To quote Arthur Mee, in his book The King’s England – Gloucestershire –
‘Lovely grey stone has built its cottages, the garden walls, the fine church, and its companion the old great house, sheltered by noble beeches and a splendid cedar.’
More prosaically, the Victoria County History tells us that
‘The rural parish of Shipton Moyne lies 2½ miles south of Tetbury and 3 miles north-west of Malmesbury. The ancient parish contained 2,360 acres and was compact in shape. Until the transfer to Gloucestershire of Long Newnton in 1930 it marched on three sides with Wiltshire.’
The Church of Saint John the Baptist
The church was almost totally rebuilt by the local landowner, Thomas Henry Sutton Sotherton Escourt in 1864, in thanksgiving for recovery after a severe illness; the porch was erected by the widow of the late Major General J B Estcourt; the font was given by Mr Estcourt’s youngest sister, and the building is full of the memorials of the Estcourt family (taken from Mr Estcourt’s obituary in 1871).
(The name Sotherton was adopted so that Mr Estcourt could inherit large estates in Yorkshire.)
It presents (to the writer’s mind) a massive appearance, of being designed to impress, perhaps attesting to the importance of the Estcourt family at the time, who lived at nearby Estcourt House.
These two figures are a reminder of the earlier history of the church, and of how much was lost in wholesale 19th century restorations. They are from the early 14th century and carved, perhaps, by a local stonemason who wasn’t entirely sure of how to use ballflower decoration (apart from liberally).
The Estcourt Chapel was also untouched by the Victorian restoration, and holds the tombs of the family, including one moved from Lasborough church.
Estcourt House
All that remains of Estcourt House are the stable block and the walls of the gardens.
The house was demolished in 1964, as it was too expensive to maintain. The aerial photograph, from the Historic England website, shows it in its prime.
The family owned estates and land all over Gloucestershire, including at Tetbury, Long Newnton and Shipton Moyne. For more information on the family, see this link on the village website.
Estcourt Of Estcourt | Shipton Moyne Village
The Park is now used to raise race horses. Several footpaths run across it, between Tetbury and Shipton Moyne village. The spire of Tetbury church can be seen in the distance.
The sale of timber was always important in the estate’s economy. In 1901 the parish had 102 acres of wood and plantation.
When viewing the landscape, one forgets (or perhaps the writer does) that many of the small plantations that dot the landscape were of economic importance. A landowner would have to choose between species that were more attractive and slow-growing, or the more utilitarian firs and spruces that would realise a quick profit.
They also provided cover for foxes, if the landowner was partial to hunting.
Whatever the motive, the shade of this plantation was extremely welcome on a hot day in July, 2024.
The Estcourt family devised several schemes to help the poor and to reduce the burden of the poor-rates.
Before 1820 an allotment scheme was introduced by Thomas Estcourt; 26 small holdings were leased by the year. By 1845 the scheme included 60 holdings distributed in three fields south-east of the village, and in 1865 they covered 15 acres.
This information comes from the invaluable Victoria County History (accessible on-line as british-history.ac.uk). The only evidence that I can find of them is from the Tithe Map from the 1840s (courtesy of another invaluable site – maps.bristol.gov.uk/kyp – where the fields outlined in green are listed as being owned by Thomas Estcourt Esq, and occupied by ‘sundry occupiers’. By the time of the First Edition of the OS maps in 1844, there is no evidence of them, and the road has moved to where the blue line is indicated.
Again, according the the Victoria County History, they were still in use in the early 1920s.
The school building was built on land provided by T G B Escourt, replaced are previous dilapidated building. It was completed in 1843.
Closed in 1971, it became the Village Hall.
The almhouses were built in 1843 by the Estcourt family, and are now a private residence
Shipton Mill
Shipton Mill was discovered by the current owners in 1981 and was a derelict, though impressive, Cotswold stone building at the end of a rutted track. A tributary of the River Avon wound round the site but the mill race was choked and the mill wheel was all but rusted away.
The machinery to clean the corn and drive the traditional French Burr Stone Millwheels has been lovingly restored and where necessary modern equipment has been cunningly blended in. Stoneground flour of the highest quality is once again being milled by dedicated and highly skilled Shipton Millers as it was in Medieval times. There has been a mill here for over 900 years, as recorded in the Domesday book and even in those days much of the grain milled here would have come from the surrounding fields as it does today.
its current layout was created during the Napoleonic wars when the miller needed more water to power the mill. He persuaded the local authorities to lend him a platoon of French Prisoners of War to divert the stream closer to the mill.
Nowadays the mill and its associated waterways are home to a thriving and diverse ecosystem from the bats in the mill eaves to the trout and crayfish in the crystal pure stream waters fed by springs. It is said that otters pass by and the striking blue flashes of the kingfishers are an almost hourly occurrence.
(thanks to Cotswold Life Magazine for this information).
The Cat and Custard Pot
Nonconformity in the Parish
Like other Gloucestershire parishes with a powerful local landowner hostile to Dissent, no Nonconformist chapels were built in the parish.
In an article of 30th May 1885, the Stroud Journal shines a light on the passions that Nonconformity created at the time.
The article is responding to claims that Nonconformist chapels were political clubs.
‘If they had been at Shipton Moyne church on Sunday evening May 24th, they would have been treated to a political sermon and church defence all rolled into one, Liberalism was abused, Dissenters, Liberals, and Liberationists were quartered and then hung up to dry. The people were warned against these evil doers and disturbers of the constitution and the church. They were also told how to vote, and to see that they made no mistake by voting. They were to defend the grand Conservative party, the old mother church, the parson and the squire, and not to listen to those miserable Radicals, who are seeking to pull down the throne and the constitution. This is the gospel in a parish church.’
The north-south alignment of the village street suggests that the most significant route through the parish was originally one linking Tetbury with the Foss Way by way of Cranmore lane (highlighted yellow); the Foss Way (running along the easterly boundary and highlighted in green) remained in use in the mid 18th century. However, by the 17th century Cranmore lane had been superseded in importance by Malmesbury way, recorded in 1677, leading south-eastwards from the village. It was turnpiked in 1798, and there was a turnpike house recorded on the tithe map (position indicated by a yellow dot on the map) that had disappeared by the time of the 1st edition of the OS map, perhaps because it stood next to the lodge gates to Estcourt House.
Other Sources
What you have read here is only a partial view of the information available for the Parish. If you wish to find out more, I would recommend that you look at
Shipton Moyne Village In Gloucestershire Near Tetbury
A fascinating source of information on the history of the parish.