Bitton was designated as a conservation area on 23rd October 1989. Setting
The village is dominated by its open countryside setting. This relationship arises from the historic development of the Roman Road and then the coach route between Bristol and Bath as well as its crossing of the River Boyd. The road skirts around the foothills of Bitton Hill and Brewery Hill, with development clustered around the junction of Golden Valley to the north and the River Avon floodplain to the south.
To the west the slopes of Bitton Hill provide the setting for the essentially linear development along the A431. To the east, the setting is more open with longer distance views over the fields up to the village of Upton Cheyney. The flat open floodplain to the south is disguised by Barrow Hill and the old railway line. The rural setting is emphasised through traditional open fields, hedges and mature, free-standing trees.
Given this dominant countryside setting in the Bristol/Bath greenbelt, close to the urban fringe, there is a critical need to distinguish between the sharp development boundary which defines the extent of built development and areas of open space which fall both within and outside the conservation area boundary. The sharp edge to development is an important characteristic of Bitton. Any new development will need to reinforce this feature.
History
In the Domesday survey the area was called 'Betune' with the manor supposedly taking its name from the river, i.e. 'Boyd-Town', or 'Batten'. The village is one of the oldest in Kingswood Forest and is situated on a Roman road, the Via Julia.
St Mary's Church is supposed to stand on the site of a heathen temple and there is some evidence of Roman remains. The Norman tower was built in 1377. Lady Chapel (St Catherine's) was added in 1298/99 by Thomas de Butten, Bishop of Exeter. There are a number of interesting 18th century tombs in the churchyard and the building has a fine interior.
The Grange (the original parsonage) was founded before 1280 and was rebuilt in the later Middle Ages. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was remodelled and rebuilt. The Bath architect, John Wood, lodged here.
The Old Vicarage was rebuilt in 1823 and is famous as the residence of Rev. Henry Thomas Ellacombe (vicar of Bitton 1817-1850) and Canon Henry Nicholson Ellacombe (1850 -1919). The father developed the fine garden whilst the son wrote a number of notable books and bounded the Botanical Gardens in Bath.
Church Farm (a manor house) dates from 1287 - the adjacent dovecote from 1444. It is reputedly the oldest house in the village. Although remodelled in the 17th and 19th centuries, many interesting features remain, such as the bars to the ground floor windows. These are reputed to have been introduced to exclude colliers.