Alderley, Gloucestershire
Encyclopedia
Alderley is a village and civil parish
in the Stroud district
of Gloucestershire
, England
, about fourteen miles southwest of Stroud
and two miles south of Wotton-under-Edge. It lies underneath Winner Hill, between two brooks, the Ozleworth and Kilcott. It has an entry in the Domesday Book
of 1086 where it is referred to as Alrelie meaning "Woodland clearing where alders grow" (from OE alor + lēah), whereas in a later 1309 document it is referred to as Alreleye, and in a 1345 document as Alrely. It is on the Cotswold Way
and is near to the hamlets of Hillesley
and Tresham
.
In the 16th and 17th century, the village contained a number of woollen mills, and in Samuel Rudder's A New History of Gloucestershire published in 1779, he states that Alderley had been home to the clothing industry for hundreds of years.
In A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis, Alderley is described thus:
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Stroud district
Stroud (district)
Stroud is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England. It is named after its largest town, Stroud, and has its administrative headquarters in Ebley Mill, in the Ebley area on the outskirts of the town.thumb |left |Ebley Mill...
of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, about fourteen miles southwest of Stroud
Stroud, Gloucestershire
Stroud is a market town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District.Situated below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets and cafe culture...
and two miles south of Wotton-under-Edge. It lies underneath Winner Hill, between two brooks, the Ozleworth and Kilcott. It has an entry in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 where it is referred to as Alrelie meaning "Woodland clearing where alders grow" (from OE alor + lēah), whereas in a later 1309 document it is referred to as Alreleye, and in a 1345 document as Alrely. It is on the Cotswold Way
Cotswold Way
The Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, running along the Cotswold Edge escarpment of the Cotswold Hills in England. It was officially inaugurated as a National Trail on 24 May 2007 and several new rights of way have been created.-History:...
and is near to the hamlets of Hillesley
Hillesley
Hillesley is a village in Gloucestershire, England. It was transferred from the county of Avon in 1991 and is now in Stroud District. The village forms part of the civil parish of Hillesley and Tresham...
and Tresham
Tresham
Tresham is a village in Gloucestershire, England. It was transferred back from the county of Avon in 1991, having been in Gloucestershire before 1972. It is now in Stroud District, and forms part of the civil parish of Hillesley and Tresham. It is on the Monarch's Way and near the Cotswold Way...
.
In the 16th and 17th century, the village contained a number of woollen mills, and in Samuel Rudder's A New History of Gloucestershire published in 1779, he states that Alderley had been home to the clothing industry for hundreds of years.
In A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis, Alderley is described thus:
- ALDERLEY, a parish in the upper division of GRUMBALD'S ASH, county of GLOUCESTER, 2 miles (S.S.E.) from Wotton under Edge, containing 235 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry and dioceseDiocese of GloucesterThe Diocese of Gloucester is a Church of England diocese based in Gloucester, covering the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire. The cathedral is Gloucester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Gloucester...
of Gloucester, rated in the king's books at £ 11. 4. 7., and in the patronage of Mr. and Mrs. Hale. The village is situated on a hill between two streams, which unite and fall into the LOWER AVON. Cornua ammonisAmmoniteAmmonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
and other fossils are found here. Sir Matthew HaleMatthew Hale (jurist)Sir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...
, Lord Chief JusticeLord Chief Justice of England and WalesThe Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
in the reign of Charles II.Charles II of EnglandCharles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, born here November 1st, 1609, lies interred in the church.
Architecture
The village contains several interesting buildings:- The church of St Kenelm was rebuilt in Gothick style in 1802, but the tower is c1450.
- Immediately to the southwest of St. Kenelm's church is Alderley HouseAlderley HouseThe present day Alderley House is a mid-19th century Grade II listed country house designed by Lewis Vulliamy and built for Robert Blagden Hale in the small Cotswold village of Alderley, near Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire...
, a 19th-century neo-Elizabethan manor house designed by Lewis VulliamyLewis VulliamyLewis Vulliamy was an English architect belonging to the Vulliamy family of clockmakers.-Life:Lewis Vulliamy was the son of the clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy. He was born in Pall Mall, London on 15 March 1791, and articled to Sir Robert Smirke...
for Robert Blagden Hale and built in 1859-1863. The house is located on the site of an earlier Jacobean country house built by the famous jurist Sir Matthew HaleMatthew Hale (jurist)Sir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...
in 1656-1662. For the 70 years following the outbreak of World War II, the property served as the site for Rose Hill SchoolRose Hill School (Alderley)Rose Hill School, Alderley was a co-educational, boarding and day, Pre-preparatory and Preparatory School for children aged 2-14 years old. It was situated in Cotswold countryside in the village of Alderley, near to Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire, England. Its motto, 'conando floreamus',...
, an independent day and boarding preparatory school, until its merger in 2009 with Querns Westonbirt school. The merger formed the Rose Hill Westonbirt School, which relocated to nearby TetburyTetburyTetbury is a town and civil parish within the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in the 2001 census.In the Middle Ages,...
, and the vacant property was sold for use once again as a private residence. - Alderley Grange was rebuilt, probably by a BristolBristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
architect, about 1760; it occupies the site of an earlier house where Sir Matthew Hale (jurist)Matthew Hale (jurist)Sir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...
was born. It was the home of James Lees-MilneJames Lees-MilneJames Lees-Milne was an English writer and expert on country houses. He was an architectural historian, novelist, and a biographer. He is also remembered as a diarist.-Biography:...
, the architectural writer and memoirist, and his wife Alvilde ChaplinAlvilde ChaplinAlvide Bridges Chaplin Lees-Milne, formerly Viscountess Chaplin was a British gardening and landscape expert.-Personal life:Chaplin and James Lees-Milne, who became her second husband, met during World War II, while she was involved in an affair with the arts patron Winnaretta de Polignac, and by...
, who created a much-admired garden.