Chedworth

For the suburb of Hamilton, New Zealand, see Chedworth Park.
Chedworth

View over Chedworth
Chedworth
 Chedworth shown within Gloucestershire
Population 802 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSP051122
Shire countyGloucestershire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Cheltenham
Postcode district GL
Police Gloucestershire
Fire Gloucestershire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentThe Cotswolds
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire

Coordinates: 51°48′27″N 1°55′31″W / 51.8075°N 1.9254°W / 51.8075; -1.9254

Chedworth is a village in Gloucestershire, England, in the Cotswolds and is known as the location of Chedworth Roman Villa, administered since 1924 by the National Trust.

Chedworth Parish is bounded by the Foss Way (spelled Foss locally not Fosse as it is in Warwickshire) to the east and River Coln to the north while the southern boundary straggles from The Hare and Hounds Inn at Foss Cross to the River Churn North of Marsden, including the hamlet of Chedworth Laines but not the Industrial Estate of Fossecross or the hamlet of Calmsden.

Governance

Until the 2015 district council elections, an electoral ward in the same name existed. This ward started in the south at Chedworth and stretched north to end at Dowdeswell. The total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 1,705.[2]

After the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England introduced changes to the Cotswold District Council District Wards, changes came into effect at the District Council elections held on 7 May 2015. The new ward is known as Chedworth and Churn Valley.

Roman villa

The villa is a 1,700-year-old 'stately home' between Yanworth and Withington and some miles from Chedworth Village by road although it sits to the south of the River Coln and so is within Chedworth Parish and accessible by footpath from the 7 Tuns Inn in Chedworth by the fit and agile. It was discovered by accident in 1864[3] It is the remains of one of the largest Romano-British villas in England featuring several mosaics, two bathhouses, hypocausts (underfloor heating), a water-shrine and a latrine. The water shrine became very special as the Romans used it to worship the goddess of the natural spring that gives it an endless amount of water. New facilities opened in 2014[4]

History

The oldest house in the village is the manor house, which is situated near the parish church. The village which lines a street over a mile long was formerly three distinct settlements "Upper, Middle and Lower Chedworth" which later merged through infilling and has many attractive Cotswold stone houses, and many unattractive Bradstone Houses. From 1920 until 1960 development was confined to ribbon development along Fields Road to the south of the Village where modern bungalows were erected.

A railway line once served the village – the Midland & South Western Junction Railway (later part of the Great Western Railway), opened in 1891 and closed in September 1961. It ran through Chedworth Tunnel, 494 yards in length, and Chedworth railway station was in a deep cutting. Train services ran from Cheltenham (Midland) station to Southampton Terminus until 1957 when the only surviving train was diverted to Cheltenham St James Station and worked by a Southern Region locomotive from Eastleigh Shed.

During the Second World War there was an RAF airfield at RAF Chedworth. The remnants of this can be seen today.

Chedworth was mentioned in author Craig Thomas' first novel "Rat Trap" published in 1976.

Chedworth Silver Band

Chedworth Silver Band is a traditional Brass Band of approximately 25 players, drawn from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, which plays at a variety of concerts, fetes and church services in the East Gloucestershire and North Wiltshire areas. The Band has a website which lists the band's forthcoming engagements,fees and other news. The Band has links to Chedworth based on-line music publisher Broad-Band Music.[5]

Chedworth organisations

Chedworth Singers perform occasionally at village concerts and church services. Mezzo Soprano Victoria Jess often performs as guest soloist with Chedworth Singers.

Chedworth Drama Group has performed a number of plays at Chedworth Village Hall. The Group led by John Robson has also performed at other venues notably at A Midsummer Nights Dream at Chedworth Manor in 2015.[6]

Chedworth Village Hall was built in 1976 and is a popular facility. Bookings can be made through the hall's own website or by telephone on 01285 343170 [7]

The Guiting Music Festival has announced a series of outreach concerts for the 2016 season at Chedworth Village Hall further enhancing Chedworth Village Hall's position as a live music venue [8]

In 2014, a project team "Chedworth Remembers" was established to commemorate the men of the village who served in the First World War.

Chedworth Parish Council was formed under the Local Government Act of 1894. Its first preliminary meeting was held on 4 December 1894 and the first proper meeting held on 3 January 1895, chaired by the Rev Sackett Hope. Fifteen candidates stood for election to the seven seats available. Subsequently in 1904 again 15 candidates stood for the seven seats and none of the previous incumbents was re-elected. The last opposed Chedworth Parish Council election was in 2015 when 10 candidates stood for the seven available seats. The council holds monthly meetings on the second Monday of each month at 7.30 at the Village Hall. The Parish Council has its own website which gives contact details.[9][10]

Seven Tuns Inn

The Seven Tuns Inn is positioned close to the church at the far western "upper" end of the village. Named after 7 Tuns, variously Chimneys, or Barrels, both of which have featured on the pub sign at different times.[11]

The pub closed for business in January 2014, following the end of the lease held by Young's Brewery some nine months earlier, and two temporary managers. Several false starts later, in March 2015 a new tenancy was agreed and a lease signed in April. Under the management of Liz Henty, The Seven Tuns reopened at noon on Sunday 24 May 2015.[12]

Post Office and Shops

Chedworth had a post office and village store for over 120 years before the final postmistress Miss Lait closed her Fields Road establishment in 1993 leaving Chedworth with no retail outlets. Following a vigorous campaign by local residents, Chedworth Farm Shop opened in 2006, using former dairy buildings at Denfurlong Farm on Fields Road. The farm shop also features a cafe, open daily.[13]

Chedworth Nature Reserve

Fuller information may be found in the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves handbook.[14]

This is a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserve situated on the South side of the Coln Valley and midway between the villages of Chedworth and Withington and next to the Roman Villa owned by the National Trust. The reserve is a section of the disused Cheltenham to Cirencester railway line. The track bed includes both cuttings and embankments. The Trust purchased the reserve in 1969, the line having been closed in 1961. The reserve takes the form of a woodland ride, with expanses of beech woods on either side of the railway line bed. The reserve in 1800 yards long passing through ancient woodland until it reaches the closed Chedworth tunnel. The reserve passes through Chedworth Woods, the second largest woodland block in the Cotswolds.

Chedworth is of interest to geologists and biologists. The former railway cuttings especially those adjacent to Fields Road used to show a geological sequence in the Bajocian stage of the Middle Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago) before neglect allowed the site to become cloaked in vegetation. Fossils could be found in the limestone scree at the base of the cuttings.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Parish population.Retrieved 22 March 2015".
  2. ↑ "Ward population 2011.Retrieved 22 March 2015".
  3. ↑ Chedworth - Roman Retreat, Angharad Moran, Supplement to the British Connection, Archant, 2011
  4. ↑ Wilts and Glos Standard 03-06-2014
  5. ↑ wiltsglossstandard.co.uk
  6. ↑ http://www.hilland valley.org
  7. ↑ Chedworth Village Hall Facebook 07/04/2016
  8. ↑ Hill and Valley News April 2016
  9. ↑ Minutes Chedworth Parish Council
  10. ↑ Westlake, Howard (2007). The Chedworth Story. Trafford Publishing. pp. 100/1. ISBN 978-1-4251-2178-5.
  11. ↑ Westlake, Howard (2007). The Chedworth Story. Trafford Publishing. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-1-4251-2178-5.
  12. ↑ Wilts and Glos Standard 21 May 2015
  13. ↑ Westlake, Howard (2007). The Chedworth Story. Trafford Publishing. pp. 345/368. ISBN 978-1-4251-2178-5.
  14. ↑ Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al, 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust'
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