Alderley, Gloucestershire

Alderley
Alderley
 Alderley shown within Gloucestershire
Population 351 [1]
OS grid referenceST768908
Civil parishAlderley
DistrictStroud
Shire countyGloucestershire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Wotton-under-Edge
Postcode district GL12
Dialling code 01453
Police Gloucestershire
Fire Gloucestershire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentCotswold
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire

Coordinates: 51°36′58″N 2°20′06″W / 51.616°N 2.335°W / 51.616; -2.335

Alderley (also previously known as Alderleigh[2]) is a village and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England, about fourteen miles southwest of Stroud and two miles south of Wotton-under-Edge. It is situated on the Cotswold Way near to the hamlets of Hillesley and Tresham and lies underneath Winner Hill between two brooks, the Ozleworth and Kilcott.[3]

History

The village has an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is referred to as Alrelie[4] meaning "Woodland clearing where alders grow" (from OE alor + lēah).[5] It is recorded as being located in the hundred of Grimboldestou with a total population of 16 households[notes 1] (7 villagers, 5 smallholders, 4 slaves) whilst also boasting 2 lord's plough teams, 7 men's plough teams, 12 acres of meadows and 1 mill; in 1066 the Lord of the Estate was the Saxon thegn Wigot of Wallingford, whereas in 1086 it was the wealthy Norman landowner Miles Crispin.[6]

In a later 1309 document the village is referred to as Alreleye, and in a 1345 document as Alrely.[7]

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the village contained a number of woollen mills,[3] and in Samuel Rudder's A New History of Gloucestershire published in 1779 he states that Alderley had been home to the clothing industry for hundreds of years.[8]

In A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis published in 1831, Alderley is described thus:

ALDERLEY, a parish in the upper division of GRUMBALD'S ASH, county of GLOUCESTER, 2 miles (S.S.E.) from Wotton under Edge, containing 235 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Gloucester, rated in the king's books at £ 11. 4. 7., and in the patronage of Mr. and Mrs. Hale. The village is situated on a hill between two streams, which unite and fall into the LOWER AVON. Cornua ammonis and other fossils are found here. Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice in the reign of Charles II., born here 1 November 1609, lies interred in the church.

Architecture

St. Kenelm's Church

The village contains several interesting buildings:

References

  1. (Census, 2001)"Parish population 2011.Retrieved 30 March 2015".
  2. "DServe Archive Catalog Show". Ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk. Retrieved January 2013.
  3. 1 2 Edmund Heward (1972), Matthew Hale, p. 13, retrieved 2011-03-14
  4. "Alderley". Domesday Book. The National Archives. 1086. Retrieved 2011-03-15.
  5. A. D. Mills (2003), "Alderley", A Dictionary of British Place-Names (Oxford University Press), retrieved 2011-03-16
  6. "Alderley | Domesday Book". Domesdaymap.co.uk. Retrieved January 2013.
  7. "Access to Archives". The National Archives. Retrieved January 2013.
  8. http://www.gsia.org.uk/reprints/1972/gi197242.pdf

Notes

  1. In the Domesday Book, "population" is counted in heads of families, so the actual population was probably up to five times larger

External links

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