Iron Acton

"IRON ACTON, a parish in the hundred of Thornbury, county Gloucester, 3½ miles N.W. of Chipping Sodbury, and 1½ mile N.W. of the Yate railway station. This place derives its name Acton from the Saxon word for oaks with which it anciently abounded, and its prefix from some iron works which formerly existed here. It is situated near the Bristol and Gloucester railway, and contains the hamlet of Latteridge. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the coal and iron mines. The soil is clayey, with subsoil coal and limestone. The common lands were enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1780.

The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, value £695, in the patronage of Christ Church, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. James, is an ancient stone structure, with a lofty tower. It was built in the 15th century by Robert Poyntz, of whom there is a monument. In the churchyard is an ancient cross much decayed. The parochial charities produce about £9 per annum. There are schools for both sexes, principally supported by the rector. The Independents and Wesleyans have each a chapel. Walton Long [see note], Esq., is lord of the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

Note: this is so in the original but is an error for Walter Long.