton Park is regarded as a desirable place to live since it is close to major centres of employment such as BAE Systems, and the Ministry of Defence at Abbey Wood.

Filton's educational facilities include South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, Abbeywood Community School and several primary schools. The University of the West of England is at nearby Frenchay.

Filton has two main shopping areas – the Shield Centre (on the site of the former Shield Laundry) and Abbey Wood Retail Park, as well as other shops. To the east of the town there is a small area of woodland known as Splatt's Abbey Wood.

Industry

Aircraft hangars on Filton Airfield. The Bristol Brabazon, Bristol Britannia and Concorde aircraft were constructed here.

Filton has an aerospace connection dating back to the establishment of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Aerospace companies in Filton include BAE Systems, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and MBDA, all located around Filton Aerodrome. On 26 November 2003 Concorde 216 (G-BOAF)^[5] made the final flight of a Concorde, returning to Filton to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of a projected air museum.^[6] This museum will include the existing Bristol Aero Collection which was kept at Kemble Airport, 33 miles (53 km) from Filton, until May 2012. This collection includes helicopters and missiles built at Filton. Other organisations include the MOD, Viridor, Hewlett Packard and the Royal Mail. Filton is also home to the regional blood processing facility, NHS Blood and Transplant Filton.^[7]

Bristol Cars was a manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars, based in Filton. Bristol Cars had neither distributors nor dealers and dealt directly with customers; they had a showroom in Kensington in London. They claimed to be the last wholly British-owned luxury car builder. The company went into administration on 3 March 2011.^[8]

Administration

Part of the Ministry of Defence Defence Equipment and Support) building at Abbey Wood, Filton. The site employs over 4000 people, managing procurement contracts for the Navy, the Army and the Air Force

National

Filton is represented in the House of Commons by Jack Lopresti, Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Filton and Bradley Stoke.

County

An electoral ward with the same name exists. The area and population are identical to those of the parish.

Filton was in Gloucestershire until 1974 when it became part of the newly formed county of Avon. In 1996 the Avon authority was abolished and the area became part of the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire and rejoined the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire.

Filton Town Council

Filton Town Council is a parish council made up of thirteen councillors and manages the Council precept on behalf of Filton taxpayers.

History

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

The parish church of Saint Peter, Filton

For history related to aeroplanes and flying, see Bristol Filton Airport#History.

Thousands of mites, farthings and other coins of the Roman emperors, Domitian, Constantine and Constans were found in a bank by some boys in 1880. Many of the coins were in excellent condition.^[9]

At the dawn of the 20th century, Filton was a small village, still detached from the city of Bristol to the south. Farming was the principal occupation. However, there was a large factory-like laundry in the village, opposite Filton House, owned by Samuel Shield. The Bristol to South Wales railway line passed through the village. There was a small station near the site of the current Abbey Wood Station. A much larger railway station, known as Filton Junction, opened in 1910, after the alternate rail route from Bristol to London was finished. In 1907 the northern terminus for Bristol Tramways was moved out from Horfield to Filton. Tram production in the tramway sheds commenced in 1908. The manufacture of aeroplanes started in the Bristol Tramway sheds in 1910. Aero-engine production started in 1920.

Between the wars Filton expanded rapidly, to become a suburb of Bristol. Initially development (semi-detached housing) was concentrated on the western side of the A38, in an area known as Filton Park. In the 30's, the area on the eastern side of the A38 started to be developed. Eventually, Filton became part of the Bristol conurbation, although it remained, as it does now, outside the city boundary. During the 20's and 30s, two infant/primary schools and one secondary school were built in Filton to accommodate the growing number of school-age children in the area. Many of these children were evacuated when World War II started in 1939, but returned later, during the Phoney War. Filton High School, originally a grammar school, but later a comprehensive, started to take pupils in 1960.

In the late 1940s The main runway of Filton Aerodrome was greatly extended for the Bristol Brabazon project. Charlton village was demolished and the pre-war Filton bypass was severed. In the early 1960s, a new bypass was constructed, roughly parallel to the old one, and this later became part of the M5 motorway.

Sandwiched between roads, factories, railway lines and the aerodrome, Filton expanded little after WWII. However, from the late 1970s a trading estate slowly developed on the eastern side of the Bristol/South Wales railway line in what is now known as East Filton. Later, the Ministry of Defence set up a large office complex, known as Abbey Wood, in the same area. During the mid-1970s the A38 trunk road was upgraded to a dual carriageway. Station Road, a country lane in the early part of the 20th century, was also widened to become a dual carriageway and form part of the Avon Ring Road. In 1973 the Rolls-Royce car division was separated as Rolls-Royce Motors. Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited (the engine division) was privatised in 1987 as Rolls-Royce plc.

Filton is also home to the Filton Concert Brass. The band, formed 60 years ago, is currently Bristol's highest-placed brass band, having been promoted to the First Section of the West Region at the 2010 Regional Finals in Torquay. This places them above other Bristol bands such as Bristol East and Kingswood, and City of Bristol. For the past few years, the band has been conducted in contests by Bryn James. The band's oldest serving member, Jim Scott, was a founding member of the band and, until this year, had played in the regional finals every year!

Twin towns

• St Vallier-sur-Rhône, France
• Witzenhausen, Germany

Sport

• The Bristol Academy of Sport is based at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.
• Filton Cycling Speedway Club was formed in January 2006.^[10] The club uses a cycle track built by the Filton Town Council and recognised to be one of the best in the country, particularly with its setting in Elm Park. The club has a web site www.filtoncsc.co.uk The *St Vallier FC (named after its French twin) is a youth football team.^[11]
• Filton Golf Club has an 18-hole course.^[12]
• There is also a table tennis club.^[13]

Climate

Filton has a temperate maritime climate, with comfortable, mostly dry summers and cold, mostly wet winters. The temperature is usually between at or below freezing (0 °C (32 °F)) on 39.4 days per year and 23.1 °C (73.6 °F), but between 2005 and 2014, the temperature ranged from −6.7 °C (19.9 °F) to 33.8 °C (92.8 °F).

External links

• Filton Sector Avon and Somerset Constabulary.
• Filton Weather Filton weather

References