Longford, Gloucestershire

Longford
Longford Inn during 2007 floods
Longford  Longford shown within Gloucestershire
OS grid reference	SO839205
– London	103m
District	Tewkesbury
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Ceremonial 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	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Gloucester
List of places UK England Gloucestershire

Coordinates: 51°53′05″N 2°14′01″W / 51.884602°N 2.233508°W / 51.884602; -2.233508

Longford is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. Although situated within two miles of Gloucester city centre, Longford parish falls within the jurisdiction of the Borough of Tewkesbury. ^[1]

The village borders the Tewkesbury Road running north out of Gloucester and is bisected by the A40 northern bypass at the busy Longford roundabout.^[2]

Longford was severely affected by the July 2007 floods ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]} resulting in the many homes being flooded. The bar at the Queen's Head on the Tewkesbury Road was under a couple of feet of water ^[8] and the flooding extended along the Tewkesbury Road, past the Longford Inn as far as Westfield Terrace.

Longford is primarily residential, and is home to Oxstalls Sports Park and Tennis Centre, the Winfield Hospital ^[9] and both Longford AFC and Gala Wilton Football Clubs.

In 2016, the former England football captain, Stuart Pearce, briefly came out of retirement to sign a one-match deal with Longford AFC, a team dubbed 'The worst in Great Britain', in order to support the grass roots game.^[10]

A new primary school is due to open at Whittington Park, Longford, in September 2017 ^[11] near the Longford Village Hall. ^{[12] [13]}

History

From Gloucester, the Tewkesbury road ran northwards from Alvin gate through the settlements of Kingsholm, Longford, and Twigworth. In Kingsholm it was joined by a road from the blind gate, which in its south part was known in 1803 as Dean's Walk and in its north part in 1722 as Snake Lane (later Edwy Parade). Bridges and a causeway carried the Tewkesbury road over water courses and low-lying meadows in Longford, which took its name from the crossing. ^[14]

On the Tewkesbury road north of Kingsholm a house was converted into three cottages in the early 19th century. Further north in Longford there was a small early settlement at the south end of the causeway, where a medieval cross and possibly a chapel stood. There was evidently a house there by the early 13th century, when a man surnamed of the plock was recorded, and Plock Court, east of the road, occupied the site of a medieval manor house.

In 1851 market gardeners were fairly numerous in Longford and Twigworth, and later there were several market gardens and nurseries at Longlevens (called Springfield) and Innsworth.

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Longford like this: ^[15]

Sport

• Oxstalls Tennis Centre, Oxstalls Sports Park ^[16][17]
• Gala Wilton Football Club
• Longford F.C.^[18][19][10]

References