Dowdeswell is a civil parish

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 ward of Chedworth

Chedworth

Chedworth is a village in Gloucestershire, in the Cotswolds and best known as the location of Chedworth Roman Villa, administered since 1924 by the National Trust.- Roman villa :...

, Cotswold

Cotswold (district)

Cotswold is a local government district in Gloucestershire in England. It is named after the wider Cotswolds region. Its main town is Cirencester....

, in the ceremonial county

Ceremonial counties of England

The ceremonial counties are areas of England to which are appointed a Lord Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as counties and areas for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and Lieutenancies Act 1997...

 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...

. It is separated into Upper and Lower Dowdeswell, the former being south of the latter.

Northwest of Lower Dowdeswell, there is the Dowdeswell Wood. Immediately south of this wood is the Dowdeswell Reservoir.
Both Dowdeswell Reservoir and Dowdeswell Wood

Dowdeswell Reservoir

Dowdeswell Reservoir and water treatment works lie below the parish of Dowdeswell in Gloucestershire. They were originally built by Cheltenham Corporation to supply the town of Cheltenham with drinking water and subsequently became part of the Severn Trent network.-History:It is currently owned...

 have been managed historically as nature reserves through the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the Gloucestershire local partner in a conservation network of 47 Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts are local charities with the specific aim of protecting the United Kingdom's natural heritage...

 (formerly named Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation

About 7.1 km (4.4 mi) to the northwest is Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...

, and 19 km (12 mi) to the west is Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

. In 2001, it had a population of 185.

In 1891, Dowdeswell was the name given to a station in the nearby village of Andoversford

Andoversford

Andoversford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about six miles east of Cheltenham. The parish had a population of 668 according to the 2001 census....

 on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway

Midland and South Western Junction Railway

The Midland and South Western Junction Railway was, until the 1923 Grouping, an independent railway built to form a north-south link between the Midland and London and South Western Railways allowing the Midland and other companies' trains to reach the port of Southampton.-Formation:The M&SWJR...

; the name was to avoid confusion with Andoversford station

Andoversford railway station

Andoversford railway station was in Gloucestershire on the Great Western Railway's Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway that opened in 1881. Situated about six miles east of Cheltenham, the station served the village of Andoversford with its large market, which provided a lot of the traffic at the...

 on the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

's Cheltenham

Cheltenham Spa railway station

Cheltenham Spa railway station is in Gloucestershire, England, on the Bristol-Birmingham main line. It is managed by First Great Western and is about one mile from the town centre.-History:...

 to Banbury

Banbury railway station

Banbury railway station serves the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. The station is currently operated by Chiltern Railways, on the Chiltern Main Line, and has four platforms in use.-History:...

 line. The name of Dowdeswell station was changed to Andoversford and Dowdeswell

Andoversford and Dowdeswell railway station

Andoversford and Dowdeswell railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Gloucestershire. The station opened to passengers on 1 August 1891 with the opening of the section of the line between Cirencester Watermoor and the junction at Andoversford with the Great Western...

 in 1892. The station closed to passengers in 1927 after the GWR had taken over the M&SWJR; however, it remained open for goods traffic until 1962.

External links

• Cotswold District Council.
• Gloucestershire Railway Stations, Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, 2003, ISBN 1-904349-24-2.
• Gloucestershire: the Cotswolds, David Verey, Pevsner Architectural Guides
  Pevsner Architectural Guides
  The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. Begun in the 1940s by art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the Buildings of England series were published between 1951 and 1975. The series was then extended to Scotland and...
  
  : The Buildings of England, Penguin, 1970, ISBN 0-14-071040-X. pp. 216–219.