Thornbury (Gloucestershire)
Coordinates: 51 ° 37 ′ N , 2 ° 31 ′ W
Thornbury is a small town in South Gloucestershire , Gloucestershire . It is located 18 km north of Bristol and has a population of around 12,000.
The history of Thornbury goes back to the 9th century. The first settlement was called Thornbyrig and is first mentioned in 896; in the Domesday Book (1086) the place is recorded as Turneberie with 103 inhabitants. Recent finds of Roman coins suggest that the place existed as early as 300 AD.
One of the city's attractions is Thornbury Castle , construction of which began in 1511 for Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham . In 1521 Edward Stafford was executed, construction was abandoned and the building was not completed. Nevertheless, it was used by King Henry VIII and his wife Anne Boleyn in 1535, and later by Mary Tudor . Today the castle is a hotel. The oldest surviving building in Thornbury is Saint Mary the Virgin Church , construction of which began in 1340.
The Oldbury nuclear power station , which was shut down in February 2012, is in the vicinity .
Thornbury is twinned with Bockenem ( Lower Saxony ).
The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin
Thornbury Castle
