Filton

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Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, on the northern outskirts of Bristol, about 4.5 miles from the city centre. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century. Further north are the towns of Patchway and Bradley Stoke. Filton is one of the highest areas in Greater Bristol. Nearby Filton Golf Course, which overlooks Filton Aerodrome, is even higher.

Districts within the town include Filton Park and Northville, adjacent to the city boundary. East Filton, which has grown up east of the Bristol-South Wales railway line, contains the huge offices of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Defence Procurement Agency, plus large retail facilities.

From the motorway system, Filton can be reached by exiting at junction 1 of the M32 motorway or junction 16 of the M5 motorway.

The town also has a small railway station, not far from Parkway. The former railway station was relocated to serve the MOD building when it opened - the new station is called Filton Abbey Wood.

Filton is twinned with St Vallier-sur-Rhône, France and Witzenhausen, Germany. The local football (soccer) team is named "St Vallier FC" after its French twin.

Filton is notable as a centre of the aerospace industry, with BAE Systems, Airbus, Rolls Royceand Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia (MBDA) having factories located around Filton Aerodrome, a connection that dates back to the early days of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. On 26 November 2003, Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) made the final ever Concorde flight, returning to Filton to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of a projected air museum. This museum will include the existing Bristol Aero Collection which is kept in a hangar at Kemble Airfield, forty miles from Filton. This collection includes a Bristol Britannia aircraft which would presumably also be brought to Bristol. Other companies and organizations such as the MOD, Viridor, Hewlett Packard and Royal Mail also have a presence in Filton.

Filton has a range of educational facilities, including Filton College, Filton High School and several primary schools. The University of the West of England is at nearby Frenchay.

Filton has two main shopping areas - the Shield Centre and Abbey Wood Retail Park, as well as local shops. To the east of the town there is a small area of woodland known as Splatt's Abbey Wood. Filton Golf Club has an 18 hole course.

The name of the town comes from the Old English felethe, meaning hay, and tūn, meaning farm. The name dates back to at least 1187.

Recent history

At the dawn of the 20th Century, Filton was a small village, still detached from the city of Bristol to the south. Farming was the principal occupation. However, there was a large factory-like laundry in the village, opposite Filton House, owned by Samuel Shield.

The Bristol to South Wales railway line passed through the village. There was a small station near the site of the current Abbey Wood Station. A much larger railway station, known as Filton Junction, opened in 1910, after the alternative rail route from Bristol to London was finished.

In 1907 the northern terminus for Bristol Tramways was moved out Horfield to Filton. Omnibus production in the tramway sheds commenced in 1908.

The manufacture of aeroplanes started in the tramway sheds in 1910, when Sir George White, the owner of Bristol Tramways, established the Bristol and Colonial Aeroplane Company. A small 'flying ground' was set up opposite Fairlawn Avenue in 1911.

The Company grew rapidly during WW1, building thousands of Bristol Fighters and other aircraft. In 1915, as the aircraft works expanded over the original 'flying ground', the Royal Flying Corps established Filton Aerodrome in fields at the bottom of Filton Hill.

Aeroengine production started north of Filton Aerodrome, with the acquisition of Cosmos Engineering in 1920. In the same year, the Bristol and Colonial Aeroplane Company became the Bristol Aeroplane Company.

Between the wars, Filton expanded rapidly, to become a suburb of Bristol. Speculative builders constructed terraced and semi-detached housing in small estates on both sides of the A38 trunk road. Eventually, Filton became part of the Bristol conurbation, although it remained outside the city boundary.

The Re-armament Programme from 1935 to the outbreak of WW2, saw further expansion of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. East Works on Gypsy Patch Lane and Rodney Works along Gloucester Road North were established for the production of aeroengines. The A38 trunk road was widened from Filton Church down to (and along) Gypsy Patch Lane, with cycle tracks on both sides of the road to ease rush hour congestion.

During the 30's, two infant/primary schools and one secondary school were built in Filton to accommodate the growing number of school-age children living in the area. Many of these children were evacuated when WW2 started in 1939, but returned later, during the Phoney War.

Anti-Aircraft guns were set-up in a cow pasture on Filton Hill, adjacent to Filton Golf Club, to defend the aircraft factories.

Prior to WW2 there was a common belief that German bombers could not reach Filton, because of insufficient range. However, the invasion of France by the Nazis in 1940 changed the situation. On September 25, 1940 German aircraft, based in France, raided Filton, causing extensive damage to the aircraft factories, as well as causing a heavy loss of life when several air raid shelters were hit.

Aircraft produced during WW2 included the Blenheim, Beaufort, Beaufighter and Brigand. Filton Aerodrome was upgraded to a concrete runway during 1941/42. When hostilities ceased in 1945, the Filton aviation complex was one of the largest in Europe.

The concrete runway at Filton Aerodrome was extended westwards, in the late 1940s, to enable the huge Bristol Brabazon airliner to take-off safely. This extension required demolition of the small hamlet of Charlton. A large three bay hangar was also built to accommodate the Brabazon project. At the time, the hangar doors were the largest in the world.

During the late 1940s and early 50's, BAC branched out into the development and production of pre-fabricated buildings, plastics, guided weapons, luxury cars, gas turbines and ramjet motors. The Bristol Britannia (Whispering Giant) airliner and Bristol Freighter were produced in quantity.

BAC opened a technical college for Company apprentices, trainees, etc at the bottom of Filton Hill in 1954. This was eventually absorbed by Filton (Technical) College, which had opened across the other side of Filton Avenue in 1961. Filton High School, originally a grammar school, but now a comprehensive, started to take pupils in 1960.

In 1958 the aeroengine interests of the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Armstrong Siddeley were amalgamated to form Bristol Siddeley Engines.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the development and production of Concorde at Filton and a further extension of the Filton runway.

Rolls-Royce purchased Bristol Siddeley Engines in 1968.

On February 4, 1971 Rolls-Royce were declared bankrupt, because it could no longer meet its contractual obligations with Lockheed to deliver certified RB211 engines for the Tristar jetliner. However, mainly to maintain the viability of the Royal Air Force, the Government announced that afternoon that the company would be nationalised, thus saving the jobs of tens of thousands of workers in Filton and the surrounding area and elsewhere in the UK. Thus was born Rolls-Royce(1971). The firm was eventually privatised in 1987.

During the mid 70's the A38 trunk road was upgraded to a dual carriageway. Station Road, a country lane in the early part of the 20th Century, was also widened to become a dual carriageway and form part of the Avon Ring Road.

Sandwiched between roads, factories, railway lines and the aerodrome, Filton expanded little after WW2. However, from the late 1970s a trading estate slowly developed in what is now known as East Filton. Later, the Ministry of Defence set up a large office complex, known as Abbey Wood.

Nowadays the aircraft interests of BAC are owned by Airbus and BAe Systems, whilst the aeroengine facilities are part of Rolls-Royce. Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia (MBDA) own the guided weapons facilities. Bristol Cars are still located at Filton.

Next to the A38 road, Airbus have purchased 26 acres of the former Rodney Works from BAeS and plan to erect new buildings there. Office accommodation will be erected on the old 1910 BCAS site. Filton House and New Filton House, both of which are listed buildings, will be refurbished.de:Filton fr:Filton sco:Filton