Selsley

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Selsley is a small village of around 175 houses located approximately 2 miles from Stroud, in Gloucestershire. Being scattered around the edge of a hill, the village somewhat lacks a focus. Stanley Park is an old Manor House in West Selsley dating from the time of Elizabeth I, though most of the existing buildings date from the 19th century and cluster more around The Bell pub in East Selsley.

Running through the village is Water Lane - a prehistoric track that winds its way to North Woodchester and thence to South Woodchester. In parts, its banks tower ten feet overhead, cloaked by hawthorn, blackthorn, ash and beech. Spring water rushes along the two sides of the lane. As you stroll, listen for the clatter of hooves and the chatter of voices left from the millennia of traffic that has used this road. Selsley Church, commissioned by the Marling family and modelled by Bodley in the French gothic style. This is no ordinary church for inside are its famed stain-glass, a commission undertaken by William Morris.

Selsley Common is a vast open expanse packed full of the rare and beautiful. A silent wind rushes over the grass. The call of a bird can be caught on this wind and carried for miles. From the road you cannot see the view to come; the Common still rises in front of you and you have to march across the turf, over a thick carpet of grass and herb. During the summer you may have to avoid wandering cattle as Commoners can, and still do, exercise grazing rights that have been theirs for a thousand years. Despite rash attempts to enclose this land, it has been vigorously defended over the years. Indeed the first recorded dispute was in the Saxon period, and the threat to enclose the Common in the 19th Century met with vocal public outrage. Dotted over the Common are the long abandoned remains of old quarries once used to supply stone for building and walling. A quick grub will easily throw up fossils to take home. Lesser hollows are the remains of a medieval soldier's camp.

You reach the scarp face quite suddenly. The grass tumbles hundreds of feet to the flat Severn Valley. It is a splendid view, one of the best in the country. The Severn could be a shimmering ribbon laid in front of the Forest of Dean, waiting to wrap it like a parcel. Beyond the Forest lie the Black Mountains and beyond these the Brecon Beacons. To the north-west the mass of Elgar's Malvern Hills heaves over the land. It is so easy to hear his music and that of Vaughan Williams, Holst and Parry, all of whom have deep connections with the County.

This is a view to linger over, breath the sweet air and absorb the contrasting beauty of valley, vale and hill. Before moving off the Common, take a short walk to the Bronze Age barrow. Imagine a funeral rite taking place here with the wind howling. Further on, what was once thought to be an iron Age feature - a small dyke - is now more likely to be part of a Bronze Age burial complex.