Rock Street, Bath Road and Upper Bath Road

Thornbury

In earlier censuses and other records, the roads in this part of the Town were referred to by several different names which causes considerable confusion.

The 1841 census avoids using any name for the street, although there are a few entries for houses in this area listed as being in 'Back Street'.  The 1851 census uses the term 'Back Street'.  This is confusing because 'Back Street' is usually considered to be the alternative name for St Mary Street. 

The 1861 census uses 'Ragland Road' for the section between the junction with Chapel Street (then called Rotten Row) and John Smith's cottage, called 'Ragland Castle,' on the edge of the town.  'Back Street' is used to describe the street from the junction of Chapel Street to the junction with Horseshoe Lane.

The 1871, 1881 and 1891 censuses use the names 'Upper Bath Road' and 'Lower Bath Road' to describe the whole street we now know as Rock Street.  In 1871 'Lower Bath Road' included what we now know as 'Bath Road' as well as a section of Rock Street from Bath Road down to Horseshoe Lane. 

The name of 'Upper Bath Road' was used for the section of the road between Chapel Street and the railway station even in the 1950's when house numbering was introduced, but it is now only used to refer to the little cul de sac to the south of the old market site.  

We don't have many street maps of the area, but they provide another picture of what the streets were called at different times.   The 1881 and 1921 O.S. Maps call Rock Street 'Outer Back Street'.

For the purposes of this website, we have separated out the history of houses into three areas: 'Rock Street',  'Bath Road' and 'Upper Bath Road'.

 This page was last updated: 24/07/2008