Frampton-on-Severn
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in 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 lies on the east bank of the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
, and on the west bank of the River Frome
River Frome, Stroud
The River Frome, once also known as the Stroudwater, is a small river in Gloucestershire, England. It is to be distinguished from another River Frome in Gloucestershire, the Bristol Frome....
, from which it takes its name. The village is approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of 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....
, at . There is a parish council, consisting of nine members. The total population is around 1200. The village is linked by footpath to the Sharpness Canal.
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...
mentioned the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Frampton in 1089. The parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of St Mary the Virgin was consecrated in 1315 but partly dates from the 12th century, while the congregational church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
was built in 1769.
There is a large village green
Village green
A village green is a common open area which is a part of a settlement. Traditionally, such an area was often common grass land at the centre of a small agricultural settlement, used for grazing and sometimes for community events...
, 22 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (89,000 m²) in size and reputedly the longest in England. The green was known as Rosamund's Green by the mid 17th century, apparently from the village's association with Fair Rosamund. There is a designated Conservation Area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
around the green, including Tudor
Tudor style architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
and Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
houses, and the village also has a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
.
Much of the village forms part of the Frampton Court Estate, owned by the Clifford family, which is centred on the two principal houses set either side of the Green: Frampton Court, a Palladian house of the early 1730s often attributed to the Bristol architect, John Strahan
John Strahan
John Strahan was an architect working in Bristol and Bath, England in the early 18th century. He died around 1740.-List of works:* Shakespeare Public House, Bristol * Combe Hay Manor Combe Hay 1728 to 1730* Frampton Court, Frampton-on-Severn...
, and Manor Farmhouse, of the mid-15th century with a contemporary barn. The gardens at Frampton Court have a Gothick orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
and canal in the style of William Halfpenny
William Halfpenny
William Halfpenny was an English 18th-century architectural designer; in some of his publications he described himself as "architect and carpenter". He also wrote under the name of Michael Hoare.-Life and architectural work:...
.
The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal or Gloucester and Berkeley Canal is a canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness; for much of its length it runs close to the tidal River Severn, but cuts off a significant loop in the river, at a once-dangerous bend near Arlingham...
runs to the west side of the village and the green has three ponds. There are two pubs on The Green: The Bell Inn and The Three Horse Shoes.