Newington Bagpath
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bagpath and Newington Bagpath are two small hamlets in Gloucestershire, England. They are often referred to as being the same place and,though formerly a separate parish, today lie in the Parish of Kingscote.
.
Contents |
[edit] Population
Bagpath (as both hamlets are referred to collectively as merely Bagpath) has a population of around 80 people today, including several farms. However the Census from the 1900s shows it was in fact once a bustling village with possibly around 1000 people.
[edit] The Church of St Bartholomew
The parish Church of St Bartholomew was united with the neighbouring parish of Owlpen from medieval times to the late 19th century. The west tower and nave are Norman and medieval, with a chancel added by Samuel Sanders Teulon. The church was declared redundant in about 1972 and is currently in private hands.
[edit] Motte Castle
Near the church are earthwork remains of a motte castle dating to Norman times. The earthworks have an overall diameter of 150ft. The mound rises to 4ft above ground level and is surrounded by a ditch 5ft below which fades out on the scarp side. There were indications of an entrance ramp on the north. A pit dug into the top displayed rubble and possible vaulting. There is a rectangular building platform immediately to the north of the motte.
[edit] Parson Cornwall
The Rev. Alan Gardner Cornwall was rector of Bagpath with Owlpen from 1827 to 1842, resident at Ashcroft House. His memoirs were published shortly after his death and are available online in .pdf format. They are a lively account of his early life with the Clapham Sect in London, his friendship with the Kingscote family of Kingscote Park (now demolished), owners of nearly all the land in the parish from Norman times, and of parish life at a time of great social distress following the decline of the woollen cloth industry in the 1830s.
The sons of The Rev. Alan Gardner Cornwall of Ashcroft emigrated to British Columbia, Canada while it was still a British colony during the gold rush. There they founded the small town of Ashcroft, built for travellers in search of gold, giving them a place to stay and saddle their horses. Links to Bagpath have travelled this far and photographs and maps of the Bagpath area are held in the town's museum.
[edit] Bagpath today
Bagpath is currently home to many large badger setts.
The Scrubbet's Valley in Bagpath was recently the subject of a major planning application for the erection of a new country house. The residents of Bagpath were united in a campaign against the application and permission was refused for the third time by Cotswold District Council in 2003, although those objecting wait to see whether a new application will be submitted.
