| Highnam | |
Highnam Court |
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Highnam
Highnam shown within Gloucestershire |
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| Population | 2,014 |
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| OS grid reference | SO795195 |
| Shire county | Gloucestershire |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GLOUCESTER |
| Postcode district | GL2 |
| Dialling code | 01452 |
| Police | Gloucestershire |
| Fire | Gloucestershire |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Tewkesbury |
| List of places: UK • England • Gloucestershire | |
Highnam is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of the city of Gloucester. It is three miles northwest of the city on the A40, on its way to Ross, west of Alney Island and Over Bridge. The parish includes the villages of Lassington and Over. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 2,014.[1]
Highnam was originally made up of farm land, which explains some of its street names (Brimsome Meadow, Poppy Field, Stoney Field, Long Field, Peters Field, Williams Orchard, et al.). As a village, Highnam is fairly small, containing a few social amenities. Its contents include the Church of the Holy Innocents, a school (Highnam C of E Primary[2]), a village hall, a day nursery, a village shop and a doctor's surgery.
Wealthy artist Thomas Gambier Parry purchased the Highnam Court estate in 1837. He remodelled the Court and laid out the Highnam Court gardens; he was one of the first to make a pinetum.[3]. Highnam Court gardens are now open to the public.[4]
His son, the composer Hubert Parry, learnt to play the organ in the church.
Highnam has an eighteen hole golf course and a large business park just outside the main village.
Aside from buildings, it is home to both football and cricket teams Highnam Court Cricket Club and also Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Brownies groups. A new feature in 2007 was the addition of a Youth Café.
Highnam Woods to the west of the village are managed by the RSPB as a nature reserve, and Lassington Woods are to the east of the village.
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The church of the Holy Innocents, Highnam was constructed between 1849 and 1851 at the request of Thomas Gambier Parry in memory of his first wife and those of his children who died at an early age. The church was built in a Gothic style and designed by Henry Woodyer.
Gambier-Parry adorned the whole of the chancel, including the roof, and much of the nave with frescoes using a new "spirit fresco" method he adapted from his study of Italian fresco painters. Referencing England, the church has been described by John Betjeman as "The most complete Victorian Church in this country".[5] In Simon Jenkin's book England's Thousand Best Churches, Holy Innocents was rated as #4*.[6]
A major restoration of the church and frescoes was brought to completion in 1994. The grade I listed church forms an ensemble with its listed Church Lodge, Rectory, Memorial Hall and Old Schoolhouse on the edge of the park of Highnam Court.[7]
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