163-624: Portishead ( / ˈ p ɔːr t ɪ s h ɛ d / PORT -iss-hed ) is a town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary authority area, in the county of Somerset , England . With a population of 26,366 at the 2021 Census, the town is located on the Severn Estuary opposite Cardiff and Newport in Wales . The town is 8 miles (13 km) to the west of Bristol and 18 miles northeast of Weston-super-Mare . Portishead has
326-522: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
489-471: A biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest , for ornithological, entomological and stratigraphic interest, notification originally having taken place in 1971. Several sites in the valley are managed by the Avon Wildlife Trust as nature reserves. These include Weston Big Wood , Clapton Moor , Weston Moor and Walton Common . The name Gordano comes from Old English and
652-499: A temperate climate generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50 °F) with seasonal and diurnal variations, but the modifying effect of the sea restricts the range to less than that in most other parts of the United Kingdom. January is the coldest month, with mean minimum temperatures between 1 °C (34 °F) and 2 °C (36 °F). July and August are
815-683: A 1565 chronicle of the city of Bristol (then often spelt Bristow). The chronicle entry for 1496–97 says in full: This year, on St. John the Baptist's Day [24 June 1497], the land of America was found by the Merchants of Bristow in a shippe of Bristowe, called the Mathew; the which said ship departed from the port of Bristowe, the second day of May, and came home again the 6th of August next following. The John Day letter of winter 1497–98 provides considerable information about Cabot's second voyage. Day
978-584: A 350 ft (110 m) high stack. A second 350 ft (110 m) stack was added when the power station was expanded in 1948. Construction of Portishead "B" power station began in 1949; it became operational in 1955. The power stations became part of the nationalised electricity industry after 1949, and were operated in turn by the British Electricity Authority , the Central Electricity Authority and
1141-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
1304-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
1467-477: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
1630-462: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
1793-559: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
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#17327865830631956-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
2119-597: A decision of the City Council on 24 December 1494. After this Cabot appears to have sought support in Seville and Lisbon for an Atlantic expedition, before moving to London to seek funding and political support. He probably reached England in mid-1495. Cabot sought financing and royal patronage in England, in contrast to Columbus' expeditions being financed mainly by the Spanish crown. Cabot planned to depart to
2282-623: A final voyage to North America from Bristol. According to Peter Martyr 's 1516 account, this expedition explored a section of the coast from the Hudson Bay to about Chesapeake Bay . Following his return to England in 1509, Sebastian found that his sponsor, Henry VII, had died and that the new king, Henry VIII , had little interest in westward exploration. Cabot married Mattea around 1470, and had issue including three sons: Sebastian Cabot , one of John's sons, also became an explorer, later making at least one voyage to North America. In 1508 he
2445-574: A form of John typical to Venice. He continued to use this form in England, at least among Italians. He was referred to by his Italian banker in London as "Giovanni", in the only known contemporaneous document to use this version of his first name. His surname, derived from the Latin caput (= head), refers to a type of fish, and was perhaps a nickname which became hereditary. Cabot was born in Italy,
2608-504: A letter from Henry VII ordering the suspension of legal proceedings against Weston because it was the King's intent that Weston would shortly undertake a voyage for the King to the "new founde land". This was probably the voyage under Cabot's patent, making William Weston the first Englishman to lead an expedition to North America. In 2018, Condon and Jones published a further article that showed that Weston and Cabot had been jointly rewarded by
2771-572: A letter to the Spanish Crown in 1498 as "another Genoese like Columbus ". John Cabot's son, Sebastian , said his father originally came from Genoa . Cabot was made a citizen of the Republic of Venice in 1476; as citizenship required a minimum of fifteen years' residency in the city, he must have lived in Venice from at least 1461. Cabot may have been born slightly earlier than 1450, which
2934-484: A long history as a fishing port. As a royal manor it expanded rapidly during the early 19th century around the docks, with supporting transport infrastructure. A power station and chemical works were added in the 20th century, but the dock and industrial facilities have since closed and have been redeveloped into a marina and residential areas. Portishead was also the telephone control centre used by British Telecom (BT) for non-direct dialled calls to maritime vessels,
3097-414: A monopoly port, while Spain was in the process of doing the same thing with Seville . In the late 20th century, British historian Alwyn Ruddock found documentation that Cabot went first to London, where he received some financial backing from its Italian community. She suggested one patron was Father Giovanni Antonio de Carbonariis , an Augustinian friar who was also the deputy to Adriano Castellesi ,
3260-529: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
3423-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
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#17327865830633586-414: A new store, soon followed by Lidl , Travelodge and Subway . All of these new stores have now been built. More retailers moved into the area in 2015, such as Wetherspoons , Costa Coffee , Aldi (to occupy the former Co-op premises), Majestic Wine and Home Bargains . Court House Farmhouse dates from the medieval period but was remodelled in the 17th and 19th centuries. The Grade II* listed building
3749-778: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. John Cabot John Cabot ( Italian : Giovanni Caboto [dʒoˈvanni kaˈbɔːto] ; c. 1450 – c. 1499)
3912-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
4075-431: A population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of
4238-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
4401-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
4564-707: A reward of £100 for a voyage, or voyages, in "2 ships to the Isle of new finding," as Newfoundland was called. This amount was larger than any previously accounted for in royal support of the explorations. Around this time the Bristol-based explorers established a formal company, backed by Letters Patent, called the Company Adventurers to the New Found Land. This conducted further expeditions in 1503 and 1504. In 1508–09, Sebastian Cabot undertook
4727-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
4890-595: A royal audience, thereby confirming that the two explorers were involved by this stage. Condon and Jones also revealed that in 1500 the King rewarded Weston £30 for "his expenses about the finding of the new land". King Henry VII continued to support exploration from Bristol. The king granted Hugh Eliot, Robert Thorne, and his son a bounty of £20 in January 1502 for purchasing the Gabriel , a ship for an expedition voyage that summer. Later in 1502 or early 1503, he paid Eliot
5053-531: A service known as Portishead Radio . The headquarters of both Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Avon Fire and Rescue Service are in Portishead. Portishead Lifeboat Station is situated close to the marina. Run solely by local Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) volunteers, it serves the waters of the Severn estuary and inland waterways into the city of Bristol . The name Portishead derives from
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5216-545: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
5379-943: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
5542-521: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
5705-517: A two-storey house and then, in 1908, incorporated into a golf club house. The building has since been converted into a pub. A small, disused, black village pump remains in Portishead with a strapped down handle. The 9-metre (30 ft) high Portishead Point Lighthouse was built at Battery Point in March 1931 by the Chance Brothers of Smethwick . The lighthouse is currently maintained by
5868-474: Is 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east and Portishead is approximately 110 miles (180 km) west of London . On clear days, Wales can be seen across the Severn Estuary from the town. The Eastwood area has been designated as a local nature reserve . It consists broadleaf woodland on a coastal limestone ridge which leads to Battery Point which had a defensive gun position and Portishead Point Lighthouse
6031-454: Is a 9 hectares (22 acres) woodland containing Yew , Maple , Dogs mercury and beech . The Lake Grounds area, built in the early 20th century around an artificial lake, is the town's main park. Adjacent to the beach and esplanade is a 100-year-old artificial lake, and a cricket pitch surrounded by sloping lawns interspersed with specimen trees. One of the UK's few surviving outdoor swimming pools
6194-400: Is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in
6357-433: Is about 1,600 hours. Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of the annual precipitation falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. Average rainfall is around 800–900 mm (31–35 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have
6520-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
6683-501: Is because Day's letter implies that the coastline explored in 1497 lay between the latitudes of Bordeaux , France and Dursey Head in southern Ireland. The initial landfall seems to have taken place close to the southern latitude, with the expedition returning home after reaching the northern one. For the 500th-anniversary celebrations, the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom designated Cape Bonavista in Newfoundland as
Portishead, Somerset - Misplaced Pages Continue
6846-521: Is believed to have been familiar with the key figures of the expedition and thus able to report on it. If the lands Cabot had discovered lay west of the meridian laid down in the Treaty of Tordesillas , or if he intended to sail further west, Columbus would probably have believed that these voyages challenged his monopoly rights for westward exploration. In addition to these letters, Alwyn Ruddock claimed to have found another, written on 10 August 1497 by
7009-415: Is collaborating on an archaeological excavation at the community of Carbonear , Newfoundland, located at Conception Bay and believed the likely location for Carbonariis's possible mission settlement. The Archaeology of Historic Carbonear Project, carried out by Memorial University of Newfoundland , has conducted summer fieldwork each season since 2011. So far, it has found evidence of planter habitation since
7172-471: 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 . Denny Island is a small rocky island of 0.6 acres (0.2 ha), with scrub vegetation, approximately three miles north of Portishead. Its rocky southern foreshore marks the boundary between England and Wales , but the island itself
7335-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
7498-619: Is known about their effects. Of particular concern are the levels of cadmium and to a lesser degree residual pesticides and hydrocarbons . Portishead Pier to Black Nore SSSI is a 177-acre (72 ha) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1952. The Portishead Pier Section is made up of alluvial sandstones , the best exposure of Upper Carboniferous rocks in the Avonmouth Coalfield. The cliff and foreshore exposures around Portishead Point provide important exposures of geological structures formed during
7661-834: Is known today as Giovanni Caboto in Italian, Zuan Caboto in Venetian , Jean Cabot in French, and John Cabot in English. This resulted from a once-ubiquitous European tradition of nativizing names in local documents, something often adhered to by the actual persons themselves. (Many European names have root origins but diverged culturally, e.g. Charles rendered in German becomes Carl or Karl, and Jacques rendered in English becomes James.) Cabot signed his name as "Zuan Chabotto" in Venice , Zuan being
7824-585: Is not known whether Cabot died during the voyage, returned safely and died shortly after, or arrived in the Americas and chose to remain there, perhaps remaining with the Indigenous people in a similar manner to Étienne Brûlé . The historian Alwyn Ruddock worked on Cabot and his era for 35 years. She suggested that Cabot and his expedition successfully returned to England in the spring of 1500. She claimed their return followed an epic two-year exploration of
7987-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
8150-584: Is on the promontory. There is also geological interest in the fossils, folds and faults found in the area. The area immediately inland includes the Gordano Valley , which has been designated as a national nature reserve . The valley runs roughly north-east to south-west, between Carboniferous limestone ridges extending along the coastline between Clevedon and Portishead, and another ridge extending between Clevedon and Easton in Gordano . The area includes
8313-461: Is owned by Bristol City Council and in 2010 protests from local residents attempted to stop its sale. The red brick National Nautical School was built by Edward Gabriel in 1905, at a cost of £30,000. Previously it had been based on the training ship HMS Formidable and operated until 1983. It is now part of a private gated community known as Fedden Village. The remains of a former windmill, built in 1832 but disused since 1846, were rebuilt into
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#17327865830638476-408: Is provided by Avon and Somerset Constabulary . Avon Fire and Rescue Service has a fire station in Portishead staffed by retained firefighters, equipped with two water tenders each holding 1,800 litres. The South Western Ambulance Service has responsibility for the area. Portishead was an ancient parish . Until 1892 it was governed by its vestry . In 1892 the more built-up part of the parish
8639-700: Is reckoned administratively to Monmouthshire , Wales. The tidal rise and fall in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel can be as great as 49 ft (15 m), second only to Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada . There has been concern about pollution levels from industrial areas in Wales and at the eastern end of the Bristol Channel; however, this tends to be diluted by the Atlantic waters. There are measurable levels of chemical pollutants, but little
8802-462: Is situated on the shore next to the lake grounds and is open during the summer months. In 2009, the outdoor pool was renovated by a team filming for the American TV programme Ty Pennington's Great British Adventure . Above the lake grounds is Battery Point, where a gun battery was sited to protect the Severn Estuary from invasion. Along with the rest of South West England , Portishead has
8965-500: Is the approximate date most commonly given for his birth. In 1471 Cabot was accepted into the religious confraternity of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista . Since this was one of the city's prestigious confraternities, his acceptance suggests that he was already a respected member of the community. Once he gained full Venetian citizenship in 1476, Cabot would have been eligible to engage in maritime trade, including
9128-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
9291-575: The Avonmouth Bridge . There is no river Gordano – much of the valley is reclaimed land barely above sea level, drained by ditches (known locally as " rhynes "). The rhynes previously managed by the now amalgamated Gordano Valley Internal Drainage Board are now the responsibility of the North Somerset Internal Drainage Board. An area comprising a total of 400 acres (160 ha) has been designated as
9454-625: The Bristol Port Company. Black Nore Lighthouse was built in 1894, and was electrified in World War II . In October 2011, after it was no longer needed for navigational purposes, it was sold to a trust for preservation at a cost of £1. The Royal Hotel in the area of Woodhill was designed and built to serve Brunel 's railway line which finished a few steps away from the Hotel. The original building survives as The Royal Inn pub. It
9617-596: The Bristol Channel 's large tidal range, and iron rings can be seen in the high street at which fishing boats used to moor. Its position meant Portishead was used to guard the "King Road", as the waters around the headland are called. In 1497 it was the departure point for John Cabot on the Matthew . A fort was built on Battery Point, and was used during the English Civil War when the town supported
9780-833: The CEGB . They used some local coal produced in the Somerset coalfield , which was delivered by train along the Portishead branch of the Great Western Railway (GWR). The line had opened on 12 April 1867 as the Bristol and Portishead Pier and Railway Company; it opened to the dock on 5 July 1879. The main supply of coal was imported by boat from Newport and Ely in South Wales ; it was carried by Osborn & Wallis of Bristol. Portishead had two passenger stations on
9943-551: The GWR's Portishead branch line . The main station was near the centre of the village of Portishead, as it was then; the other was at the pier. The construction of Portishead "B" power station caused the original railway station to be demolished and a replacement station was opened in the High Street on 2 January 1954. The new station closed on 7 September 1964. The majority of the line was reopened in 2002, to transport goods from
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#173278658306310106-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
10269-637: The Norman conquest the manor was held by the Bishop of Coutances and later reverted to the Crown, after which William II gave it to a merchant from Bristol known as Harding and then to his son Robert Fitzharding , who became Lord of Berkeley . The Berkeley family held it for generations until it passed by marriage to the Cokes of Holkham in Norfolk . In the 14th century it belonged to Everard le Frenshe. In 1621
10432-599: The Patent Rolls of 1331. Around the 1860s, at the height of the iron and steel era, a pier and a deep-water dock were built by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway to accommodate the large ships that had difficulty in reaching Bristol Harbour . They brought valuable cargoes from across the globe and exported local products overseas. Ships carrying coal were commonplace in Portishead Docks. In
10595-698: The Royal Portbury Dock . A new junction was created, 3 miles (5 km) from Portishead station, and a new goods line built from there to the Royal Portbury Dock. There is a campaign group aimed at reopening the station and the short stretch of unopened line. In 2009 a report by the Association of Train Operating Companies stated that the Portishead branch was a special case for future consideration for reopening due to
10758-506: The Royalists , but surrendered to Fairfax in 1645. Guns were also placed at Battery Point during World War II . The King Road was the site of a naval action in 1758 when HMS Antelope captured Belliqueux , one of a French squadron returning from Quebec . A mill was built on Welhay stream but this was replaced by tidal mills . In the 17th century the City of Bristol bought the manors of North Weston and Portishead for access to
10921-654: The Variscan mountain building episode in the Carboniferous Period of geological history. Also included are important exposures of the Devonian sequence that yield several species of fossil fish. Holoptychius scales are the most abundant fossils, but teeth scales of other species are also relatively common. Notably amongst the collection from this bed are plates of arthrodires , including Groenlandaspis . Eastwood and Battery Point Local Nature Reserve
11084-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
11247-595: The lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
11410-403: The monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of a civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if
11573-442: The "official" landing place. Here in 1997, Queen Elizabeth II along with members of the Italian and Canadian governments greeted the replica Matthew of Bristol, following her celebratory crossing of the Atlantic. Cabot is reported to have landed only once during the expedition and did not advance "beyond the shooting distance of a crossbow". Pasqualigo and Day both state that the expedition made no contact with any native people;
11736-471: The "port at the head of the river". It has been called 'Portshead' and 'Portschute' at times in its history and Portesheve in the Domesday Book , and was locally known as Posset. The town's recorded history dates back to Roman times, although there is also evidence of prehistoric settlement, including polished flint axe heads. There were also Iron Age settlements in the area, of which Cadbury Camp
11899-470: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
12062-633: The 1498 expedition had stayed in Newfoundland and founded a mission. If Carbonariis founded a settlement in North America, it would have been the first Christian settlement on the continent and may have included a church, the only medieval church to have been built there since the Norse settlements in Greenland . The Cabot Project at the University of Bristol was organized in 2009 to search for
12225-580: The 1880s Portishead Dock was acquired by Bristol Corporation, and was subsequently managed as part of the Port of Bristol until its closure. The Portishead power stations were coal-fed power stations built next to the dock. Construction work started on Portishead "A" power station in 1926. It began generating electricity in 1929 for the Bristol Corporation's Electricity Department. In 1937 its original six short chimney stacks were replaced by
12388-403: The 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with
12551-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
12714-591: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
12877-511: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
13040-579: The Ashlands development lies Portbury Ashlands Nature Reserve. This waterfront development is known as Port Marine. The area has varied styles of houses and apartments, including an area built in the style of a fishing village, which is modelled on the Cornish seaside town of Polperro with narrow streets and multi-coloured properties. New waterside bars and restaurants, including Hall & Woodhouse , Aqua, Bottelinos, Costa Coffee have opened around
13203-713: The Bristol Corporation purchased large portions of land in Portishead and revived the Manor Court. The rights of the corporation over the manor were disputed, but they held it until 1836, when they sold it for £8,050. The parish of Portishead was part of the Portbury Hundred . The town was built at the mouth of a small tributary of the Severn Estuary near the mouth of the River Avon . The old pill or jetty provided protection for craft against
13366-518: The British merchant navy and with patrol aircraft in the North Atlantic . During the war, all communications with ships were one-way in order to avoid revealing the ships' locations to the enemy. The station was short-staffed because many were on secondments to various government services, such as operating other radio stations and training new radio officers to work in naval convoys. In 1943,
13529-515: The English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007 the right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by
13692-610: The London-based bankers of Fr. Giovanni Antonio de Carbonariis . This letter has yet to be found. From various written comments made by Ruddock, the letter did not appear to contain a detailed account of the voyage. Ruddock said the letter contained "new evidence supporting the claim that seamen of Bristol had already discovered land across the ocean before John Cabot's arrival in England." She contended that Bristol seamen had reached North America two decades before Cabot's expedition. The known sources do not concur on all aspects of
13855-653: The Milanese ambassador in London. In this Mediterranean trade, he may have acquired better knowledge of the origins of the Eastern merchandise he would have been dealing in (such as spices and silks) than most Europeans at that time. "Zuan Cabotto" is mentioned in a variety of Venetian records of the late 1480s. These indicate that by 1484 he was married to Mattea and already had multiple sons. Cabot's sons were Ludovico, Sebastian and Sancto. The Venetian sources contain references to Cabot's being involved in house building in
14018-706: The UK. The radio station had separate transmitting and receiving stations. They were constructed by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company and operated by the General Post Office (GPO). By 1936, the station had a staff of 60 radio officers who handled over 3 million words of radio traffic per year. Following the privatisation of the GPO's telephone network in 1981, the station was operated by British Telecommunications PLC (now known as BT Group PLC). The main transmitting station, which
14181-738: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
14344-675: The area by 2026, making Portishead one of the largest towns in North Somerset . Local employers include the Avon and Somerset Constabulary (which has its headquarters on the western edge of the town), Gordano School , and numerous care homes for the elderly, as well as a retail complex. The Victorian High Street has retained a number of local shops, such as Morgan-Westley, The Outlet, Careys DIY and Zebra; despite some larger DIY chains and supermarkets being built— Homebase , Argos , Waitrose , New Look , Peacocks and Pets at Home . In January 2010, Sainsbury's applied for planning permission to build
14507-527: The authorities. While in Valencia, "John Cabot Montecalunya" (as he is referred to in local documents) proposed plans for improvements to the harbour. These proposals were rejected, however. Early in 1494 he moved on to Seville , where he proposed, was contracted to build and, for five months, worked on the construction of a stone bridge over the Guadalquivir river. This project was abandoned following
14670-415: The channel and as a place to stay outside of the city and, in the 19th century, as a seaside resort. An outer sea wall was built, allowing the local marshes to be drained and increasing the land available for farming. The dominant architecture is early Victorian , with some buildings maintaining their original features. The expansion in residential property coincided with the construction of the dock, pier and
14833-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
14996-463: The city. He may have relied on this experience when seeking work later in Spain as a civil engineer. Cabot appears to have got into financial trouble in the late 1480s and left Venice as an insolvent debtor by 5 November 1488. He moved to Valencia , Spain, where his creditors attempted to have him arrested by sending a lettera di raccomandazione a giustizia ("a letter of recommendation to justice") to
15159-458: The commerce resulting from any discoveries must be conducted with England alone, with goods being brought in only through Bristol. Although those goods would be free of other duties , the King was to receive one-fifth of the profit. This would have made Bristol into a monopoly port, with sole right to engage in colonial trade. In stating this, Henry VII of England was presumably influenced by Iberian practices: Portugal having made Lisbon into such
15322-537: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
15485-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
15648-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
15811-525: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
15974-622: The crew found the remains of a fire, a human trail, nets, and a wooden tool. The crew appeared to have remained on land just long enough to take on fresh water; they also raised the Venetian and Papal banners, claiming the land for the King of England and recognising the religious authority of the Roman Catholic Church. After this landing, Cabot spent some weeks "discovering the coast", with most "discovered after turning back". On return to Bristol, Cabot rode to London to report to
16137-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
16300-401: The dock with the closure of the power stations. The Port of Bristol Authority finally closed the dock in 1992. Much of the growth of Portishead's population can be attributed to the development of the former docks. The former deep-water dock, used to supply coal and goods to the power stations, has been fully redeveloped into a modern marina with 250 pontoon berths. The areas on each side of
16463-611: The east coast of North America, south into the Chesapeake Bay area and perhaps as far as the Spanish territories in the Caribbean. Her evidence included the well-known world map of the Spanish cartographer Juan de la Cosa . His chart included the North American coast and seas "discovered by the English" between 1497 and 1500. Ruddock suggested that Giovanni Antonio de Carbonariis and the other friars who accompanied
16626-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
16789-461: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
16952-490: The events, and none can be assumed to be entirely reliable. Cabot was described as having one "little ship", of 50 tons' burden, called Matthew of Bristol (according to the 1565 chronicle). It was said to be laden with sufficient supplies for "seven or eight months". The ship departed in May with a crew of 18 to 20 men. They included an unnamed Burgundian (modern-day Netherlands) and a Genoese barber, who presumably accompanied
17115-518: The evidence on which Ruddock's claims rest, as well as to undertake related studies of Cabot and his expeditions. The lead researchers on the project, Evan Jones and Margaret Condon, claim to have found further evidence to support aspects of Ruddock's case, including some of the information she intended to use to argue for a successful return of the 1498 expedition to Bristol. These appear to place John Cabot in London by May 1500, although Jones and Condon have yet to publish their documentation. The project
17278-425: The expedition as the ship's surgeon (barbers in that era also routinely performed dentistry and minor surgery). It is likely that two ranking Bristol merchants were part of the expedition. One was William Weston , who had not been identified as part of Cabot's expedition before the discovery of a new document in the late 20th century by historian Margaret Condon. In 2009, historian Evan Jones published this document:
17441-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
17604-447: The highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest; the prevailing wind direction is from the south-west. Portishead had a population of 22,000 in 2016, an increase of over 3,000 since the figure of 17,130 recorded in the 2001 census , with a growth rate of 40 per cent; which is considerably in excess of surrounding towns. As the result of a house-building programme, a further 8,000 people are expected to settle in
17767-474: The island was believed to be a source of brazilwood (from which a valuable red dye could be obtained), merchants had economic incentive to find it. Little was recorded of Cabot's first voyage. What is known as the "John Day letter", written by John Day, alias Hugh Say, a Bristol merchant originally of London, was sent during the winter of 1497–98 to an addressee believed to be Christopher Columbus . The letter refers briefly to this voyage but writes mostly about
17930-636: The king also advanced a number of loans to Lancelot Thirkill of London, Thomas Bradley, and John Cair, who were to accompany Cabot's new expedition. The Great Chronicle of London (1189–1512) reports that Cabot departed with a fleet of five ships from Bristol at the beginning of May 1498, one of which had been prepared by the king. Some of the ships were said to be carrying merchandise, including cloth, caps, lace points, and other "trifles". This suggests that Cabot intended to engage in trade on this expedition. The Spanish envoy in London reported in July that one of
18093-404: The king in January 1498, suggesting that the explorers were working together before the start of the second voyage. The same article revealed that Weston received a £30 reward after he returned from his successful 1499 voyage. Leaving Bristol, the expedition sailed past Ireland and across the Atlantic, making landfall somewhere on the coast of North America on 24 June 1497. The exact location of
18256-466: The king. On 10 August 1497, he was given a reward of £10—equivalent to about two years' pay for an ordinary labourer or craftsman. The explorer was fêted; Soncino wrote on 23 August that, similar to Christopher Columbus, Cabot "is called the Great Admiral, and vast honour is paid to him and he goes dressed in silk, and these English run after him like mad". Such adulation was short-lived, for over
18419-458: The landfall has long been disputed, with different communities vying for the honor. Historians have proposed Cape Bonavista and St. John's, Newfoundland ; Cape Breton Island , Nova Scotia; Labrador ; and Maine as possibilities. Since the discovery of the John Day letter in the 1950s, it seems most likely that the initial landfall was either on Newfoundland or nearby Cape Breton Island. This
18582-461: The large projected increase in population and congestion in the area. Portishead also had a second, short-lived, railway line: the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway . It ran between Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon as a standard railway line, and between Clevedon and Portishead as a light railway . The Clevedon to Portishead extension opened on 7 August 1907. The line closed on 19 May 1940 and
18745-708: The last train load of coal departed on 16 November 1973. The price of oil rose steeply in the 1970s (see 1973 oil crisis and 1979 oil crisis ) and the two power stations were little used after these events. Portishead "A" power station was closed in 1976; and the first of its two chimney stacks, a landmark, was demolished in September 1981, followed by the second in August 1982. Portishead "B" power station closed in 1982 and both of its 383 feet (117 m) stacks were demolished in October 1992. Industrial activities ceased at
18908-538: The late 17th century and of trade with Spain through Bilbao , including a Spanish coin minted in Peru . Ruddock claimed that William Weston of Bristol, a supporter of Cabot, undertook an independent expedition to North America in 1499, sailing north from Newfoundland up to the Hudson Strait . If correct, this was probably the first Northwest Passage expedition. In 2009, Jones confirmed that William Weston (who
19071-476: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
19234-526: The marina as well as a nearby Wetherspoons . At the top of the marina sits a new RNLI lifeboat station, opened in 2015 and run by around 40 local volunteer crew. An RNLI shop, open daily, is attached to the lifeboat station. Portishead was previously the telephone control centre used by British Telecom (BT) for non-direct dialled calls to maritime vessels, a service known as "Portishead Radio". This has now been largely replaced by INMARSAT , which permits directly dialled calls made from any BT landline in
19397-478: The marina, formerly occupied by the two power stations and chemical plant, have been redeveloped to provide a wide range of housing, from town houses to social housing to exclusive flats. Development has also completed on the Portbury Ashlands to the east of the harbour (so-called because they were the dumping ground for power station waste) extending the area of the town further towards Portbury. Next to
19560-477: The medium-range services (MF maritime band 1.6–3.0 MHz) at 12:00 on Friday 30 June. The station closed in April 2000. The Highbridge station has been demolished. Sedgemoor District Council adopted a local development plan in September 2004 that included the site of the receiving station for future housing development. Planning permission was granted in October 2007 for a development of 190 houses and flats on
19723-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
19886-504: The mid-1970s brought about the closure of the older, less efficient "A" Station. One generator (500 MW) of four at each of the new power stations had almost the same output of both Portishead Stations combined ("A" Station 200 MW, "B" Station 360 MW). The newer of the two power stations ("B" Station) was converted to burn oil when the Somerset coalfields closed. The two Radstock pits ceased production in September 1973 and
20049-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
20212-675: The new land". This payment from the Florentine merchants would have represented a substantial contribution, although it was not enough to finance the expedition completely. On 5 March 1496 Henry VII gave Cabot and his three sons letters patent with the following charge for exploration: ... free authority, faculty and power to sail to all parts, regions, and coasts of the eastern, western and northern sea, under our banners, flags, and ensigns, with five ships or vessels of whatsoever burden and quality they may be, and with so many and with such mariners and men as they may wish to take with them in
20375-432: The next few months the king's attention was occupied by the second Cornish uprising of 1497 . Once Henry's throne was secure, he gave more thought to Cabot. On 26 September, just a few days after the collapse of the revolt, the king made an award of £2 to Cabot. On 13 December 1497, the explorer was awarded a pension (or salary) of £20 per year. This was to be payable from customs receipts collected in Bristol. The pension
20538-544: The order of the names being swapped two months later on 1 June 1993 to be "Portishead and North Weston". The parish name was changed back to just Portishead in 2011, when the parish also gained some territory from neighbouring Portbury . The parish is part of the North Somerset county constituency of the House of Commons . It has been represented since 1992 by Liam Fox , a member of the Conservative Party , who
20701-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
20864-481: The papal tax collector. Ruddock also suggested that Carbonariis accompanied Cabot's 1498 expedition. She further suggested that the friar, on good terms with the King, introduced the explorer to King Henry VII . Beyond this, Ruddock stated that Cabot received a loan from an Italian banking house in London. As Ruddock ordered the destruction of all her research notes on her death in 2005, scholars have had to duplicate her research and rediscover documents. The Cabot Project
21027-448: The parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under a common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in
21190-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
21353-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
21516-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
21679-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
21842-400: The phosphate rock. The phosphorus was then moved in sealed railway tanks to Oldbury and to Kirkby . After the closure of the factory the decontamination included the removal of yellow (spontaneously combustible) and red allotropes of phosphorus. The site is now home to Portishead volunteer coastguard. The onset of new generating capacity at Pembroke (oil-fired) and Didcot (coal-fired) in
22005-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
22168-455: The radio station's penultimate year to March 1999, there were on average, per month, 571 radio telegrams, 533 radio telephone calls and 4,001 radio telex calls. In 1998, British Telecom Maritime Radio Services announced its planned closure of Portishead Radio. The long-range services (HF bands 3–30 MHz) ceased at midnight on 31 August 1999. The short-range VHF maritime band services (156–174 MHz) closed at 12:00 on Sunday 30 April 2000, and
22331-405: The rail link to Bristol. The Royal Hotel by the pier was built in a Tudor Gothic style in 1830, to provide accommodation and catering for travellers on the steamers from Bristol, Wales and Ireland . The act of Parliament governing the enclosure of Portishead was passed in 1814, and stipulated the right to a public wharf, although there is historical evidence of nautical connections dating back to
22494-494: The said ships, at their own proper costs and charges, to find, discover and investigate whatsoever islands, countries, regions or provinces of heathens and infidels, in whatsoever part of the world placed, which before this time were unknown to all Christians. Those who received such patents had the right to assign them to third parties for execution. His sons are believed to have still been minors at that time. Cabot went to Bristol to arrange preparations for his voyage. Bristol
22657-459: The second, 1497 expedition. Day noted: "Since your Lordship wants information relating to the first voyage, here is what happened: he went with one ship, his crew confused him, he was short of supplies and ran into bad weather, and he decided to turn back." Since Cabot received his royal patent in March 1496, it is believed that he made his first voyage that summer. Information about the 1497 voyage comes mostly from four short letters and an entry in
22820-489: The ships had been caught in a storm and been forced to land in Ireland, but that Cabot and the other four ships had continued on. For centuries, no other records were found (or at least published) that relate to this expedition; it was long believed that Cabot and his fleet were lost at sea. However, at least one of the men scheduled to accompany the expedition, Lancelot Thirkill, is recorded as living in London in 1501. It
22983-471: The site and shortly afterwards the old radio station buildings were demolished. There are two tiers of local government covering Portishead, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Portishead Town Council and North Somerset Council , although the area below high-water mark , including the pier, is within Bristol . The town council is based at the Folk Hall at 95 High Street. The police service
23146-493: The son of Giulio Caboto and his wife; he had a brother Piero. Gaeta (in the Province of Latina ) and Castiglione Chiavarese (in the Province of Genoa ) have both been proposed as his birthplace. The main evidence for Gaeta are records of a Caboto family residing there until the mid-15th century, but ceasing to be traceable after 1443. Pedro de Ayala , the Spanish envoy and Cabot's contemporary in London, described him in
23309-488: The summer of 2023 as a hotel once more. Transport links to Bristol and beyond have been a concern for some residents of the town and a group has been set up to campaign for the reopening of the Portishead to Bristol railway line. The cost has been estimated at £28 million, and feasibility plans are being considered. The main A369 road — known after the historical name for the area as "The Portbury Hundred ", which links
23472-406: The town to the nearby M5 motorway — is prone to congestion, especially during rush hours. Major traffic-flow modifications have caused much controversy because they are widely seen as having caused queuing where none existed before. More than 4,000 residents signed a petition to North Somerset Council expressing concern at the development. Civil parish In England, a civil parish
23635-555: The trade to the eastern Mediterranean that was the source of much of Venice's wealth. He presumably entered this trade shortly thereafter. A 1483 document refers to his selling a slave in Crete whom he had acquired while in the territories of the Sultan of Egypt, which then comprised most of what is now Israel , Syria and Lebanon . This is not sufficient to prove Cabot's later assertion that he had visited Mecca , which he said in 1497 to
23798-415: The villages of Clapton in Gordano , Weston in Gordano , Easton in Gordano , Walton in Gordano , Portbury and Sheepway . The M5 motorway runs along the south side of the valley, splitting briefly into two levels – the south-west-bound level running above the north-east-bound carriageway. The Gordano motorway service station is at the eastern end of the valley, near the Royal Portbury Dock and
23961-461: The warmest, with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (70 °F). In general, December is the dullest month and June the sunniest. The south-west of England enjoys a favoured location, particularly in summer, when the Azores High extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK. Cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and reduces exposure to sunshine. The average annual sunshine
24124-666: The way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe
24287-542: The west from a northerly latitude in search of a northern passage to Asia . Historians had thought that, on arrival in England, Cabot went to Bristol , a major maritime centre, to seek financial backers. This was the only English city to have had a history of undertaking exploratory expeditions into the Atlantic. Cabot's royal patent, issued by the Crown in 1496, stated that all expeditions should be undertaken from Bristol, so his primary financial supporters were probably based in that city. In any case, it also stipulated that
24450-414: The workload was so great that a Royal Navy officer and 18 telegraphists were brought in from HMS Flowerdown, a Naval Shore Wireless Service station near Winchester . By the end of the 1980s, satellite communications had started to take an increasing share of the station's business, and a programme of severe rationalisation began, leading to the closure of two transmitting sites at Leafield and Ongar. In
24613-570: Was Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for International Trade . Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament . Portishead is a coastal town on the Severn Estuary . It lies north east of Clevedon and immediately south west of Avonmouth just across the River Avon , which forms the boundary between Somerset and Bristol . The city of Bristol
24776-461: Was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the Woodspring district of Avon . Woodspring subsequently became the unitary authority of North Somerset in 1996. A successor parish was created in 1974 covering the former urban district of Portishead. In 1993 North Weston was reunited with Portishead, with the enlarged parish being named "North Weston and Portishead" from the merger on 1 April 1993, with
24939-648: Was an Italian navigator and explorer . His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII, King of England is the earliest known European exploration of coastal North America since the Norse visits to Vinland in the eleventh century. To mark the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Cabot's expedition, both the Canadian and British governments declared Cape Bonavista , Newfoundland as representing Cabot's first landing site. However, alternative locations have also been proposed. Cabot
25102-416: Was backdated to March 1497, to make clear that Cabot was in the king's service at the time of his expedition. Despite the royal grant, Bristol's customs officers initially refused to pay Cabot his pension, forcing the explorer to obtain an additional warrant from the king. On 3 February 1498, Cabot was given new letters patent covering the voyage and to help him prepare another expedition. In March and April,
25265-470: Was built in 1830 by the Corporation of Bristol (now known as Bristol City Council) in order to provide a hotel supporting the development of the seaside resort. It is thought to be the only seaside hotel to be built by a public authority during the nineteenth century. It is a Grade II listed building . The Royal closed during the latter half of 2022 for upgrades and building works. It is set to reopen in
25428-399: Was converted into a local government district , governed by a local board. Such local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894 , which also said that parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries. The part of the parish outside the urban district therefore became a separate parish called North Weston . Portishead Urban District
25591-498: Was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were the gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of
25754-463: Was formed at the University of Bristol in 2009 to research Cabot and the Bristol expeditions. Francesco Guidi Bruscoli, of the University of Florence , found some of Ruddock's documentation, confirming that Cabot received money in March 1496 from the Bardi family banking firm of Florence. The bankers located in London provided fifty nobles (£16 13s. 4d.) to support Cabot's expedition to "go and find
25917-489: Was not previously known to have been involved) led an expedition from Bristol [with royal support] to the " new found land " in 1499 or 1500, making him the first Englishman to lead the exploration of North America. This find has changed the understanding of English roles in exploration of that continent. In 2018, Condon and Jones published a further article about William Weston. This revealed that Weston and Cabot had received rewards from King Henry VII in January 1498, following
26080-465: Was remotely operated, originally consisted of a large array of radio masts at nearby Portishead Downs but was replaced by a single radio mast at Clevedon . It was used until the 1970s. The receiving station's control centre and radio masts were located at Highbridge , near Burnham-on-Sea . The radio station played a vital role during the Second World War in maintaining communications with
26243-662: Was the largest. Other sites that have been identified include a 1,200 by 600 feet (370 by 180 m) site that was successively occupied by the Romans, Britons and Danes . There is some evidence that it may have been the western end of the Wansdyke , an early medieval or possibly Roman boundary with a series of defensive linear earthworks extending to the Savernake Forest near Marlborough in Wiltshire . After
26406-606: Was the second-largest seaport in England . From 1480 onward it had supplied several expeditions to look for the mythical Hy-Brasil . According to Celtic legend, this island lay somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. There was a widespread belief among merchants in the port that Bristol men had discovered the island at an earlier date but had then lost track of it. In a private letter to a colleague (Quinn), Ruddock maintained that she had found evidence in Italian archives that Bristol men had discovered North America before 1470. As
26569-537: Was then dismantled by the GWR. In 1951, Albright and Wilson built a chemical works on the opposite side of the dock from the power stations. The chemical works produced white phosphorus from phosphate rock imported, through the docks, into the UK. Phosphate rock was stored in concrete silos on the dockside until it was required. Electricity provided by the local power stations was used to run six 7.5 megawatt electric arc furnaces (45 MW total) that reduced
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