IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Mill Lane, BRISTOL, BS30 6HJ

The old offices of Bitton's prime employer are a little more expansive now. Given a year or so and it will be a memory.

A distinctive feature on one of the few old mill and factory buildings still left. See Image] for a wider view.

The industrial site at Bitton can trace its past quite some time. Originally part of Kingswood Forest and producing coal, the location beside the River Boyd made it prime estate for a mill. William Champion, a leading brass pioneer, set up here in about 1761. The mill produced brass and later paper, but there was a major fire in the nineteenth century that destroyed much of the works. After a rebuilding, the site returned to paper milling; records of 1895 reveal the firm employed over 400 workers, continuously making envelopes and government stationery. This carried on until 1963, when Canadian owners Intier took over; they specialised in wood fibre parts for the automotive sector. They supplied moulded parts to Ford, Rover, Saab, and Jaguar. However, the business folded in 2006. Today the site is being cleared for a housing development, with a select group of buildings spared due to their Grade II status. See Image] for a closer view of the vane.

The old mill and factory site in Bitton has come to an end. Over 250 years of brass and paper production is being razed to the ground; a large housing development is about to rise over it.

Bitton has had a relatively small population but boasted up to thirteen places of worship. Few remain these days, including this Methodist church. Founded in 1859, it is now in private hands.

The earthworks to the north of the main Bath Road in Bitton were generally thought to be Roman for many years. The Via Julia reaches from Bath and runs close by the village and there are other relevant Roman era points to note. However, excavations in the 1950s returned nothing older than early Mediaeval. This is the west end of the earthworks.

Looking south east toward Kelston and Bath. The village is at the half way point between Bristol and Bath, 6 miles each way.

Early Victorian antiquarians presumed this set of earthworks were Roman, possibly a villa or farmstead with a bath-house. However, investigations revealed nothing earlier than about the thirteenth century. View across the north side, including possible entrances.

On Bath Road; established 1911.

The lion looks rather startled and fearful that his house might be due to receive a visit from the bulldozers. See Image] for a wider look at the surviving houses.