Westerleigh

thumb|The church of Saint James the Great, Westerleigh Westerleigh is a clustered village in the civil parish of Westerleigh and Coalpit Heath (which includes Henfield) in the South Gloucestershire district, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England, it contains sources of the Frome and has an endpoint of the Frome Valley Walkway. It is north of the M4, south of Yate and northeast of Bristol. In the south it includes a steep hill of its own from the crest of the Cotswold hills which is designated an AONB.

==Background== Contrary to earlier edits of this page, there are no documentary references to Westerleigh prior to the Norman Conquest. Indeed, and again contrary to earlier text here, neither is Westerleigh recorded by name in the pages of Domesday Book (1086). Historically, Westerleigh emerges as a chapelry of the very large estate of Pucklechurch, which before being granted to Glastonbury Abbey in the 10th century, had been a royal manor. Westerleigh's Domesday assessment is therefore most likely included silently within the account of that estate. At present, the earliest mention of Westerleigh in a document appears to be from the late 12th century. The place-name means 'the more westerly clearing', probably in relation either to the Sodburys or Dodington. The second element of the name, which is Old English lēah, can also have a meaning of 'wood pasture; meadow'. There is no evidence of any kind whatsoever, whether historical or archaeological, about exactly when the church at Westerleigh was founded. On a balance of probabilities, however, it is very likely that there would have been a church on the present site, possibly of timber, by the year 1000. A house specifically for the occupation of the chaplain serving the church at Westerleigh had been established there at least by the end of the 14th century, and probably much earlier. Like the church itself, it is probable that this had been provided by Glastonbury Abbey. Its site is now lost although a location somewhere within the churchyard might be expected.