The name is colloquially used today to describe the ribbon village along Bell Hill and Park Road in the Frome Valley.

It comprises an eclectic mix of housing mainly from the Victorian, Edwardian, inter-war and late 20th century periods.

It is convenient for the M32 motorway (with rapid access the M4 and M5), it is a semi rural area within two miles of central Bristol and it boasts a popular public school.

The antiquary John Weever, quoting the 16th-century Tuscan merchant Lodovico Guicciardini, defined a staple town "to be a place, to which by the prince's authority and privilege wool, hides of beasts, wine, corn or grain, and other exotic or foreign merchandize are transferred, carried or conveyed to be sold".

The Saxon hamlet of Stapleton, first documented in 1208, stood at the edge of the forest, just north of the River Frome.

[3] The Indian social reformer Ram Mohan Roy died at Beech House, the home of Lant Carpenter, nursed by his daughter Mary in 1833.

In 1863 a cricket club was formed, its most famous player being Dr. William Gilbert Grace who played for Gloucestershire and England.

[11] (Purdown is reputedly haunted by the ghost of a Duchess of Beaufort who was struck by lightning, though many believe she died in a horse riding accident.

This has helped provide rapid access to Cardiff and Newport in South Wales, the M4 Corridor towards London and the Birmingham area.

In 1854 the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, Bishop Monk, whose official residence was what is now Collegiate School, offered to rebuild the Church at his own cost, desiring “my fellow parishioners to understand that my motives in this work are to remove the source of dispute and contention for pews, caused by the inadequate size of the Church, and to provide sittings for the poor as well as other classes of Parishioners”.

In 1544 St. James’ Priory with all its assets, including the rectory and tithes of St. Giles’ Church, was sold to Henry Brayne, a merchant tailor of London.

In 1626 the Heath House estate, with the rectory and tithes, was bought by Thomas Walter, from whom they descended to the Smyth family of Ashton Court, as described in the tablet over the North Door.

The lay rectory and tithes were surrendered by Greville Smyth in 1857, when the Vicar became the Rector, but the right of presentation to the benefice was retained by the family until 1948, when it was transferred to the Bishop of Bristol.

Coupled buttresses at its angles rise boldly in five stages to the rich parapet and are capped with crocketted pinnacles.

Lady Chapel The oak reredos and communion rail were given in memory of Lt. Fitzroy Charles Phillpotts, who fell at Gallipoli in 1915.

North Sanctuary The two lights show Joshua, Gideon, Caleb and David, with, above: (a) Gideon receiving his commission to destroy the Midianites; (b) David slaying Goliath; and below: (a) Joshua's vision of the captain of the Lord's host before Jericho; (b) Caleb smiting the sons of Anak.

Edward Gore Langton, of Stapleton Park (now Beech House), died 1860, a veteran of the Peninsula and Waterloo).

(a) St. Giles, with his hand pierced by the arrow intended for his friend, the hind; (b) St. Augustine of Canterbury; (c) St. Lucy of Syracuse, beheaded for her faith.

On the West wall of the North Aisle are tablets erected by Jane Smyth to her mother and aunt, and another to the Revd.

When the second church was demolished this font was sold to Bishop Monk's former butler, who kept the Bell Inn, where it was used as a geranium pot.

The font, of Dundry stone, has an overflow channel in one corner; other marks show where the hinges and lock were fitted for the font-cover, necessary to prevent the superstitious use of the consecrated water.

[13] Originally called Stapleton house, it became the home of the Bishop of Bristol and Gloucester in 1840 after his previous residence was burnt down during the Reform Bill Riots.

The green plays host to many village and community events including Summer Fayres and barbecues, Christmas carol concerts.

Many of the working residents have technical positions within the University of the West of England, Ministry of Defence and Hewlett-Packard, whose campuses are all within five kilometres of the centre of the village.

The combination of easy access to the city and its major employers and lower than average congestion levels makes Stapleton an increasingly desirable place to live, pushing up house prices.