1 98 The Environs of Bath. 



Notes on the History of Claverton. 

 H. D. Skrine, J.P., D.L. 

 ■'TpHE village of Claverton is romantically situated on a ter- 

 race about half-way up the steep slope of the hill known 

 ■as Claverton and Hampton Down, and overlooks the lovely 

 valley of the Avon which divides this parish from Bathford. 



The ancient name of the Manor was Clat-ford-ton, which 

 was afterwards altered by spelling to Claftertone and. then 

 to Claverton. The name, in the opinion of Professor Earle, 

 :is derived from the ford over the Avon between Claverton 

 •and Warleigh. Clat-ford-ton would then mean the settle- 

 ment by the ford of the water-lily. That this is no mere 

 •conjecture may be shown. The stream near the ford 

 abounds in water-lilies, and a field on the Warleigh side is 

 fstill called Clot-mead : Barnes, in his poems, calls the Stour 

 the "Cloty Stour,'' for a similar reason. The bounds of the 

 parish are probably the same as in the earliest times, as in 

 •" The Land Limits '' of Hampton, a document of the tenth 

 •century, the boundary-line of the parishes of Claverton and 

 Hampton is the same as at present. This was — "First from 

 ;the Avon, along the Mere-broc, or boundary-brook, to the 

 ;Herces-naes, or angle of the camp (on Hampton-down), 

 then along the Herces-Dic, or Dyke, of the camp to the top 

 •of Bath wick-hill." This Mere-broc can still be distinctly 

 •.traced, and is the boundary of the parishes now. 



The Manor of Claverton is thus described in Domesday 

 Book : — " Hugolin holds Claftertone. Suain held it in the 

 time of King Edward (confessor) and gelded for 5 hides 

 The arable is 6 Carucates, and there are 4 villanes, and 7 

 •cottages with 4 serfs (servants), and a mill of 75. dd. rent, 

 .and 20 acres of meadow, and 1 2 furlongs of pasture in length 

 and breadth." It was formerly, and is now, worth jCi]. 



