Alderton, Gloucestershire
Encyclopedia
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
.
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.
. 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.
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.
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.
and red brick architecture, in addition to wattle and daub
half-timbered thatched
structures, plus a number of more modern houses and bungalow
s which have Cotswold stone cladding. There are also a small number of council house
s 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.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
. It lies about 24 km north of Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, 10 km east of Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...
, 12 km south of Evesham
Evesham
Evesham is a market town and a civil parish in the Local Authority District of Wychavon in the county of Worcestershire, England with a population of 22,000. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon...
and 24 km west of Stow-on-the-Wold
Stow-on-the-Wold
Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is situated on top of an 800 ft hill, at the convergence of a number of major roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way . The town was founded as a planned market place by Norman lords to take...
. The main roads are the B4077 (aka Stow Road) and the A46
A46 road
The A46 is an A road in England. It starts east of Bath, Somerset and ends in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway development...
.
Administration
The parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
forms part of the wider Alderton benefice
Benefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...
incorporating the nearby villages of Dumbleton
Dumbleton
Dumbleton is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire. The village is roughly 20 miles from Gloucester and 50 miles from Bristol.The village is known to have existed in the time of Ethelred I who granted land to Abingdon Abbey, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book.St Peter's church is...
, 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
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...
borough council and Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
county council.
Alderton Fields
Alderton parish includes the satellite settlement of Alderton Fields, which is conjoined with Gretton Fields, GrettonGretton, Gloucestershire
Gretton is a small village located at the foot of the western scarp of the Cotswolds, about 9 miles north of Cheltenham in the English county of Gloucestershire....
. 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 hillHill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...
between Alderton and Dumbleton
Dumbleton
Dumbleton is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire. The village is roughly 20 miles from Gloucester and 50 miles from Bristol.The village is known to have existed in the time of Ethelred I who granted land to Abingdon Abbey, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book.St Peter's church is...
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
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
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 officePost office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and the church of St Margaret of Antioch (Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
). The previous Methodist chapel has long since been converted to a private house. There is also the Junior
Junior school
A junior school is a type of school which caters for children, often between the ages of 7 and 11.-Australia:In Australia, a junior school is usually a part of a private school that educates children between the ages of 5 and 12....
campus of Oak Hill Primary School - the Infant
Infant school
An Infant school is a term used primarily in the United Kingdom for school for children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular locality....
campus being located in nearby Dumbleton
Dumbleton
Dumbleton is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire. The village is roughly 20 miles from Gloucester and 50 miles from Bristol.The village is known to have existed in the time of Ethelred I who granted land to Abingdon Abbey, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book.St Peter's church is...
. There are also a number of pubs in the outlying areas around the village, notably the Hobnails Inn at Little Washbourne. A milkman
Milkman
A milkman is a person, traditionally male, who delivers milk in milk bottles or cartons. Milk deliveries frequently occur in the morning and it is not uncommon for milkmen to deliver products other than milk such as eggs, cream, cheese, butter, yogurt or soft drinks...
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
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...
).
Most of the residents are either retired or commute to jobs in nearby Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...
, Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
or Evesham
Evesham
Evesham is a market town and a civil parish in the Local Authority District of Wychavon in the county of Worcestershire, England with a population of 22,000. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon...
. 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
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
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
Gretton, Gloucestershire
Gretton is a small village located at the foot of the western scarp of the Cotswolds, about 9 miles north of Cheltenham in the English county of Gloucestershire....
, and there is a free public WiFi
WIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...
hotspot provided from nearby Frampton Cottages. ADSL broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
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
Country Life (magazine)
Country Life is a British weekly magazine, based in London at 110 Southwark Street, and owned by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.- Topics :The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of rural life, as well as the concerns of rural people...
magazine.
Architecture and Environment
Lying on the fringes of both the Cotswolds and the Vale of Evesham, the village incorporates both Cotswold stoneCotswold stone
Cotswold stone is a yellow oolitic limestone quarried in many places in the Cotswold Hills in the south midlands of England. When weathered, the colour of buildings made or faced with this stone is often described as 'honey' or 'golden'....
and red brick architecture, in addition to wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
half-timbered thatched
Thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
structures, plus a number of more modern houses and bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
s which have Cotswold stone cladding. There are also a small number of council house
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
s 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
Dumbleton
Dumbleton is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire. The village is roughly 20 miles from Gloucester and 50 miles from Bristol.The village is known to have existed in the time of Ethelred I who granted land to Abingdon Abbey, and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book.St Peter's church is...
. 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.