Tockington is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Historically the village developed around farming based mainly on the rearing of cattle on the fertile flood plains. In more recent times Tockington has become an attractive location for commuters, being situated within the Green Belt and well connected with Bristol. It is south of Olveston and is located in a steep valley. The village also has the Swan Inn, a popular pub. The centre of the village, where the pub is located is a triangular junction. History In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Tockington like this: TOCKINGTON (Lower), a tything in Almondsbury parish, Gloucester; 3¾ miles S by E of Thornbury. It has a post-office under Bristol, and cattle fairs on 9 May and 6 Dec. Real property, £4,975. Pop., 464. Houses, 109. Tockington Manor Tockington Manor is a boarding preparatory school, which opened in 1947. The three-storey stone building was largely constructed around 1712 but incorporating elements of an earlier house. In World War I it was used as a hospital. Before WWII it was privately owned by the Salmon family. At the outbreak of war it was commandeered as a dispersal site for the Bristol Engine Company's design office. The estimated cost, largely for building a number of additional huts in the grounds, of £9,000 was considered too much, so the main office staff were instead moved to the Fry's chocolate factory at Somerdale and only leading staff and their support staff, a total of 70, went to the Manor. Apartments were made for senior staff and after Roy Fedden, Bristol's chief designer, was coincidentally bombed out of his house in Bristol on 25 September 1940, during a raid targeted on Bristol's Filton factory, he took up permanent residence. Close House, Upper Tockington Road, was also used as a lodging house. The pre-war garden staff were kept on, now digging for victory to supply the kitchens. The Tockington Manor office was where new engine developments were first planned. One of these had major significance, as Bristol's first gas turbine engine, the Theseus turboprop. This was a source of great disagreement, as Fedden thought that Bristol should concentrate on existing piston engines, but was over-ruled by Frank Owner, Head of the Project Office. This led to Fedden's resignation in 1942, at the height of the war. Towards the end of the war, once the