Freshford
Freshford maps (2 available)
Map of Avon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Freshford books (5 available)
Weston-super-Mare Town Walk Guide
Paperback
Did You Know? Bath - A Miscellany
Hardback
Weston-super-Mare Photographic Memories
Paperback
Freshford memories
Read and share memories of Freshford and Avon inspired by Frith photos
childhood memories
I moved to Freshford with my family when I was 12 years old and lived at The Inn for 5 years before moving away. We did not have the wall on the end of the building that you see in the foreground. By then a large car park had been built and that was the way through. The tree opposite was still there but the farmhouse next to it was empty. We were flooded some time after moving there when the river overflowed. This was before the changes were made to the river flow at Bath. We used to swim in the river on hot days. You can see the bridge nearby in one of the other photos. There used ...read more here
Contributed by rosemary leader
Avon memories
childhood memories
I moved to Freshford with my family when I was 12 years old and lived at The Inn for 5 years before moving away. We did not have the wall on the end of the building that you see in the foreground. By then a large car park had been built and that was the way through. The tree opposite was still there but the farmhouse next to it was empty. We were flooded some time after moving there when the river overflowed. This was before the changes were made to the river flow at Bath. We used to swim in the river on hot days. You can see the bridge nearby in one of the other photos. There used ...read more here
A memory of Freshford contributed by rosemary leader
Childhood Days
This picture of Combe Road brings back many memories, looking straight ahead and slightly to the right is Summer Lane where I attended infant school, the shop on the left was a tobacconist and sweet shop at this time.
On the right of the picture would be the King William pub, adjacent to the shop was a small lane that lead to the local garden allotments, my father had one of these.
Combe Down was, and still is a lovely village, albeit too many cars these days.
Summer Lane leads on to Monkton Combe another lovely old village with its renowned school, and nestling in a beautiful valley.
A memory of Combe Down contributed by Frank Sumsion
Southgate Hotel
My Great Great Grandparents were William and Elizabeth Pratt.
In the 1880s William and his family had lived and worked on the Longleat Estate, William was the Head Gardener at that time.
In 1891 they moved to Bath, and sadly William died there in 1892, and on his death certificate it stated that he died at 24 Southgate Street.
Further sadness followed when son Arthur Reginald also died, he was only 14.
Thanks to the Bath Post Office Directories of 1895 I was able to establish that the address was the Southgate Hotel and the Proprietor is stated as William's wife Elizabeth.
The Southgate Hotel can be seen on photo ref 52994 on the right hand side looking up Southgate Street, ...read more here
A memory of Bath contributed by Clive Pratt
Extracts From Freshford & Avon books
Now renamed The Abbey Hotel, this terrace of houses became an hotel in 1879. It is part of the elder Wood’s Royal Forum, with its long, formal composition fronting North Parade. In the foreground is the then newly-laid-out area replacing the Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, now all paved and occupied by the water fountain of 1839 relocated from Bath Street.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".
Towards the edge of the village are former Rural District Council houses, now with lusher gardens, and opposite is a former Nonconformist chapel dated 1898. The tour of some villages around Bath is now finished, and you can head back northwards to the city.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".
This view looks in the opposite direction, east past the Manor House on the left with cottages and the former Ebenezer United Methodist Chapel of 1869 beside the raised and railinged pavement. On the right is St Julian’s Primary School, built in 1852 as the Wellow National School in the then usual Gothic style.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".
Climbing out of Limpley Stoke, head west through Hinton Charterhouse with its fascinating remains of the 13th-century Carthusian priory, Hinton Priory, to the village of Wellow, four miles south of Bath. This view looks west along the High Street past the Manor House on the right, a good 17th-century house with a tall gabled three-storey chamber wing.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".
On the next ‘terrace’ up is Middle Limpley Stoke, its narrow winding lane flanked by dry stone and mortared walls. The right hand cottages are dated 1885, and the village hall beyond was built in 1845.
An extract from from"Bath Photographic Memories".