Woodchester
Encyclopedia
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....
village in the Nailsworth
Nailsworth
Nailsworth is a town in Gloucestershire, England, lying in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds. It has a population of around 6,600 people and lies on the A46 road....
(or Woodchester) Valley, a valley in the South Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, running southwards from Stroud
Stroud, Gloucestershire
Stroud is a market town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District.Situated below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets and cafe culture...
along the A46 road
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...
to Nailsworth
Nailsworth
Nailsworth is a town in Gloucestershire, England, lying in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds. It has a population of around 6,600 people and lies on the A46 road....
.
Woodchester is approximately at the mid-point, about two miles south of Stroud. It is divided into North and South Woodchester, with a side valley between the two settlements. There are pubs in both North and South (The Royal Oak in North and The Ram in South) and a post office with a shop in North Woodchester. There was a post office (called Woodchester) in South Woodchester but it closed, along with the shop, in June 2008. Woodchester is notable as the location of Woodchester Roman Villa
Woodchester Roman Villa
Woodchester Roman Villa was situated at Woodchester near Stroud in the English county of Gloucestershire.It is one of many Roman villas discovered in Gloucestershire and was occupied between the early 2nd and late 4th centuries AD. There is now nothing visible of the villa above ground and the site...
. The village
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...
's parish church of St Mary's was designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon
Samuel Sanders Teulon
Samuel Sanders Teulon was a notable 19th century English Gothic Revival architect.-Family:Teulon was born in Greenwich in south-east London, the son of a cabinet-maker from a French Huguenot family. His younger brother William Milford Teulon also became an architect...
.
Woodchester is home to the Bottle Green Drinks Co, established by Kit and Shireen Morris in 1989 to make Cotswold spring-water based soft drinks and cordials using their expertise as winemakers, and now a brand name recognised around the UK and the world.
The nearby Woodchester Mansion
Woodchester Mansion
Woodchester Mansion is an unfinished, Gothic revival mansion house located in Woodchester Park near Nympsfield in Woodchester, Gloucestershire, England...
is regularly open to the public and stands in a landscaped valley. This valley is now owned by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
and is open daily. There are three waymarked
Waymarking
Waymarking is an activity where people locate and log interesting locations around the world, usually with a GPS receiver and a digital camera. Waymarking differs from geocaching in that there is no physical container to locate at the given coordinates. Waymarking identifies points of interest for...
walks. The car park is at Nympsfield
Nympsfield
Nympsfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located around six miles south-west of the town of Stroud. As well as Nympsfield village, the parish also contains the hamlet of Cockadilly....
near Coaley Peak
Coaley Peak
Coaley Peak is a picnic site and viewpoint in the English county of Gloucestershire.Located about south-west of the town of Stroud overlooking the village of Coaley, Coaley Peak offers of reclaimed farmland with views over the Severn Vale and the Forest of Dean. It is next to a Woodland Trust...
, not at Woodchester as some visitors suppose.
Education is provided by the Woodchester Endowed C of E Primary School under Headteacher Mr Soutar, that serves around 135 pupils. Following the Ofsted inspection on 6 June 2007, the school was rated Good, point two on a four point scale. The school has secured the Healthy Schools award.