Glorious Gloucestershire

Glorious Gloucestershire

by Wallis Peel

Published by Amolibros at Smashwords 2011

Copyright © Wallis Peel 2011

Published in ebook format by Amolibros 2011

Amolibros, Loundshay Manor Cottage, Preston Bowyer, Milverton, Somerset, TA4 1QF

http://www.amolibros.com | amolibros@aol.com

The right of Wallis Peel to be identified as the author of the work has been asserted herein in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

With the exception of certain well-known historical figures, all the other characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is purely imaginary.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Table of Contents

Maps

That County

All Roads go to Rome

Our Wonderful Barriers

Gloucester

Abson

Almondsbury

Badminton

Barnsley

Berkeley

Charfield

Charlton

Chedworth

Cheltenham

Cirencester

Crossed Hands

Dursley

Dyrham

Ferries over the Severn

Filton

Forest of Dean

Hawkesbury

Iron Acton

Killer River

Kingswood

Little Sodbury

Marshfield

Minchinhampton

Miserden

Moreton in the Marsh

Oldbury on Severn

Pucklechurch

Purton

Rangeworthy

Royal Forest Of Kingswood

St Briavels

Sharpness

Slimbridge

Stinchcombe

Stow on the Wold

Stroud

Tetbury

Tewkesbury

The Noose

The Three Sodburys

The Tunnel

Thornbury

Tortworth

Uley

Wapley

Westerleigh

Wickwar

Winterbourne

Wotton-Under-Edge

Yate

Bibliography

Dedication

For Carole Taylor

About the Author

Hazel Peel is the writer of numerous published books, short stories and newspaper features under the names of Wallis Peel and H M Peel. She is a long-established member of the Society of Authors.

She had the normal working-class education of her era but she hated school and left at fourteen. She spent one miserable year in offices then followed her heart’s desire to work with horses. She started at the bottom of the pile and worked her way up as she gained experience and knowledge. She started writing in her late twenties then had gaps because of one thing or another but always, at the back of her mind, was the desire to write.

Glorious Gloucestershire is a collection of articles written for two Gloucestershire papers over a period of several years.

Gloucestershire is a long County which sprawls across both sides of the River Severn. It vibrates with English history as well as the stories of many remarkable men and women. So many of the small villages, which seem either picturesque or inconsequential, echo valiant or terrible deeds. It is very much a mixed County as the landscape ranges from hills down to gentle pasture land, intermixed with natural wet lands yet we know, countless centuries ago, much was sea.

Man has always favoured Gloucestershire just because of its benign temperament. The ancient Britons heavily settled this area in their various tribes always ready and very eager for their usual hobby of Internecene tribal warfare. The Romans too were most enthusiastic about Gloucestershire, and promptly did their own thing by plastering it with their splendid roads.

It is quite remarkable how so many of the County’s little villages, today perhaps sleepy and peaceful, have been touched by the history of a long line of kings and queens, as well as other remarkable citizens – some born in Gloucestershire, and others who adopted it as their home. Perhaps some of this fascination arises from its various gentle scenic views as well as the majestic and awesome power of the mighty River Severn. As today's visitors drive or walk, exploring this county, from north to south then east to west, they too will also fall under the magical spell of GLORIOUS GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

Maps

That County

‘That County’ is the title of a sad poem written during World War I by a private of the Gloucesters who was a prisoner of war. It is both a lament and praise for his homeland and his County and is in T A Ryder’s book a Portrait of Gloucestershire. As Ryder says, the soldier is describing his homeland, a County with no violent peaks or troughs; but a round and gentle, green landscape. That which all of us know today.

It was not always like this though. There were times, millions of years ago, when this land heaved with violent convulsions, when it sweated with a jungle atmosphere, then froze from bitter ice. There had been volcanoes, floods, deluges and all hell on earth which seems impossible to us today.

Thanks to the film Jurassic Park and then later Walking with Dinosaurs we almost feel familiar with such settings yet how different is that about which we think to the actuality. The Jurassic period was 193 million years ago and life was about reptiles ruling as they increased in size and variety with some even taking to the air. Birds developed their feathers so they too could fly but many of these were not the dainty singing creatures that inhabit our bird tables. Some were vicious raptors, destined to get even larger. They would become so enormous they could easily have beaten up a jumbo jet if such had existed then.

It was the next period, the Cretaceous which saw the dinosaurs take over the ruling crown. It is difficult to imagine a dinosaur on top of Uley Hill looking down at today’s Dursley area for food or a mate. How did man get on among all these savage giants? He did not have to because he did not yet exist which was just as well. Primitive man was not due to appear for thousands of years and when he did, he would be called Men of the River Drift. These were the early ancestors of our County’s people.

While waiting on evolution’s calendar, great changes would take place that would have a significant bearing on the future of our County. The land was periodically drowned by the sea and left behind clues in shell life, found in many places. It sweltered when the climate was hot and steamy and African-type animals like elephant roamed around.

Then there would be violent convulsions, great earth movements and the climate would go from very hot to bitterly cold as the ice advanced to smother life. At the same time its heavy weight would be responsible for the contours of the land and when the ice periodically retreated, its melting would gouge out valleys, forming that which one day would be our familiar landscape.

Sometimes the seas would be shallow, at other times much deeper, laying down sludge in which deposits accumulated. At one period, from today’s Tortworth to Charfield a line could have been drawn which gave the sea’s level and during which the various limestones from the carboniferous ages were settling down. In the present day these would be excavated like that at Chipping Sodbury Quarry.

There were deposits of old red sandstone, now known as the Trias marls, very common around Yate. These became the source of the famous Celestine or Strontium Sulphate – a very uncommon ore but one of great industrial value even today. At one time, Yate produced ninety-five per cent of the world’s demands, an extraordinary event. The workings were always surface ones, nothing but large holes in the ground and the mineral itself was clean and colourless or slightly blue or pink. A very pretty ore.

At one period, when the sea did deepen, mud and silts were deposited to form Lisa clay and a large part of the Severn Vale has this. It makes for a heavy soil but is suitable for dairy farming when the land has been properly drained.

Another very famous rock was formed during the Jurassic period, oolitic limestone, which was to become famous and prized for buildings as, once constructed, this stone blends in well with the landscape.

Some clay beds gave us the valuable Fullers Earth which was vital during the sheep rearing and clothing industry times. It has always been used for degreasing the sheep’s wool before it can be washed and then spun. Very valuable to the clothiers.

Only two million years ago, in the Pleistocene age, the glaciers stormed backwards and forward and the sea levels rose and shrank but the landscape very gradually started to take on its present appearance. Ape-like creatures with some intelligence appeared who were able to make stone tools. Did they live in our County? It is possible but there was one enormous drawback. Early man needed caves in which to live, to take refuge against man-eating carnivores. A cave gave some degree of security with a fire at its entrance yet our County has never exactly had that many caves. Unlike some others. It is perhaps possible that primitive man was unenthusiastic about our area for this very reason.

Then, 10,000 years ago, a mere bagatelle in the geological calendar, the seas rose once more and this island became separated from the rest of Europe. But with a now more moderate and temperate climate, forests started to grow and man began to take over. From very primitive man to a slightly more advanced kind our ancestors were now firmly settled on this island. Bold men sailed from Europe to conquer, settle and intermarry with those already here.

The land too had established itself. As forests had been ground down by the various climates, they had rotted and made the coal belt. Colder weathers had tamped this down ever deeper. Wind and storm had shaped the hills and valleys aided and abetted by retreating glaciers.

Rivers, stream and springs were all in place. So were the rocks and ores. Man had progressed slightly and organised himself into units and tribes. His homes were nothing but pathetic huts, wattle and daub with luck. His life expectancy was incredibly short but a nucleus of proven tough tribal members would always survive to make our ancestors.

It is these people and this carefully carved landscape for which the soldier yearned from behind the barbed wire and to that which he meant with his title ‘That County’.

All Roads go to Rome

The Romans and their magnificent roads are justifiably famous even today but how and why did they come about? Gloucestershire must have delighted them because they had all they required and were especially viewed with favour where the land rose high to make the Cotswolds.

Without a doubt, the Britons would have had their own tracks, many centuries old, but these any well bred, military Roman would have scorned as pathetically useless. Any trail and track satisfied the Britons as long as it went from point A to point B, bends and curves were excepted without a second thought. All the Britons required was a rideable path for their surefooted ponies. A way to gallop, often in single file, to keep tribes in contact and to wage internecine warfare which they adored, usually as a hobby. So long before the Romans came the whole of the country was crisscrossed with these trails. The Romans simply stamped their authority with remarkable improvements.

They were a very enlightened people and from the earliest days of their martial conquest, they realised they could never hold such a vast empire under subjugation unless they had brilliant communications. All of their roads did indeed lead to Rome. The primary aim, with their brilliant roads, was always to have the ability to move their fighting legions to quell rebellion. These highly disciplined warriors were perfectly capable of marching twenty or twenty-five miles, then fighting and winning a battle afterwards. Although the Britons excelled at guerrilla warfare they had very little chance in a set-piece battle against a Legion. At the same time Roman couriers had fast communication with Rome. This was not down to national sentimentality but sheer practicality for Rome to know what was going on, where and when.

A great number of these quite incredible constructions have vanished during the last 2,000 years but many do still remain. Along them today thunder heavy lorries and this beggars the question as to whether our modern motorways will be standing in another 2,000 years?

Two of the most famous Roman roads are very much in use today. The great Fosse Way runs from Exeter straight through to Lincoln and the journey along this gives a remarkable picture of the life of this country in the Shires through which it crosses. The small town of Moreton in the Marsh has the Fosse Way as its main street and it proudly signposts this fact. Once Moreton is behind, the Fosse Way carries on through countryside. There may be one of two gates to open where a farmer has erected these to protect wandering stock but they are dealt with quite simply by the driver or hiker.

At one point the Fosse Way is bisected and crossed by the famous Watling Street which comes up from the south and London. There are many other famous roads like the Ackerman Street which runs from Cirencester further north. These three roads alone gave the Romans absolute control of the centre of England plus the ability to move their fighting legions in any direction should the need arise.

If the Romans did have a mental blockage it was that which concerned bends and curves. They abhorred these. To any well bred Roman the simplest and quickest way between two points was nothing but a simple, straight line. If anything was unfortunate enough to stand in their proposed way it was simply obliterated. Only the largest of obstacles gave them pause for thought and it was always with the most extreme reluctance they would allow a diversion to occur and, even then, no curves. Just another straight line at an angle before it could join up, as soon as possible, with the original.

The wonderful fighting men of the legions always came first but right on their heels would be the road builders. The surveyor was a prime key and there were two types of this breed, the land surveyor, call an agrimensore and the actual road surveyor known as the gromatici. These men, especially the latter, had to undergo the most rigorous training, usually in the army. They were equipped with very accurate instruments and worked to a high standard.

The basic instrument was known as the groma. This was an object which was set into the ground or cord held vertically. There was a crossbar from which hung four plumb lines so constructed they hung at right angles. There was also a bracket which swivelled to allow free sight of these lines. They also had range bails, all of which gave the desired straight lines and right angles for the eye.

Unfortunately there was no fixed point for the eye which made repeated sightings from many points. The problem was these might produce errors which, if added up, would have played havoc with the Romans’ vital straight lines.

Without a portable screen these lines would only swing in the wind so sometimes these would be in shallow tubes. From what we do know, roadworks’ surveyors surprisingly lacked any optical instruments. They relied solely upon the human eye which, in turn, made distances between stations short, often only one or two miles.

We don’t not know exactly how they worked out their mathematical formulae though it is presumed Pythagoras’ theorem would have been used. Distances selected would have been in multiples of three, four and five. It is thought that the instruments to measure these were divided as right angles were still unknown.

Measuring rods were used. They even had an early toothed wheel which drove a device in a small carriage and was called a hodometer. This dropped a stone into a bronze vessel every mile.

The Roman mile was based simply upon one thousand paces of a runner’s stride of five feet. This worked out at about one thousand six hundred and twenty yards. Naturally there were variations with the length of the runner’s feet especially on what might be called minor roads.

The major roads like the Fosse Way, the Watling Street and the Ermine Way would be measured in standard miles as far as we can work it out today

They knew all about levelling instruments which were vital for working on aqueducts but their only use in road surveying would have been for estimating the quantities of material used in the embankment which, in turn, would have come from the cuttings.

An embankment was called an agger and was considered most important. To start with, the surveyor would explore the proposed route on foot. He would study the land’s geology and note the terrain as well as the various types of soil and plants. Once this had all been sorted out the next imperative step was to have an absolutely exact north and south or east to west orientation. This would be marked out because upon this would depend the whole accuracy of the operation and the Romans were very precise and fussy.

If a river made an obstacle, distances had to be calculated which allowed for bridges. With a very steep and large hill they might, just, condescend to use a zigzag though this went against all Roman instincts for straightness.

An average road would have an agger and two side ditches. These were from where the spoil was taken to make the agger but they also had a secondary use for drainage. Most of their roads were about thirty feet wide and rarely were pedestrians considered and given pavements unless in the centre of towns.

Roman roads were built for marching legions, wheeled traffic, carrying goods and couriers with dispatches too or from Rome. All else was simply by the by.

The road’s foundations were quite remarkable. The Romans would dig very deep, then start the foundation. They would bring material from elsewhere if necessary. The ground had to be firm, the bedding must never give way and the whole thing be capable of carrying heavy traffic.

They used wooden poles, brushwood and concrete. The top surface had to be durable and suitably cambered. Next they would use material from older areas like slag or clinker. Over the decades this would bed down and, with rain, the material would turn into a kind of metal strip. It is not unknown even in this twenty-first century, for an old, long hidden Roman road to show itself in a violent thunderstorm. Lightning would automatically be attracted to it and race along it in a bolt of fire, burning all in its path.

In the towns the road would have a generous width sometimes of fifty-seven feet and a central carriageway of twenty-seven feet. There might even be timber kerbs at some edges. The surface could be red gravel mixed with pebbles in washed loam. Then there would be another layer of pebbles, mixed with small stones. The final topping could even be concrete. Certainly the Romans built their roads to last.

They scorned the Britons’ ideas of bridges. They considered them very pathetic affairs indeed. The Romans made solid, boxed bridges and, even today, two thousand years later, it is not unknown for some persons to discover a remarkably strong affair which has been hidden by vegetation and shrubs over the millenii. Roman bridges would have a timber platform though sometimes this would be of metal with small stones. The uprights were all tipped with iron piles which, in turn, would be driven very deep into the river bed with a pile driver.

Today we expect signposts and milestones. To start with, the Romans considered these quite unnecessary trivialities. It is thought the reason is that the main roads’ traveller would always be able to find someone to advise him. At a crossroads too the Romans like to have a shrine. Favourite goddesses like Trivia or Diana might be placed at crossroads.

The few milestones which did exist were cylindrical and could carry an official inscription in honour of the current emperor. Sometimes one might commemorate a building or the very road itself.

Road maintenance was considered of vital importance. Weeds had to be cleaned out and the way cleared with the verges scythed and the ditches kept very clean. These tasks would fall upon the local community whether it liked it or not.

The Roman roads were indeed a marvel of their times and so many only disappeared through neglect after the legions were pulled out. Once their four hundred years’ occupation of the islands ended, the invaders who then came could not be bothered with roads. At the same time the inhabitants, the Romano British, would put the road out of commission deliberately. Without the legions, and knowing Saxon and then Danes, all itched to invade, the indigenous inhabitants realised the acute danger of the roads’ excellent communications so many of them were hidden and nature simply did the rest.

It is a remarkable tribute to the Romans that some of their roads exist in this twenty-first century and one cannot help wonder how many more are still hidden from our eyes?

Our Wonderful Barriers

Our boundaries are unusual and some so ancient that they pre-date the Romans. Once early man had ceased to be a plain hunter-gatherer it became essential he protect his precious live stock from predators. He soon learned to do this by taking thorny bushes and planting them to make the first primitive hedges. In the lower lands this was fairly easy but on higher land where trees and bushes were sparse, he had to use whatever came to hand and so turned to rocks and stones.

Hedges and dry stone walls appear to be very British and we find both all over the country depending upon the land’s elevation, whether this is high or low pasture. They are unique, they tell of our history and the origins are sometimes lost in the mists of time. Certainly many were well in place during the Roman era and as rural people acquired more live stock so did barriers proliferate. Until the Enclosures Act of the eighteenth century they were probably a bit hit and miss but after this Act they came into strong force everywhere all over this island.

The word hedge comes from the old English hecg and many other words in our language connect with the word hedge. We have hedgerow, hedgehog and hedge sparrow to name but a few.

Many hedges are nothing but old Parish boundaries or they show others where old droving roads were once as well as the ancient watercourses. Sometimes they were remnants left from when a forest was cleared which means they represent great age indeed.

Many though were planted deliberately between 1750 and 1860 to comply with the Enclosures Act. The tree and shrubs were basically a Hawthorn, the lethal Blackthorn with its wicked spikes and the Hazel with tree specimens like Oak and Elm.

Mixed Hedgerows are of a much greater age. The orthodox method of dating a hedge is to count how many specimens of trees and shrubs are in it. The idea is that the number of species in a ten-yard length gives a rough and ready indication of general age.

In the past few years, we have lost 190,000 miles of these precious hedges with a devastating effect upon the flora and fauna. Some of our native species began to grow just after the last Ice Age which was about 9,000 to 10,000 years ago and before the Cross Channel Bridge vanished under the sea. 5,000 years ago migrating tribes brought seeds and saplings to add to what was already here.

Other specimens came in with the Romans for fruit and cattle fodder. From the Romans until 1600 there was a steady trickle of introductions some of which are now so well established we consider them indigenous.

The native trees are birch, aspen, alder, hazel, cherry, willow, oak, elm and rowan and even more could be adding to this list. Before 1600 the white and grey popular were introduced as well as the wild pear, almond, peach, plum and two other types of elm. The list is exceedingly long and fascinating. Since that date the newcomers have been the lime, the horse chestnut with its conkers loved by all boys, big as well as little, the scarlet oak, the Chinese privet and monkey tree. Then in the 19th century there was another invasion from abroad with the redwood and conifers from the West of America which also included the magnificent giant sequoia.

Many of these trees settled down quite happily with our soil and climate, though one of two sulked and had to be planted more carefully. So in many ways, these trees which grew in the middle of hedges, also tell us a little about our country’s history.

A hedge of two yards in height is of enormous value to the wildlife. One of only half that height becomes dangerous to them. The birds can be targeted by predators which makes nesting a hazardous occupation.

A tall