Woodchester

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.

The parish of Woodchester lies on the west side of the Nailsworth valley, two miles south of Stroud. Its eastern boundary follows the Nailsworth stream, on which several cloth-mills were built, and the southern boundary is formed by the Inch brook and ornamental ponds built on the brook by the late 18th century.

South and North Woodchester are connected by narrow lanes, precursors of the busy A46 that runs along the bottom of the valley, just across the parish boundary.

The Nailsworth, Woodchester and Dudbridge Turnpike

Today, the busy A46 runs along the eastern boundary of the parish, and it is difficult to imagine a time when it didn’t exist, and the road ran along meandering lanes on the hillside, parallel to the A road, but raised above it.

The Nailsworth, Woodchester and Dudbridge turnpike was created by local mill owners in 1780. With the growth of the use of machinery in the later 18th century in the making of cloth, more and more of the processes were being concentrated on mill sites on the water, and access to those mills became more important. The development of a lateral valley route close to the places of manufacture, replacing the earlier hill tracks to the cottages of out-workers.

The Roman Villa

Woodchester Roman pavement dates to c. AD 325 and is sited under the old church and churchyard at the northern end of the parish. It was re-discovered by Gloucestershire-born antiquarian Samuel Lysons in 1793. The villa was one of the largest found in Northern Europe with 64 rooms and 13 mosaics – the Orpheus pavement is the largest and was uncovered in 1814, 1822, 1834, 1842, 1846, 1852, 1880, 1890 , 1926, 1935 (visited by 30,000 people), 1951 (seen by 42,000).

In 1954 four other mosaics were uncoverd for two weeks.

In 1963 the Orpheus mosaic was open for a month and nearly 50,000 visitors saw it.

In 1973 it was open for seven weeks and 140,000 visitors caused such traffic congestion that the villagers decided it should not be shown again.

A replica mosaic was created by brothers John and Bob Woodward, who were inspired after seeing the original pavement. The replica was displayed at Prinknash Abbey in Gloucester, England before being auctioned in June 2010 for £75,000.

The photograph is of the replica pavement.

The Old Church

A church dedicated to St Mary stood on the site of the Roman villa, at the far north of the parish, until it was abandoned in the mid-19th Century. It was found to be too small, and had fallen into a bad state of disrepair. Now only some of the walls remain, including a fine Norman arch, a several substantial memorials.

The new church, built further to the south, was consecrated in 1863.

Some of the monuments within the church were moved to the new place of worship.

This entry in the Religious Census of 1851 (when the old church was still in use), gives and interesting glimpse of churchgoing at the time

‘free seats are much needed. Large seats capable of accommodating ten adults are appropriated to mansions from which only three or four attend and sometimes less’.

St Mary’s Church

The new site for St Mary’s church was chosen as being closer to the centre of population in the village, and having plenty of land for a large churchyard. It was consecrated in September 1863, though the service was delayed as the Bishop of Gloucester missed the train and had to make the journey on horseback.

The architect was S S Teulon, who designed several other Gloucestershire churches, and the Nibley monument.

Priory Church of our Lady of the Annunciation

One of the possible reasons for the building of St Mary’s church was the erection of this Roman Catholic church in the 1840s. It was the centrepiece of a complex of priory buildings, sadly mostly demolished in 1970.

The Dominican Priory and Franciscan Convent

The Dominican Priory was built in 1845.

A model in the adjoining church, and the photograph, shows its extent.

A Franciscan Convent, later adopted by the Poor Clares, was built nearby in the 1860s. It closed in 2011 and the five remaining nuns moved to a House in Lynton.

Baptist Chapel

This church was built in 1825. Before this services had been held in private rooms by the minister from Kings Stanley Baptist Church. Peter King, one of the founders, was the brother of Mary Clutterbuck, who helped establish the Stroud Baptist Chapel. The

church remained under the control of King’s Stanley until 1833, although baptisms continued there for a number of years. In 1869 there were 65 members on the church roll. In 1920 the church shared a minister with the Nupend Chapel, Eastcombe. The church closed 1981 and is now a residential dwelling.

(with thanks to https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/media/1rohpohq/stroud_valley_non-conformists-61143.pdf for this information).

The Mills of Woodchester

The historic prosperity of the Stroud area, owes much to the production of cloth, an industry that can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Fulling was probably the

first cloth process to be mechanized. A cloth fuller was recorded in Woodchester in 1272 and, of the mill sites whose origins can be traced back that early, most have dabbled in cloth manufacturing processes at some point in their history.

By the later 18th century Woodchester was famous for its broadcloth and the larger mills had become showplaces, the earliest napping-mill in the locality having been introduced to Southfields Mill.

By the end of the century the Stroud valleys’ cloth trade was in terminal decline, having finally been beaten by competition from Yorkshire. Many of the mills closed or were adapted to other industries. The manufacture of needles, pins, machine parts, bobbins, reels, umbrella handles and walking sticks came to the area, as did the manufacture of ready-made clothing. The Hill Paul building in Cheapside

was custom built for this new trade at the turn of the century.

The Round House (now a domestic residence) was built to dry teasels, used in the woollen industry to raise the nap of the fabric. It is sited next to Frogsmarsh Mill.

The Pauls of Woodchester were a particular success story. Having arrived from Flanders in the 17th century, they were soon living a genteel life. Along with Lord Ducie of neighbouring Spring Park, Onesephorous Paul played host to the Royal party during the Prince of Wales 1750 visit to the area. The Prince toured Paul’s mill, Southfield Mill, and was received at Southfield House, which was elaborately re-modelled to honour the royal visit. Onesephorus Paul was later made a baronet, becoming Sir Onesephorous Paul.

The Glass House

An earlier industry was glass making. Refugee Huguenots built a circular glass house in Collier Woods (circled in blue) that was in operation between 1590 and 1615. It was, however, in danger of being closed almost as soon as it was built.

In 1591 Sir Jerome Bowes had paid Elizabeth I a good sum for a monopoly on the manufacture of glass vessels for 12 years. In 1598 he petitioned the Queen for powers to suppress illicit glassmakers, stating ‘certaine persons that lately have erected howses and furnaces…for making of Drinking Glasses, namelie in…Gloucester and one Hoe a Frenchman hath built a glass house and furnace and doth make a greate quantitie of glasses.’

Despite this, it seems that the Woodchester glasshouse survived into the 17th century, and only went out of use following a law passed in 1615 which forbade the use of wood for glass-making – this was the death knell for all the small wood furnaces in England, and production of glass moved to Bristol, Stourbridge and Newcastle where coal was abundant to fire the furnaces.

Some fragments of the glass found at Woodchester survive today in the Museum in the Park’s collections in Stroud. In addition, the museum is lucky to have a small number of reproduction pieces commissioned by Basil Marmont to represent the vessels as they would have appeared when newly made.

With thanks to the website of the museum for this information.

Woodchester Glass and the Huguenots — Museum in the Park

Two water troughs by the side of the road.

Woodchester Station

Woodchester station actually lies just outside the parish. A railway was built in 1867 linking Nailsworth with the main line at Stonehouse.

The station opened six months after the railway and its other stations, on 1 July 1867. The delay was allegedly due to resistance from objectors who thought the provision of a station might encourage attendance at the nearby Catholic chapel. When the station was provided, it was given scruffy wooden buildings, unlike the substantial stone-built stations elsewhere on the line.

The line was closed for passenger traffic in 1947 and for goods services in 1966.

The station master’s house is all that remains of the station, and the line is now a cycle track.

Woodchester Mansion

Woodchester Mansion, an unfinished project started by William Leigh, the builder of the Priory, is a remarkable piece of Victorian Architecture. Construction was abandoned on Leigh’s death, in 1873, but even before then, doubts were cast on the advisability of living on the site. James Wilson, a Bath architect who had been asked to take over the project, wrote this

‘I consider the situation far from the best that might have been selected on the estate; it is low, damp, and has much shut-in on the south, west and north, so that a free circulation of air is impeded. Its position is much too close to the high bank on the north, which will always keep the house damp, and if this bank were sloped off and formed into terraces (which must be allowed with a large outlay) still there would be a closeness and humidity, which would always prove to be detrimental.’

The mansion was abandoned by its builders in the middle of construction, leaving behind a building that appears complete from the outside, but with floors, plaster and whole rooms missing inside. It has remained in this state since the mid-1870s. It has been in the hands of a trust since 1992, and can be visited on certain days in the Summer.

For further information, see Home – Woodchester Mansion

Pubs in the Parish

In 1838 there were one public house and ten beer-houses in the parish, and now two remain.

The Royal Oak is still running, but the Ram Inn closed during Lockdown and its future is uncertain.

The Winslow Boy

This was the family home of George Archer-Shee, the Winslow Boy, prior to his death at the First Battle of Ypres in 1914, aged 19.

The trial, which became a British cause célèbre, was the inspiration for the 1946 Terence Rattigan play The Winslow Boy, which has been the basis of two films. Following his acquittal, the boy’s family were paid compensation in July 1911.

Sources

Woodchester – Stroud Local History Society

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Published: 3 months ago