Stonehouse, Gloucestershire
Encyclopedia
Stonehouse, Gloucestershire is an urban area within the Stroud District
, in the UK. It is home to a number of factories, such as Dairy Crest
and Schlumberger
. The town is close to the M5 motorway
. Stonehouse railway station has a regular train service to London
. The town is situated approximately three miles west of Stroud
and twelve miles south of Gloucester
.
written in 1086. There was a manor house built in stone - quite different from the many wattle and daub
buildings that were normally found. And so the area was named Stanhus in the book. The name evoluted from Stanhus to Stonehouse : stān > stone + hūs > house, as an effect of the great vowel shift
at the end of the Middle Ages.
William De Ow
, a cousin of William the Conqueror, owned the manor, whose grounds included two mills and a vineyard. In 1327, one of the manor's masters, John Maltravers, was found guilty of involvement in the murder of Edward II
in Berkeley Castle
, and fled abroad.
The manor house burned down in 1908. Today, on the same site stands Stonehouse Court Hotel
, a Grade II listed manor house
, which is now a hotel. It is located next to St Cyr's Church and the Stroudwater Canal. One of the original mills remains in operation.
, (now part of the Thames and Severn Canal
) was cut and relics of the canal can still be seen. Ocean Bridge was an iron swing bridge where canal boats would turn. Once there was a repair yard here. Canal restoration is actively underway.
Business increased further when the land was prepared for the opening of the Midland Railway Station
in 1844, and the Great Western Railway Station
a year later. The Midland Railway Station was closed under the Beeching Axe in 1965. The towns growth has continued since the M5 was built close by in 1972.
The town's Parish church is St Cyr's, after St Cyriac or St Cyril. George Whitefield
, the Gloucester-born evangelist, preached here
On 12 September 1940, a lone Dornier flew along the Stroud Valley and photographed the area. Detailed mapping of the Sperry factory was noted by German Intelligence, in preparation for a raid in February 1943, although this never occurred.http://stonehousehistorygroup.org.uk/page47.html
Stonehouse is very well situated for business and business growth due to its central UK location and close proximity to the motorway nextworks of the M5 & M4. Today Stonehouse has a large number of residential housing estates, including Council housing and a small High Street.
The Woolpack Inn is one of the oldest buildings in Stonehouse (17 Century) and is certainly one of the oldest pubs in the town. It was the coaching hostelry for Stonehouse and the coach from Bath stopped there. There was 33 public houses and beer houses in Stonehouse in 1838, now there are only 2.
One of the most well known establishments in the area is Wycliffe College
, now a public school. Starting life in 1882, it incorporates Haywardsend, an old Tudor farmhouse. Maidenhill School is the town's comprehensive, 11-16 mixed secondary school. In the town thereare two primary schools the Park Infant which host years reception- year2 and Park Junior school years 3-6 each school has two classes per year.
The preschools include quietways at the memorial hall red lodge playgroup and the children's centre.
The stone which gave the town its name was replaced by red brick as the builder's material of choice . Due to the availability of raw materials in Stonehouse, brickmaking began there in 1856 with evidence of possible prior brickmaking as early as 1839 or 1840 and of as many as thirteen brickmaking sites altogether. The largest and last to close of the brickmakers, Stonehouse Brick and Tile Company Ltd., was located where the Rosedale housing estate now stands. It was founded in 1891, and by 1895 employed a large number of people in making pottery
, terra-cotta, and bricks. The company closed in 1968 and the 202 foot high chimney was demolished. Bricks and other materials made by the company were not only used locally (notably in the Stonehouse police station and post office) and in other areas of Britain, but were also used as far away as Cape Town
, Gibraltar
, and Buenos Aires
, with those used in Gibraltar transported there on the RMS Lusitania
during her sea trials.
The football club, Stonehouse Town F.C.
, has four teams, with the top one currently playing in the Northern Senior League
.
Stroud (district)
Stroud is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England. It is named after its largest town, Stroud, and has its administrative headquarters in Ebley Mill, in the Ebley area on the outskirts of the town.thumb |left |Ebley Mill...
, in the UK. It is home to a number of factories, such as Dairy Crest
Dairy Crest
Dairy Crest Group plc is a major dairy products company in the United Kingdom. Its brands include Cathedral City Cheddar cheese, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite, Clover, St Ivel and Frijj. The company delivers milk to around 1.1 million households via their milkmen...
and Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
. The town is close to the M5 motorway
M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...
. Stonehouse railway station has a regular train service to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The town is situated approximately three miles west of Stroud
Stroud
Stroud a town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England.Stroud may also refer to:*Stroud, New South Wales, Australia*Stroud, Ontario, Canada*Stroud , Gloucestershire, UK*Stroud...
and twelve miles south of Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
.
Stonehouse Manor
Stonehouse was mentioned in Willam the Conqueror's Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
written in 1086. There was a manor house built in stone - quite different from the many 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...
buildings that were normally found. And so the area was named Stanhus in the book. The name evoluted from Stanhus to Stonehouse : stān > stone + hūs > house, as an effect of the great vowel shift
Great Vowel Shift
The Great Vowel Shift was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in England between 1350 and 1500.The Great Vowel Shift was first studied by Otto Jespersen , a Danish linguist and Anglicist, who coined the term....
at the end of the Middle Ages.
William De Ow
William De Ow was a Norman noble and a cousin of William the Conqueror. At the time of the Domesday Book he was a landholder in Dorsetshire, Gloucestershire, and Somerset, and he was the owner of what is now known as Stonehouse Manor, a grade II listed manor in the Cotswolds town of Stonehouse,...
, a cousin of William the Conqueror, owned the manor, whose grounds included two mills and a vineyard. In 1327, one of the manor's masters, John Maltravers, was found guilty of involvement in the murder of Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
in Berkeley Castle
Berkeley Castle
Berkeley Castle is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK . The castle's origins date back to the 11th century and it has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.The castle has remained within the Berkeley family since they reconstructed it in the...
, and fled abroad.
The manor house burned down in 1908. Today, on the same site stands Stonehouse Court Hotel
Stonehouse Court Hotel
The Stonehouse Court is a Grade II listed manor house in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England which is now a hotel. It is located next to St Cyr's Church and the Stroudwater Canal.- History :...
, a Grade II listed manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
, which is now a hotel. It is located next to St Cyr's Church and the Stroudwater Canal. One of the original mills remains in operation.
Town growth
Town Growth was partly due to good communicatiions for transport, In 1779, the Stroudwater NavigationStroudwater Navigation
The Stroudwater Navigation is a canal linking Stroud to the Severn Estuary in England and Wales. It was authorised in 1776, although part had already been built, as the Proprietors thought that an Act of Parliament obtained in 1730 gave them the necessary powers. It opened in 1779, and was a...
, (now part of the Thames and Severn Canal
Thames and Severn Canal
The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a canal route from Bristol to London. At its eastern end, it connects to the River Thames at Inglesham Lock near Lechlade, while at its western end, it...
) was cut and relics of the canal can still be seen. Ocean Bridge was an iron swing bridge where canal boats would turn. Once there was a repair yard here. Canal restoration is actively underway.
Business increased further when the land was prepared for the opening of the Midland Railway Station
Stonehouse (Bristol Road) railway station
Stonehouse railway station was a station in Stonehouse, England, on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway between Haresfield and Frocester.-History:...
in 1844, and the Great Western Railway Station
Stonehouse railway station
Stonehouse railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, England. The station is located on the Swindon-Gloucester "Golden Valley" line.-History:...
a year later. The Midland Railway Station was closed under the Beeching Axe in 1965. The towns growth has continued since the M5 was built close by in 1972.
The town's Parish church is St Cyr's, after St Cyriac or St Cyril. George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
, the Gloucester-born evangelist, preached here
World War 2
When the threat of world war two became clear in the late 1930s, the Cotswolds were seen as a suitable location for the dispersement of aerospace shadow factories, being a safe place away from German bombers range. Smiths were co-located to Bishops Cleeve and Stonehouse was chosen as a good place to build factories for the manufacturers Sperry and Hoffmann. These two factories employed many people during the war and for along time after wards ensuring employment in the town for many years.On 12 September 1940, a lone Dornier flew along the Stroud Valley and photographed the area. Detailed mapping of the Sperry factory was noted by German Intelligence, in preparation for a raid in February 1943, although this never occurred.http://stonehousehistorygroup.org.uk/page47.html
Post War
In the past thirty years, Stonehouse has seen substantial growth within industry; large multi-nationals such as ABB, International Intelligence Limited and Intelligent Armour Limited have moved in to the area.Stonehouse is very well situated for business and business growth due to its central UK location and close proximity to the motorway nextworks of the M5 & M4. Today Stonehouse has a large number of residential housing estates, including Council housing and a small High Street.
Features
Doverow Hill is a former quarry and there are many surrounding hills and a small cliff that looks out onto the whole of Stonehouse.The Woolpack Inn is one of the oldest buildings in Stonehouse (17 Century) and is certainly one of the oldest pubs in the town. It was the coaching hostelry for Stonehouse and the coach from Bath stopped there. There was 33 public houses and beer houses in Stonehouse in 1838, now there are only 2.
Wycliffe College (Gloucestershire)
Wycliffe College is a co-educational independent school located in the town of Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, in the West of England. The school was founded in 1882 by GW Sibly, and comprises a Nursery School for ages 2 – 4, a Preparatory School for ages 4 – 13, and a Senior School catering for...
, now a public school. Starting life in 1882, it incorporates Haywardsend, an old Tudor farmhouse. Maidenhill School is the town's comprehensive, 11-16 mixed secondary school. In the town thereare two primary schools the Park Infant which host years reception- year2 and Park Junior school years 3-6 each school has two classes per year.
The preschools include quietways at the memorial hall red lodge playgroup and the children's centre.
The stone which gave the town its name was replaced by red brick as the builder's material of choice . Due to the availability of raw materials in Stonehouse, brickmaking began there in 1856 with evidence of possible prior brickmaking as early as 1839 or 1840 and of as many as thirteen brickmaking sites altogether. The largest and last to close of the brickmakers, Stonehouse Brick and Tile Company Ltd., was located where the Rosedale housing estate now stands. It was founded in 1891, and by 1895 employed a large number of people in making pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, terra-cotta, and bricks. The company closed in 1968 and the 202 foot high chimney was demolished. Bricks and other materials made by the company were not only used locally (notably in the Stonehouse police station and post office) and in other areas of Britain, but were also used as far away as Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, and Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, with those used in Gibraltar transported there on the RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
during her sea trials.
The football club, Stonehouse Town F.C.
Stonehouse Town F.C.
Stonehouse Town F.C. are an English football club representing the town of Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, currently playing in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League...
, has four teams, with the top one currently playing in the Northern Senior League
Gloucester Northern Senior League
The Gloucestershire Northern Senior League is a football competition based in England founded in 1922. The league is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA. It has two divisions, Division One and Division Two, with Division One sitting at level 12 of the English football league system. This...
.