Civil Parish of Winterbourne
Encyclopedia
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
, on the outskirts of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It comprises four communities, three of which act as ecclesiastical parishes within the overarching Civil Parish: Winterbourne
Winterbourne, Gloucestershire
Winterbourne is a large village in South Gloucestershire, England. It had a population of 8,623 in the 2001 census. It sits as the centre of the Civil Parish of Winterbourne which encompasses the neighbouring communities of Winterbourne Down, Hambrook and Frenchay...
, Winterbourne Down, Hambrook
Hambrook
Hambrook is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, just outside the outskirts of the city of Bristol. It lies between the two larger communities of Winterbourne and Frenchay and is part of the Civil Parish of Winterbourne...
, and Frenchay
Frenchay
Frenchay is a suburb of Bristol, England, to the north east of the city, but located mainly in South Gloucestershire and the Civil Parish of Winterbourne....
. Given the Parish's location, each of its villages/towns are fairly modern and busy, feeding traffic onto the M4
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
and the M32
M32 motorway
The M32 is a motorway in South Gloucestershire and Bristol, England. It provides a link from Bristol city centre to the M4 and is part of the Bristol Parkway. At about , it is one of Britain's shortest motorways...
motorways and thus Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and Cribbs Causeway
Cribbs Causeway
Cribbs Causeway is a road in South Gloucestershire, England, just north of Bristol, which has given its name to a large out-of-town shopping centre, including retail parks and an enclosed shopping centre known as The Mall...
etc. They do however still exhibit many of the traditions expected of a typical English Parish.
Winterbourne
Inventor, Harry Grindell MatthewsHarry Grindell Matthews
Harry Grindell Matthews was an English inventor who claimed to have invented a death ray in the 1920s.-Earlier life and inventions:...
, was born in Winterbourne in 1880. His childhood home was located at what is now The Grove Residential Home for the Elderly on the High Street where a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
commemorating this link was recently unveiled.
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
books, lived in Winterbourne and attended St Michael's Primary School
St Michael's Primary School
St Michael's Church of England Primary School is a school for children aged 4–11 in the village of Winterbourne, South Gloucestershire on the outskirts of Bristol, England...
until she was nine years old. Potter's surname originated from some of her friends in the village.