Easton in Gordano

History

In early records Easton in Gordano was known as Estone but for many centuries the village has also been known as St. George. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1085. The name Gordano comes from Old English and is descriptive of the triangular shape of the whole valley from Clevedon to Portishead, being the ablative singular of the Latinised form of Gorden meaning muddy valley.

The parish of Easton in Gordano was part of the Portbury Hundred.

After the Second World War a housing development grew up in the Lodway area and there are many residential homes there now.

Governance

The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.

The parish falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. It provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area including local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection, recycling, cemeteries, crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. It is also responsible for education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning, although fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Great Western Ambulance Service.

North Somerset's area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the Woodspring district of the county of Avon. Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Long Ashton Rural District.

An electoral ward exists with the same name. The ward stretches from the Royal Portbury Dock through Easton-in-Gordano to Long Ashton. The total population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 2,655.

The parish is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the Woodspring county constituency which is to become North Somerset at next general election. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is also part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Geography

It is situated at the north-eastern end of the Gordano Valley, on the south bank of the Avon, opposite Shirehampton, adjacent to the village of Pill and commands an extensive view over the Bristol Channel. South Wales and Royal Portbury Dock are also clearly visible. Part of the Dock is within the parish.

St George's Flower Bank is a 1.48 hectares (3.7 acres) local nature reserve alongside a main road.

Landmarks

There are two pubs — the Kings Arms and the Rudgleigh Inn. The Rudgleigh Inn is located on the main A369 Portishead to Bristol Road. The Kings Arms is located in the village on St. Georges Hill. It is also home to three local skittles teams and as such there is a skittle alley as an annex to the pub.

Religious sites

The village church is dedicated to St. George, and was rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, in 1872. The registers date from 1559. The date of the first Church on this site is unknown, but records exist dating back to 1239. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.

Sport

There is a local cricket club, and a football club called "St. George Easton in Gordano AFC" which was founded in 1917. Easton-in-Gordano is also home to the thriving judo club, Tora Judo Kai, which meets in the St John Ambulance Hall.

Doctors

There is a doctors' surgery on the Pill/Easton in Gordano Boundary at Lodway Close.

Transport

Easton in Gordano is well served by roads given the nearby M5 and A369 which links to Bristol and Portishead.

Also a bus route from Portishead to Bristol City Centre runs through the village.

Culture

The local Clevedon Mercury and Portishead Times newspapers are delivered to residents free of charge usually by Saturday morning.

The village is celebrated in the song of the same name, by The Wurzels.

Notable residents

Easton in Gordano is the birthplace of the explorer Bertram Thomas.