Kingswood, Gloucestershire

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This Kingswood should not be confused with Kingswood in South Gloucestershire, a town now physically, though not administratively, absorbed into the conurbation of Bristol.

Kingswood is a village in southern Gloucestershire south-west of Wotton-under-Edge (it is at grid reference ST746920). It is in the Stroud district and constitutes a civil parish. The parish had a population of 1,290. Kingswood Abbey was a Cistercian abbey, located within the village of Kingswood; the abbey was founded in the year 1169 by William of Berkeley in accordance with the wishes of his uncle, Roger II of ; Berkeley, and colonised from the Cistercian house at Tintern.(Archives Hub, 2006) All that survives today is the 16th century gatehouse, which is under the care of English Heritage. Other vicinity medieval buildings include Malmsbury Abbey and Beverston Castle.

Due to frequent floods at Kingswood, the monks colonised a nearby site that became known as Calcot Manor, where the Kingswood monks built an auxilliary tithe barn facility.(Lumina Technologies, 2006) The original Calcot datestone is extant within the porch of the tithe barn interior and reads: "ANNOGRE MOCC HENRICI ABBATIS XXIX FAI DOM H EDIFICATA", verifying founding by Abbot Henry in the year 1300 during the period of King Edward I.