Thornbury, South Gloucestershire
| Thornbury | |
|---|---|
 Thornbury
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| Thornbury shown within Gloucestershire | |
| Population | 12,342 (2001 UK census) |
| OS grid reference | ST636902 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bristol |
| Postcode district | BS35 |
| Dialling code | 01454 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Thornbury is a market town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Bristol, which had a population of 12,063 at the 2011 Census. It houses South Gloucestershire Council headquarters and is twinned with Bockenem in Germany. Thornbury is a Britain in Bloom award-winning town, with its own competition, Thornbury in Bloom. Suburbs include Morton and Thornbury Park. The civil parish also includes the hamlet of Milbury Heath.
There is evidence of human activity in the Thornbury area in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, but evidence of the Roman presence is limited to the Thornbury hoard, of 11,460 Roman coins dating from AD 260–348, found in 2004 during the digging for a fishpond. The earliest documentary evidence of a village at "Thornbyrig" dates from the end of the 9th century.Domesday Book noted a manor of "Turneberie" belonging to William the Conqueror's consort, Matilda of Flanders, with 103 residents.
St Mary's Church, begun in the 12th century with later additions, is the oldest surviving building. The town charter was granted in 1252 by Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and lord of the manor of Thornbury. The charter's 750th anniversary in 2002 was celebrated with a "750" flowerbed planted in Grovesend Road. The town grew around the site of its cattle market. Thornbury lost its status as a borough in 19th-century local government reforms, but in 1974 the parish council exercised its new right to designate itself a town council.
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