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Filton
Filton.church.arp.750pix.jpg
St Peter's Church, Filton
Filton is located in Gloucestershire
Filton
Filton
Population 10,607 (parish, 2011)
OS grid reference ST603792
Civil parish
  • Filton
Unitary authority
Shire county
Ceremonial county
  • Gloucestershire
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BRISTOL
Postcode district BS7, BS34
Dialling code 0117/01454
Police Gloucestershire
Fire Gloucestershire
Ambulance Great Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK Parliament
  • Filton and Bradley Stoke
Website Town Council
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire
51°30′36″N 2°34′26″W / 51.510°N 2.574°W / 51.510; -2.574

Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, 5.5 miles (9 km) north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church dates back to the 12th century and is designated a Grade II listed building.

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 include several playing fields, a golf course and the former Filton Airport (closed in 2012).

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.

History

SGS Filton Campus
South Gloucestershire and Stroud College
Filton.church.arp.750pix
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.

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

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

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).

Climate data for Filton 73 m amsl (2004-present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13.4
(56.1)
16.2
(61.2)
21.5
(70.7)
25.3
(77.5)
27.7
(81.9)
30.8
(87.4)
33.8
(92.8)
31.2
(88.2)
27.9
(82.2)
27.6
(81.7)
17.6
(63.7)
13.6
(56.5)
33.8
(92.8)
Average high °C (°F) 7.8
(46.0)
7.9
(46.2)
10.5
(50.9)
13.3
(55.9)
16.6
(61.9)
19.6
(67.3)
21.5
(70.7)
21.2
(70.2)
18.6
(65.5)
14.5
(58.1)
10.6
(51.1)
8
(46)
14.2
(57.5)
Average low °C (°F) 2.2
(36.0)
1.9
(35.4)
3.7
(38.7)
5
(41)
8.1
(46.6)
11.1
(52.0)
13.2
(55.8)
13
(55)
10.8
(51.4)
8.1
(46.6)
4.8
(40.6)
2.5
(36.5)
7.0
(44.6)
Record low °C (°F) −6.6
(20.1)
−6.1
(21.0)
−4.3
(24.3)
−2.5
(27.5)
2.7
(36.9)
5.3
(41.5)
8.2
(46.8)
7.2
(45.0)
4.3
(39.7)
−1.8
(28.8)
−5.9
(21.4)
−6.7
(19.9)
−6.7
(19.9)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 82.3
(3.24)
53.8
(2.12)
58.6
(2.31)
49.3
(1.94)
62.3
(2.45)
55.2
(2.17)
54.6
(2.15)
64.2
(2.53)
68
(2.7)
85.4
(3.36)
82.6
(3.25)
85.9
(3.38)
802.2
(31.6)
Average rainy days (≥ 1 mm) 12.5 9.7 10.8 9.4 10.1 8.6 9.1 9.6 8.9 12.1 12.8 12.4 126
Mean monthly sunshine hours 58.5 74.8 112.7 170.8 199.6 214.7 217.7 201.8 149.9 104.8 69.1 52.7 1,627.1
Source 1: Filton Weather Extremes
Source 2: Filton Climate Info


Sport

  • The Bristol Academy of Sport is based at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. Bristol City W.F.C. are based at the Stoke Gifford Stadium on site.
  • Filton Cycling Speedway Club was formed in January 2006. The club uses a cycle track built by Filton Town Council and recognised to be one of the best in the country, with its setting in Elm Park.
  • St Vallier FC (named after its French twin) is a youth football team.
  • Filton Golf Club has an 18-hole course.
  • There is also a table tennis club.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Filton para niños

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