51°31′21″N 2°36′46″W / 51.5225°N 2.61274°W
Catbrain Hill, simply known as Catbrain, is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, part of the suburban North Fringe of Bristol. It is located near Cribbs Causeway, on a road that contains many car dealerships. A new housing estate has been recently constructed at Catbrain, with more developments nearby underway as of 2022.[1] At the bottom of the hill lies the runway of the former Bristol Filton Airport.
The area belongs to the postcode area BS10.[2]
Name history
"Cat's brain" is a common name for fields in the south of England. It comes from the Middle English "Cattes Brazen", referring to a rough clay mix used in soil at the time.[3][4] There are other Catbrains in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire and Surrey. Catbrain has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names, within the UK and beyond.[5][6]
Hazel Brook
The Hazel Brook rises in nearby Cribbs Causeway and its flow into the River Trym is controlled by an attenuation reservoir at Catbrain, which reduces the silt flowing into the system from the many shopping malls in the area.[7] Measurements of pollution by the city council are made monthly.[8]
See also
Catbrain attenuation reservoir
References
- ^ "Laurel Hill". Strongvox. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
- ^ bristol.streetmapof.co.uk Google Maps [Retrieved 22 December 2011]
- ^ Cork, Tristan (25 November 2017). "Where the name Catbrain Hill came from". BristolLive. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ Roberts, Alice (27 May 2021). Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in seven burials. Simon and Schuster. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-4711-8803-9.
- ^ Parker, Quentin (2010). Welcome to Horneytown, North Carolina, Population: 15: An insider's guide to 201 of the world's weirdest and wildest places. Adams Media. pp. ix. ISBN 9781440507397.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Shaw, Neil (14 December 2020). "Map shows some of funniest place names in UK you could visit in 2021". Wales Online. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
- ^ "Waterways Monitoring: River Trym and Hazel Brook". Bristol City Council. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
- ^ Bristol City Council. "Bristol City Council River Monitoring Locations". Retrieved 8 January 2021.