Originally separate parishes, Fretherne and Saul were combined in 1884. The new parish also contained five detached parts of the parish of Eastington.
The boundaries are largely defined by water – the River Severn, and the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.
The parish has four settlements – Framilode, Upper Framilode, Saul and Fretherne.
Fretherne
Fretherne has no village, but is composed of scattered houses. The church of St Mary the Virgin is a fantastical small church. It the third church on this site and is considered to be an outstanding example of early Victorian architecture. It was built in 1847 by the Reverend W. Darell.
He created a mortuary chapel to his father in law, Sir Edward Tierney, through whom he had inherited nearby Fretherne Court, and the living.
The registers begin in 1631, and are virtually complete.
Fretherne Court is no more, as it was demolished in 1924 (only 74 years after its construction). It was built by the Rev’d Darell in 1850 and was a large and ornate house of stone in the Venetian style, three stories high and with a tower.
A good description of Sir Edwards renovations can be read in Sir Lionel E. H. M. Darell’s memoirs – written about 1950:
“My grandfather – Rev. Sir William Lionel Darell, 4th Baronet (1817–1883) – had come from Richmond Hill, London to a little village of Fretherne, the living being presented to him by Sir Edward Tierney. Sir Edward completely transmogrofied the humble little refectory of Fretherne, building on to it many extra reception rooms, a ballroom, billiard room, water towers and halls, and last but no means least, a charming little chapel just inside the front entrance hall. Our airey nurseries were on the second floor, but in those days there was no electric light, central heating, or bathroom of any description. The Kitchens were large, designed after the big kitchen at Christ Church, Oxford, but the food had to be brought up many passages”.
The photograph is of the rectory.
There are several interesting tombstones in the unusual circular churchyard.
The Shirley family owned 2 estates in Jamaica, using slave labour.
James Ayliffe ran Steam Mill (also known as Ayliffe’s Mill) in nearby Framilode.
The third, almost illegible, one has a poignant carving of a bird mourning its dead partner, a device I haven’t seen before.
The last is tucked away, but has not suffered from much weathering, so we can still read the inscription to William Rowles, who died in 1721.
Framilode
At the beginning of the 19th Century Framilode was the centre for the production of iron and tin plate, especially carders for the Gloucestershire woollen mills. With the decline of the woollen industry, workers were forced to move away, or accept poorly-paid manual labour on local farms.
As was common in this period, the great and the good believed strongly in the benefits to be enjoyed from attendance at church, to receive spiritual guidance, but also in the church’s ability to offer much-needed guidance with regard to moral and civil behaviour.
Francis Niblett, who also designed the very-different Fretherne church, was commissioned to build a church here, which was consecrated in 1854.
There was a crossing of the Severn at Framilode Passage.
In 1803 the ferry made no profit but brought good trade to the Passage House inn, which was rebuilt in the late 19th century and named the ‘Darell Arms’. The ferry continued in occasional use until the Second World War.
‘Melancholy Accident: On Thursday last, as the ferry was crossing the River Severn at Framilode-Passage, deeply laden with cattle coming from Ross fair, she unfortunately shipped some water, filled, and sank about half-way over, at the depth of ten feet. The cattle swam for different parts of the shore. The drover who had them in charge, and two boatmen, were the only persons on board: one of the latter supported himself upon a plank, the other mounted one of the horses, but, being a stout, powerful man, the animal sunk under him…he sustained himself by swimming till boats from the shore picked him and his companion up. But their unhappy passenger [the drover] perished…’
(with thanks to www.localdroveroads.co.uk/westbury-to-the-blue-boys/ for this information).
In the last century, there were several tea rooms in Framilode, including a temperance one. All have now disappeared, apart from Pridings Tea rooms, no longer a tea room but, visible to the rear of the house.
For a delightful description of the area in the 1940s and ’50s by Michael Ayland, go to
https://michaelayland.co.uk/?page_id=762
Nothing now remains of the basin at Framilode, as it was filled in in 1954 and is now a private garden.
It was built in the 1790s, partly paid for by the Thames & Severn Canal Co, to provide space for vessels bringing Newport coal to transship into local barges that could carry up to Brimscombe and beyond. Before the construction of the canal, the mouth of the Frome was used as a harbour for trading vessels.
To the east of the basin was a warehouse to the north and a house for the lock-keeper near the bridge. Near the river was a row of three cottages owned by the Stoudwater Company.
The photo shows the cottages, and what remains of the canal. In 1979, this section of the canal was bought by the Fretherne and Saul Parish Council. There has been attempts over the years to maintain the canal, but much of it has become overgrown with reeds and the water level can be significantly reduced during dry weather conditions. Over recent years, a team of volunteers has started to worked on clearing out some of the dense reeds that have taken over and to improve the towpath.
with thanks to https://maps.bristol.gov.uk/kyp for the map, and https://stroudwaterhistory.org.uk/framolode-lock-basin/ for the information.
Saul
Little remains of the old village but in the 19th century prosperity came to the area with the owning of boats which could take cargoes from the River Severn, the Stroudwater Canal (opened in 1779) to Stroud and beyond.
The Gloucester to Sharpness canal was opened in 1827, ships arriving from all over the world and at The Junction where the Stroudwater canal crosses the Gloucester to Sharpness canal is a boatyard (a reminder of when earlier boats were built in the area). Close by, Cadbury, the chocolate maker, had a factory where local people were employed and the canal was used by boats delivering milk, cocoa beans and sugar to make raw chocolate crumb which was then delivered to the parent factory at Bourneville, again by boat.
Barge and trow owners of the 19th century built houses in Saul, and it’s worth taking a stroll through the village to see the delightful, and sometimes eccentric dwellings.
The Church of St James the Greater
Until 1839, this was a chapel of Standish, and only became an independent parish in 1866.
In 1385, John Taylor, the priest of the church, was murdered by James Clifford of Frampton on Severn. James received a pardon after paying a fine.
The Jacobean pulpit of St James church in Saul, dated 1636, records the names of John Moren and Edmond Beerd. According to Ancestry, Edmond was baptised in Saul, in 1604, and a John Moren was baptised in Gloucester in 1611. Perhaps they were churchwardens?
Nonconformity had a strong presence in Saul in the 19th Century, but, it seems not without problems.
‘The conduct of the Wesleyan Conference preachers has been the means of dividing nearly all the congregation away from the chapel. Otherwise some five months ago there was a flourishing congregation attending this place of worship …. Those who formerly worshipped here hold religious meeting in their houses’.
from the 1851 Religious Census.
A Congregational Tabernacle was built in 1867.
Neither of these now stand, hence the picture of the Severn, taken from Framilode.
According to the Gloucester Pubs and Breweries site, there were several pubs in Framilode and Saul in the 19th and early 20th century. All have now gone, except the Ship Inn. from The Citizen, Saturday May 16th 1998
‘The Ship Inn at Upper Framilode, as its name suggests, was one of the many hostelries that thrived along the route of the River Severn and Sharpness Canal during the heyday of England’s inland waterway traffic. The pub was a favourite watering hole with bargees and canal workers in the days when Gloucester was a great port and seagoing vessels cruised up the canal in droves. But even after the canal trade declined, the pub continued to thrive thanks to Framilode’s popularity with day trippers who came to enjoy the local tea gardens and possibly a snort of something a bit stronger.’
Next to Fretherne church, where the war memorial now stands, was the site of Mr Richard King Fryer’s tavern, the Crown, which, if it had remained, would have straddled the new churchyard. Instead, it was demolished and moved to Mangrove Farm.
Saul Junction
At Saul Junction, the Stroudwater Canal (running from north-west to south-east) is crossed by the Gloucester ship canal, originally known as the Gloucester & Berkeley Canal and later as the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal.
Forming the Junction in the 1820s involved building a new lock to raise the level of this section of the Stroudwater Canal by about five feet. This huge undertaking created a unique crossing of two independently owned canals, and opening bridges carried the towpath of each canal over the other. There were also two sets of stop gates in the Gloucester canal to allow water levels to be lowered if necessary for maintenance.
The Junction is now maintained as an attractive area for visitors (with Green Flag status) and the Cotswold Canals Trust runs a visitor centre nearby.
with thanks, again, to https://maps.bristol.gov.uk/kyp/?edition=glos for the map, and https://stroudwaterhistory.org.uk/ for the information. Both sites contain a whole treasure-trove of information, which I have barely touched on here, and are well-worth a further look.
A remarkable story is associated with the Fretherne Estate.
Sir Lionel Darrell had inherited not only Fretherne Court and the surrounding area from his father-in-law, Sir Edward Tierney, but the estates of the Earls of Egmont, in Ireland. Sir Edward had been bequeathed them by the 5th Earl of Egmont, whose financial advisor he had been.
One day in the closing months of the year 1860, a stranger called at Fretherne House in Somerset, the home of Sir Lionel Darrell, the son-in-law of Sir Edward Tierney, and now the owner of Egmont Estates. Sir Lionel enquired the purpose of the stranger’s visit. The stranger said how he had information on how the will giving the Egmont estates to Sir Edward Tierney was obtained, and with that information he could break the Will of the Earl. He would give the information to the Egmont family unless Sir Lionel Darrell gave him the sum of £500 which he badly needed. Sir Lionel on hearing this ordered the stranger from the house. The stranger then went to the house of the Earl of Egmont and gave him all the information he had concerning the Will of Henry 5th Earl. Immediately the 6th Earl took action against Sir Lionel Darrell for the recovery of the estates. The case which was the most remarkable to ever come before the Irish Courts in the 19th century was tried during the Summer Assizes at Cork in 1863.
There is no space here to continue the story, but I would recommend following this link for further information.
http://churchtown.net/history/earls-of-egmont/
When the final act was over the court was told that the Earl of Egmont got back his estates and Rev. Sir Lionel Darrell was awarded £125,000 and costs.
with thanks to Churchtown Heritage Society » Earls of Egmont for this information. It is well worth following the link for further information that can’t be included here.