The History of Filton

The History of Filton

Filton is a suburban town in South Gloucestershire north of the City of Bristol, approximately 5 miles from the city centre. Filton lies in Royal Mails postcode areas of BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building. Close by are the towns of Patchway and Bradley Stoke.

Filton can be reached from Junction 1 of the M32 motorway, or from Junction 16 of the M5 motorway. Filton can also be reached by railway, from its railway station, Filton Abbey Wood.

Filton has two large shopping areas - the Shield Centre and Abbey Wood Retail Park.

Filton has an airport connection since the early days of the Bristol Airplane Company. Airplane companies in Filton include BAE Systems, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and MBDA factories, all located near Filton airdrome. The Bristol-Filton airport is a major connection to the nearby areas by air. Filton is also a resting place of Concorde in the air museum.

Filton has a number educational venues which include South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, Abbeywood Community School and several primary schools. The University of the West of England is also nearby.

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Filton like this:

FILTON, or Fylton, a parish in Clifton district, Gloucester; on the Bristol and South Wales Union railway, 5 miles N of Bristol. It has a station on the railway, and a post office under Bristol. Acres, 1, 030. Real property, £2, 631. Pop., 317. Houses, 58. The property is divided among a few.
The manor belonged to the Fyltons. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £242.* Patron, R. Poulden, Esq. The church, with the exception of the tower, was recently rebuilt; and the tower contains a stone coffin, which was discovered at the re-building. Charities, £5.

Samuel Shield's Laundry

The image shown above was taken in the 1930s, it was located around the buildings of Samuel Shield's Laundry which became the home of Bristol Cars when the laundry closed around 1950. The road at the front of the buildings is the A38. 

There was once a large factory-like laundry in the village, opposite Filton House, owned by Samuel Shield. American uniforms during the war were cleaned by the company.

The company had a large fleet of delivery vehicles based at the Filton Laundry. This was a family business for many generations. Herbert Shield was the last proprietor. Shields Laundry which later became Filton Technical College.

A piece of artwork commissioned to commemorate the former site of an old laundry has been unveiled to the public at an official ceremony in Filton.

Artist Rodney Harris has created a row of white, glazed brick washing machines on the side wall of the Snow and Rock retail store which has since been built at the former laundry site.

South Gloucestershire Council commissioned the artwork which was officially unveiled on Wednesday 23 April by Cllr Brian Free guard, Vice Chairman of South Gloucestershire Council. A ceremony was held at Filton Library in the Shield Retail Centre at 11am.

Rodney had help with his design from school children at Shield Road Primary School, who contributed ideas during workshop sessions lead by the artist.

Using information and images about the site, supplied by Filton History Group, pupils updated the images of the old fashioned laundry where washing was carried out by hand with their own ideas of how washing is done today.

Mr Harris said: "The work is intended to be a contemporary interpretation through public art of the memory of the laundry which once stood on the site, and was inspired by working with the children of Shield Road Primary School."

The Filton laundry was also known as the Shield laundry because of its namesake, Samuel Shield, who opened the business with his wife Mary in 1869. Back then they used water from a nearby well to wash the clothes.

Mrs Audrey Tanner is the granddaughter of Herbert Shield, Samuel and Mary’s son, who was a director of the laundry.

Audrey said: “It's a delightful and interesting way to remember the laundry and my family which played such an important part in the history of Filton.”

The laundry eventually changed premises in the 1920s, but it remained a landmark building (see attached picture) which was eventually knocked down in the 1990s and now houses the Shield Centre, just off the A38.

The council’s arts development team worked with Eagle One who developed the Shield Centre to encourage developers to celebrate the local distinctiveness of the district and enhance the visual environment for residents and visitors alike.

St. Peter's Church, Filton

Whilst it is possible to find mention of Filton from 1156 onwards, reference to a church here is more obscure.   The Diocese of Worcester records appear to suggest a church at Filton, Bristol in 1254.  The architectural style of the tower indicates that it was probably built at the end of the thirteenth century.  It is possible that the tower was added to an earlier church.  By 1844 the medieval church was both in need of repair and considered too small for the growing population of Filton and so it was rebuilt to the design of John Hicks with the exception of the tower and a corner of the chancel.  Holy Communion was celebrated once each month and the average attendance was 60 from a population of 245.  The rebuilding cost £760, of which the parish contributed £200, subscriptions amounted to £221 and the Rector, James Bedford Poulden gave £339.

Sir George White (1854 - 1916) was an entrepreneur, tramway pioneer, stockbroker, industrialist and philanthropist.  He introduced the first electric trams to Bristol in 1895 and to London in 1901.  He set up a bus depot in Filton which was later used for bus chassis manufacture.  He also set up the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company and when city councils were required to take over privately owned tramway companies in 1914, he replaced the manufacture of buses by the manufacture of aeroplanes.  Such aircraft as the Bristol Boxkite, Blenheim, Brabazon, Brittania and of course Concorde came from these factories.  Manufacture is still carried out today with BAE Systems, Airbus and Rolls-Royce plc being major employers.  Many employees lived and live in Filton giving it a huge expansion in population from less than 80 in 1700, 113 in 1800, 464 in 1900 and nearly 10,000 today.

 The main enlargement of the church took place in 1960/61 when the north wall of the 1844 church was taken out to permit the development of a new north facing Altar, Chancel and Nave.  The tower was strengthened at this time to carry a ring of six bells and a needle spire erected.  The enlarged church as seen today was consecrated on Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 25th March 1961.

Filton College

Although 

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College was established in 2012, Filton College  dates back to the 1960s, when it was founded as Filton Technical College. By 1965 the college had over 2000 students, many of whom were part-time. In 1990 the college officially changed its name to Filton College. The next major development for the college was in 2005 when the WISE Campus (West of England Institute of Specialised Education) was opened, at a cost of £17.5 million. It is dedicated to performing arts, fine art and sport.

Stroud College started in the School of Art in 1860. This was later renamed The Technical College, and was located in various buildings in Stroud. Only in the 1950s, after the town council was gifted Stratford Park, did the college relocate to the present campus on Stratford Road. The Art Department remained for many years in the Art School in Stroud. The Gloucestershire College of Art was created from the merger of the Stroud School of Art and the Cheltenham College of Art in 1959.

SGS Filton

The Filton campus of the college is located in Filton Avenue, Filton, Bristol. A-level Students attend classes at the main A-level Block (A-Block), adjacent to the main campus or in classrooms within the main site. At the A-level Block there is a small café selling hot drinks and a few hot meals. BTEC/National Diploma students attend classes in the main block or in the Arts block (F-Block). Media/Photography Students attend classes in F-Block, which is across the car park from the main site or at WISE. The campus has a refectory where hot food is served, a small sweet shop, and a Student Centre. CIC painted a mural in the canteen of the Filton campus, where Inkie and Felix Braun were students.
It has a workshop area known as Bristol Construction Academy which takes place in "R-Block". It does a variety of trades, including plumbing, brick laying, gas and engineering.

SGS WISE

The WISE (West of England Institute of Specialist Education) campus is located in New Road, Stoke Gifford adjacent to Abbeywood Community School opened in 2005 at a cost of £17.5 million. It is the main site for sports, performing and visual arts courses at the college. WISE is home to The Bristol Institute of Performing Arts (BIPA), Bristol School of Art and Bristol Academy of Sport.
The Academy of sport has partnerships with Bristol Flyers basketball team, Bristol Rovers, Bristol Rugby and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, and the women's football team, Bristol Academy W.F.C., plays at the highest level in England, the FA WSL.
The Bristol Institute of Performing Arts (BIPA) offers a selection of 2-3 years University level courses in the performing and production arts. Offering the atmosphere of a drama school combined with the educational opportunities of a higher education college:

• Ba/FdA Musical Theatre
• Ba/FdA Drama and Performance
• FdA Dance
• HND Production Arts
• FdA Digital Media Production
• BA Specialist Make-Up Design
• FdA MediaSpecial Effects Theatrical Make-up Design.

BIPA's sate-of-the-art facilities include 9 rehearsal studios, TV studio, Mac suits, Workshop, Costume/Prop store, Learning Research Centre, Gym, Cafe and The Olympus Theatre and Studio 22 theatre which is host to over 40 productions a year.

The image above was when the college was Rolls Royce Technical College.