Historical notes from Weston Village properties

Weston is the birthplace of St Alphege (or Aelphege), born in the parish in 953 and remembered to this day by the well ( reputed to cure eye troubles) named after him at the top of Lansdown Lane. After serving as the Prior of Glastonbury and Abbot of Bath, Alphege was nominated to Winchester where he served as counselor to King Ethelred and then appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1006. Seven years later he was one of the victims of the Danish invasion of the city.

Haviland Grove, Weston

Originally a separate village, Weston has become part of Bath as the city has grown, first through the development of Lower Weston in Victorian times and then by the incorporation of the village itself. Weston was divided into “Upper ” and “Lower” in 1879 and was completely taken into the city boundary after the Second World War.The village parish church is All Saints, originally founded in 1156 and partially rebuilt by John Pinch in 1832. The church has a window commemorating St Alphege (mentioned above). Dr William Oliver (of biscuit fame), whose family owned Weston Manor, is buried in the churchyard.

Greenacres, Upper Weston

In medieval times Weston Manor was mainly important for wool production from the sheep who grazed on the sleights (slopes) of Lansdown. Some of the wool would have been spun and woven in the village and a will of 1524 refers to two “stocks” or fulling mills but most of the fleeces went to Bath as the manor was owned by the Bath monastery up to the Dissolution in 1539 – Haddon (Portrait of Bath). 19th century industries in the village included two breweries in Trafalgar Road, a paper mill and a flour mill. The 1865 Bath Directory lists no fewer than 65 laundresses in Weston, whilst the 1876 Church Rambler records that “the Village was simply the wash house of Bath”.  

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