Alderton, Gloucestershire

Alderton is a village in Gloucestershire. It lies about 24 km north of Cheltenham, 10 km east of Tewkesbury, 12 km south of Evesham and 24 km west of Stow-on-the-Wold. The main roads are the B4077 (aka Stow Road) and the A46.

Administration

The parish forms part of the wider Alderton benefice incorporating the nearby villages of Dumbleton, Little Washbourne and Greater Washbourne. The benefice is administered from St Peter's church in Winchcombe. Local government is provided by a parish council, Tewkesbury borough council and Gloucestershire county council.

Alderton Fields

Alderton parish includes the satellite settlement of Alderton Fields, which is conjoined with Gretton Fields, Gretton. The distinctiveness of Alderton Fields, as a separate entity to Gretton Fields, was the subject of controversy when in the early 2000s, a road sign declared the whole area to be named Gretton Fields. The sign has subsequently been moved to the Gretton parish boundary, and a new sign for Alderton Fields erected.

Oak Hill

The name of the hill between Alderton and Dumbleton is the subject of local rivalry. There are three peaks to the hill, which are distinctively and separately named Dumbleton Hill, Alderton Hill and Oak Hill on Ordnance Survey maps. To avoid controversy, the local primary school - which has two sites, one each in Alderton and Dumbleton - took the name Oak Hill. However, local residents will use the three names Oak Hill, Dumbleton Hill and Alderton Hill interchangeably to refer to the same hill, rather than the individual peaks.

Population and Facilities

The village itself has around 500 residents, a local garage and petrol station, the Gardners Arms pub, a thriving village shop which incorporates a post office and the church of St Margaret of Antioch (Church of England). The previous Methodist chapel has long since been converted to a private house. There is also the Junior campus of Oak Hill Primary School - the Infant campus being located in nearby Dumbleton. There are also a number of pubs in the outlying areas around the village, notably the Hobnails Inn at Little Washbourne. A milkman continues to provide doorstep delivery of dairy and bakery goods on certain days of the week - including milk sourced locally from dairy farms in the parish (although pasteurisation occurs at the Cotteswold Dairy plant in Tewkesbury).

Most of the residents are either retired or commute to jobs in nearby Tewkesbury, Cheltenham or Evesham. A small number of people are employed in farming (there is a large dairy farm in the parish, plus sheep and wheat farming) and also tourism (there are several Bed and Breakfast guest houses, and a number of houses available for holiday rental). The Winchcombe Camping and Caravanning Club has a large campsite on the B4077 near Gretton, and there is a free public WiFi hotspot provided from nearby Frampton Cottages. ADSL broadband is available throughout the parish. In December 2006 a book documenting life in the village, along with some of its history, was published. The book was featured in the April 2007 edition of Country Life magazine.

Architecture and Environment

Lying on the fringes of both the Cotswolds and the Vale of Evesham, the village incorporates both Cotswold stone and red brick architecture, in addition to wattle and daub half-timbered thatched structures, plus a number of more modern houses and bungalows which have Cotswold stone cladding. There are also a small number of council houses with white pebbledash. Several houses in the outlying areas of the parish are constructed in a striking Victorian style using local red brick manufactured from a now-defunct clay mine on the top of the nearby Oak Hill (aka Dumbleton Hill or Alderton Hill); these were originally constructed as farmworkers' cottages for the Dumbleton Hall estate (the hall itself is now a hotel).

A footpath system connects the village over the wooded Oak Hill to the nearby village of Dumbleton. These footpaths are known locally as "The Dungeons" due to the deep channel that they cut into the hillside and the darkness of overhanging trees. Oak Hill itself remains a managed estate, with organised game bird shooting and rearing of deer for sale to other game estates. A number of friendly and not-so-friendly gamekeepers ensure public safety by directing ramblers to stick to marked footpaths.

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Alderton,_Gloucestershire Alderton, Gloucestershire] at Wikimedia Commons