OS grid reference SO670046 Country England Police Gloucestershire Shire county Gloucestershire UK parliament constituency Forest of Dean | Region South West Sovereign state United Kingdom Fire Gloucestershire District Forest of Dean District | |
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Purton is a hamlet on the west bank of the River Severn, in the civil parish of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It lies opposite the village of Purton near Berkeley on the east bank of the river.
Map of Purton, Lydney, Blakeney, UK
The name of the place derives from the Old English pirige tun, meaning "pear orchard". It was mentioned in the Domesday Book.
Purton was a small port, and there was a ferry across the river, Purton Passage, to the other Purton by 1282. In the late 18th and early 19th century, there was also a ford across the river here. In 1325 the rights to the passage belonged to the lord of Purton manor. In 1574 a three-quarter share in the passage was sold by Thomas Morgan to Sir William Winter. The Winter family acquired the other quarter share and leased the passage, as well as Purton Manor, to the Donning family before 1607. From 1726 onwards Martin Inman and his family continued as lessees for the next 150 years, operated the passage with a number of boats and kept the Passage House Inn.
When a large rock was removed from the river bed, on the Berkeley side, in 1740, the river shifted its channel; as a result only a single crossing could be made each day and trade diminished. The river had returned to its old channel ten years later, but the passage was damaged by a further shift in 1761. In the late 18th century and the early 19th the river was often forded at Purton, but some people, misjudging the tide times, were drowned. The ferry continued in use until 1879, when it was replaced by the Severn Railway Bridge.
Purton Manor, which stands on a cliff overlooking the Severn, dates back to the 16th century. The manor farmhouse of a Grade II* listed building.