Didmarton

This is one of the occasional series of Parish Notes complied by Sue Ross and first published on our Facebook group. You are welcome to comment with further information about the parish.

Didmarton lies on the eastern boundary of Gloucestershire, 6 miles south-west of Tetbury. It sits between two great estates – the Badminton Estate, home of the Duke of Beaufort, and Westonbirt.

The village is focussed on the A433, which rather spoils its rural character.

There is an excellent Conservation Area Statement, which covers the village in more detail.

Didmarton Conservation Area

In 1735, Didmarton and Olbury on the Hill parishes were consolidated. Today, the latter is merely a few houses, and farmhouse, and a church, but in the 18th century, the situation was reversed, and the population of Didmarton was 45, compared to 160 in Oldbury.
The Cirencester and Bath turnpike trust was set up in 1742, and the centre of population moved to Didmarton.
There was a turnpike house, but this has disappeared and is not recorded on any maps.

The photograph is of the church of St Arilda, at Olbury on the Hill. The settlement was located in the fields in the forefront of the picture.

The Church of St Lawrence

The church is a perfect gem, due to an unusual historical accident.

In 1872, it was decided that the church was too small, and the church of St Michael and All Angels was built to the west.

The church of St Lawrence was maintained as a Sunday School, but otherwise the 18th Century furnishings were left untouched.

In 1991, with falling church attendances, the later church was surplus to requirements, and sold. It is now a private house, which can only be briefly glimpsed from the main road. However, if you choose to walk down the footpath to the graveyard, it can be seen from the rear.

St Lawrence, complete with some of its box pews, and 3-decker pulpit, is now used as the parish church.

This pair of elegant ledger stones are set in the floor of St St Lawrences church.

On the left, Mary Croucher is commemorated. She died in 1747, aged 36. Her husband, Robert, lies next to her. He died in 1785, aged 82, was the steward of the Beaufort family. For good measure, there is a memorial on the wall of the church which states

‘Near this place lyeth interred the body of Robert Croucher Gent: of this parifh; who departed this life on the 19th day of December 1785, in the 82nd year of his age.

He was servant 55 years to Henry, 3rd Duke of Beaufort to Charles Noel, 4th Duke of Beaufort and to Henry, 5th Duke of Beaufort forty five years of which time, he executed the office of steward on their feveral eftates in the counties of Gloster & Wilts.

Henry 5th Duke of Beaufort has caufed this stone to be erected to his memory in teftimony of his fidelity, honefty and integrity.’

He married the recently-widowed Mary Rolfe (nee Hatchman) in Netheravon, Wiltshire, in 1740, and they moved to Didmarton shortly afterwards. His presence in Netheravon was due to the fact that the Beaufort estate had a hunting estate, there, and he was involved in the administration.

The Rectory

Didmarton Manor, behind the church of St Lawrance, is the remaining portion of the 17th century manor house belonging to the Codrington family. In the 18th century, the large wings were demolished when the building became the rectory.

The Kip engraving, from 1709, shows its full extent.

The Church of St Michael and all Angels

There are several interesting tombstones in the churchyard of St Lawrence’s.

The first picture is of a group of three memorials, to Daniel Cobb, his wife, and his daughter.

The second is for Henry Benson, who died in 1847, aged 39. He was servant to the 6th and 7th Dukes of Beaufort. He lived at Worcester Lodge, on the Beaufort Estate and, on his death, his wife Martha continued in the occupation of gatekeeper.

St Lawrence’s Well is set in a recess of the garden wall of Kingsmead House across the road from the church. It was apparently blessed by St Lawrence circa AD600.

It is said that the spring has never frozen nor dried up. The Well was, until recently, attended by a pump made by J. Fletcher, a Yate engineer, and feeds into an horse trough 5m to the east.

The Lock-up

The Congregational Chapel is approached by a footpath, running past land that was recorded as garden plots in the Tithe Apportionment, and is still used as well-tended allotments.

It was built in 1843, and was in use until recently.

The Kings Arms

The Kings Arms was built in 1652 as a coaching inn. In 1745 it was leased out from the Beaufort estate for a period of one thousand years at 6d. per annum. A reference in 1856 gives the location as Oldbury on the Hill.

The Kings Arms was sold at auction at the Beaufort Arms at Petty France to Mr Cooke of the Tetbury Brewery for £750 in 1843. After the acquisition of Cooks’ Tetbury Brewery by Stroud Brewery Company it became a ‘Stroud House’. It subsequently became a Whitbread village local until 1992 when it was sold as a free house. It is still a popular local pub.

(with thanks for the information and image to www.gloucestershire.pubs.co.uk)

Worcester Lodge

Worcester Lodge is an astonishing building. One passes it driving down the A433, and it is set back from the road, so that there is a brief impression of ‘what’s THAT’ before it disappears (or at least, that’s how I felt when I first saw it).

It was created by William Kent in 1746 and set on the northern edge of the vast Badminton estate. It marks the start of an arrow-straight, three-mile grass avenue that terminates at Badminton House itself.

Henry Benson, whose memorial has been previously mentioned, lived here with his family, in the ground floor rooms. One wonders at the domestic arrangements of living in a gatehouse like this?

Joyces Pool

Joyce’s Pool can be seen at the eastern end of the village. As the text says, it is one of the sources of the river Avon.

It was used as a watering place for the village livestock, and has recently been reclaimed from the wild by local volunteers.

Thanks to www.archiuk.com for use of the map.

The Church of St Arilda

The church at Oldbury on the Hill is dedicated to St Arilda, a virgin martyr who probably lived in Kington, just outside Oldbury on Severn, in the the 5th- or 6th-century.

She once had a shrine at Gloucester Cathedral, but the only churches dedicated to her in Gloucestershire are at Oldbury on Severn and her, Olbury on the Hill, leading to some researchers stating that there is a link between the two places.

In fact, it seems to have been the result of a clerical error. In his article in the BGAS, Richard Coates explores this further.

The church stands on a hillside, with only a substantial farmhouse beside it. It is cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.

https://www.bgas.org.uk/tbgas_bg/v137

The interior is bare (and cold) but still retains its box pews, two decker pulpit, and the row of hooks which churchgoers could hang their hats (on the left of the altar).

Manor Farm sits behind the church.

Every year on the first Saturday in March, it is the starting point of the Duke of Beaufort’s Point-to-Point and is host to Point-to-Point enthusiasts from all over the county.

Due to changes in ownership or farming practices course longevity is not one of the sports strong points, so for one to last 75 years is a major milestone. It moved to its current location in 1947, prior to which it led a nomadic existence which saw the meeting staged at approximately 15 different venues over the preceding 40 years.

Some publications state Didmarton opened in 1956. However, during its early years it was referred to as Oldbury on the Hill, but a 1954 course map (see below) proves conclusively they are the same course. In fact, the fixture had not moved far from the pre-war course at Leighterton (1930-1939), which is less than half a mile from Didmarton.

(with thanks to 75 years of the Beaufort Hunt Point to Point for this information).

Published: 6 months ago