Stoke Gifford is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England, in the northern suburbs of Bristol. It had around 11,000 residents at the 2001 census, increasing to 15,494 at the 2011 census. It is home to Bristol Parkway station and Stoke Gifford depot, on the London-South Wales railway line, and the Bristol offices of Aviva which took over Friends Life in 2015, Hewlett Packard and the University of the West of England. The parish includes neighbouring Little Stoke, Harry Stoke and Stoke Park. The parish borders Filton, to the south-west, Patchway to the north west, Bradley Stoke to the north and Winterbourne and Hambrook to the east. To the south Stoke Gifford is served by the Bristol Ring Road, south of this a large green area known as the 'Green Lung' stretches to the inner city area of St Werburghs. Descent of the manor Giffard Following the Norman Invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror gave the manor of Stoke Gifford to Osbern Giffard, one of his knights. Giffard himself was a native of Longueville-le-Giffard, Normandy, now known as Longueville-sur-Scie, from which the 'Gifford' suffix derives. The 'Stoke' part of the name may come from the Stoke Brook, or may also be a reference to the Saxon word 'Stoche' meaning 'property of or dependent farmstead'. Bradley Stoke and Stoke Lodge, both 20th-century estates, were also given the name. Extensive histories of Stoke Gifford can be found online. Berkeley The manor remained in the Giffard family until 1337, when it was granted to Maurice de Berkeley (died 1347), 2nd son of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1271–1326). Thus was founded the long and distinguished cadet branch of "Berkeley of Stoke Gifford". In 1553 a new late-Tudor manor house was built by Sir Richard Berkeley (died 1604), 7th in descent from Maurice de Berkeley (died 1347). It became known as Stoke Park, and was rebuilt in 1750 by Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (died 1770), from a neo-classical design by Thomas Wright. Governance The area falls in the Stoke Gifford electoral ward. This ward starts in the east at Winterbourne. The total population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 15,494. Local amenities The Church of England parish church of St Michael's is a Grade II* listed building. The church runs a pre-school nursery in the old vicarage, and a small coffee shop in the Old School Rooms across