For the month of May, I’ve chosen a rural parish – Frocester- lying between the Severn and the edge of the Cotswolds.
from Arthur Mee’s ‘The King’s England’
‘From its windy hilltop, we see the valley of the Severn, the Malvern Hills, the towers of Gloucester, and the mountains of Wales.
It has a Tudor house, a mediaeval church, a quaint little chapel once part of the house, and one of the biggest tithe barns in the country’.
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Away from the village, you will see one of Frocester’s churches, St Peters, set well away from the village and in ruins, and not one, but two, toll houses.
The village stands on the crossing of two Roman roads, one running north-south, the other from Cirencester to Arlingham.
Later it was diverted, making two right-angled turns to skirt the grounds of the Court and rejoin its former route south of the house.
The road was turnpiked in 1726, and Frocester became the first coaching stage on the journey from Gloucester to Bath. There were toll-booths south of Frocester Court and at the top of Frocester Hill.
The turnpike road climbed Frocester Hill on a steep route until 1783 when, at the instigation of the vicar George Hayward, it was diverted up a gentler incline to the south.
Map is used courtesy of https://www.archiuk.com/
St Peters Church
St Peters church had become ruinous and was abandoned in the 17th century. It was restored in 1849, when the Graham Clarke family and others promoted the rebuilding of the old church, although the vicar opposed the plan because of the church’s inconvenient position and favoured building a new church in the centre of the village (the present church, St Andrews).
The rebuilt church was consecrated in 1852 and services were shared between it and the chapel until 1873, when the chapel ceased to be used and in its turn fell into disrepair.
The masonry was used to build the chapel of Marling Church, and a small plaque (just about visible on the wall of the tower) commemorates this.
The charming model of the church, pre-demolition, was made in the 19th century and is kept in St Andrews church.
The interior of the tower.
St Peters Churchyard
Mr Arthur Price, the parish historian, who kindly showed us round the parish. He and his father, Edward Price MBE, catalogued the tombstones in the churchyard of St Peters, then stacked them to preserve them. They are now covered in ivy – he is standing next to a pile of them.
Ralph Bigland, who recorded the memorial inscriptions of Gloucestershire in the mid-18th Century, which are such an asset to Gloucestershire genealogists, is buried here.
The memorial to John Webb is a replacement – a copy of the older, decayed, slab and paid for by a descendent who visited Frocester.
Billy Goodrich was born around 1880 and, according to Alfred Keys’ book of 1954, was reputedly the illegitimate son of a local squire. Keys, who probably knew Billy personally, described him as “half-crazy, half- inspired; in the true line of descent from Shakespeare’s fools”. Apparently, conversations with Billy usually comprised a mixture of childish babblings combined with deep wisdom.
For further information, follow this link
St Andrews Church
Looking at the list of incumbents, it can be seen that three generations of the Hayward family served here in the 18th Century.
The tomb of John Huntley Esq.
Huntley purchased Frocester Court in 1554 for £806. He was active in county administration, serving on a number of commissions. Queen Elizabeth to Huntley’s home, declaring that ‘with great humanity’ she had consented to spend a night there on the way to Berkeley Castle.
A rather pretty font, tucked away at the back of the church
The George Inn
A rather bleak picture of the George Inn, built in the 1750s and reconstructed in 1820.
It was once an important coaching inn on the route from Gloucester to Bath. Here horses rested before tackling the arduous climb up Frocester Hill. The name was changed to the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars in the early 1970s but reverted back to the George in 1997. Before returning to its proper identity of the George it was known for a year or two as the Royal George – combining both the old names. It is now called the George Inn. The George Inn was named Country Life Country Pub of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
from https://www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk
From the Stroud News and Gloucestershire Advertiser 7th June 1872
‘William Pick
Having taken this Old-established FAMILY and COMMERCIAL HOTEL. Occupied by the late Mrs Sarah Trueman for the last twenty years, respectfully informs the Public that he will still continue to conduct this Business in all its Branches, much to the satisfaction of those who kindly favour him with their commands….Good and extensive Stabling, with every accommodation, and Coach Horses. A dog cart kept for hire at the Hotel.’
William died in 1901, and his son, William, continued to run the George until 1933.
Frocester Hill
Frocester Hill – a view that has largely disappeared, due to tree growth. Ralph Bigland’s description from the 1750s cannot be bettered.
‘Southward from the Village is a very lofty Hill, the summit of which seems evidently one of the fastnesses occupied by the Danes; a conjecture formed from the appearance of entrenchments and the discovery of skeletons. The road leads down a winding terrace, the acclivities of which are made very beautiful beech woods. Following this singularly magnificent prospect, as it presents itself, flanked on the left side by Cam Down, of a volcanic shape, and the bold promontory of Stinchcombe, two wide reaches of the Severn are seen in the foreground – an expansive and cultivated Vale, interspersed with village churches, which pleasingly mark the distances. Beyond are the Forest Hills and, as we descend, the landscape is closed by the blue mountains of Malvern and the turrets of Gloucester.’
The route of the original, steeper, route can be seen, forking off to the left. The house was originally a toll house.
Postcard reproduced courtesy of the Stroud Area Photographs and CotswoldPicture Postcard Facebook page
Frocester Manor
Frocester Manor. There was a large house on the site in 1737 and it was called the Manor House in 1838, but later in the 19th century it was rebuilt or remodelled in brown brick in Tudor style with steep gables. The Graham Clarkes lived there until 1961 when it was bought by a charity for adults with learning disabilities. The charity moved from the house in 2016, since when it has been empty.
Frocester Court
The Estate Barn
Frocester Estate Barn (not a tithe barn) is one of the most important barns in England and one of the best preserved. It is also unusual in that it is still used for agricultural purposes. It was built in the late thirteenth century.
The huge roof is supported on an internal cruck frame raised on stone bases. At one end is a raised platform for milling machinery, inserted in the 19th century. The roof had to be replaced after a fire in the early 16th century.
In the past, part of the space was sub-divided and used as dwellings.
The village shrank during the 19th century when several cottages were demolished. Apparently the Graham Clarke family preferred to demolish the low-quality housing, which had the added benefit of encouraging poorer families to leave the parish.
This row, once called Rotten Row, was built for railway workers.
In 1841, the row was occupied by Nathaniel Beard, Joseph Woodman and John Millard, and their families. All three men were agricultural labourers.
The School
In 1831 a day and Sunday school, supported by the principal inhabitants, was started in a building in Frog Lane provided by the Graham Clarke family; a salaried master and mistress were teaching 80 children in 1833. A new building was provided in 1860, and in 1874 the school was supported by voluntary contributions, apparently mainly from John Graham Clarke, by school pence, and by a small legacy. The school had an average attendance of 25 in 1885, and 40 in 1911. In 1922, when attendance had fallen to 16, the school was closed, the children going to Leonard Stanley. In 1931 the school building housed the village institute, but in the early 1950s it was adapted as a private house.
The Station
The station opened with the railway in 1844 and remained virtually unchanged throughout its life, being the least-used station on the Bristol to Gloucester line.
Passenger and goods services were withdrawn from Frocester on 11 December 1961, four years before other local stations on the line lost their services. The station buildings were demolished and the signalbox also closed. The station-master’s house remains in residential use.
The monochrome image is used with the permission of the Gloucestershire Social History facebook page.
The Ballast Line
A former mineral railway line once ran between Frocester station and gravel pits at Frampton-on-Severn.
Sometimes known as the Ballast Pit Branch, it ran for a couple of miles from Frocester station to the extensive gravel pits at Frampton-on-Severn. Gravel was transported along the branch railway to the main line at Frocester, and also shipped along the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal. Large quantities were transported to Avonmouth Docks and Chepstow dockyard during their construction. The Chepstow dockyard was greatly enlarged during the First World War, with plans to build multiple modularised ships of up to 3000 tonnes, needed to replace losses caused by German U-boats.
German prisoners-of-war were used to build the line and the small metal crosses, in St Peters churchyard, commemorate two who died in the work.
Non-Conformity
In the 19th Century, the Graham Clarke family owned nearly all of the parish. In the 1860s a member of the family went to Sri Lanka and owned a rubber plantation. This later diversified into tea production. A descendant was the owner until his elder brother died and he had to return to take over the Manor estate. There is still a Frocester Plantation in there.
Sources
Frocester – a Romano-British Settlement, its Antecedents and Successors
Volume 4 – The Village
by Eddie Price
published by Gloucester and District Archaeological Research Group MMVII
A copy of this is held at Gloucestershire Archives, ref GL2. It is an invaluable collection of anything a historian (whether local or family) would need to know about the parish.