Alderton, Gloucestershire

Alderton
Gloucestershire
St Margaret's parish church
Location
Grid reference:	SP001332
Location:	51°59’53"N, 1°59’56"W
Data
Population:	747  (2011)
Post town:	Tewkesbury
Postcode:	GL20
Dialling code:	01242 62
Local Government
Council:	Tewkesbury
Parliamentary constituency:	Tewkesbury
Website:	Alderton Village

Alderton is a village in Gloucestershire, between the famously picturesque towns of the county: it is about 15 miles north of Cheltenham, six miles east of Tewkesbury, seven and a half miles south of Evesham and 15 miles west of Stow-on-the-Wold. Alderton itself was named the most beautiful and welcoming village in 1918 by a newspaper.

The main roads are the B4077 (Stow Road) and the A46.

The village has about 500 residents.

Church and chapel

The Church of England parish church of St Margaret of Antioch may originate from the Anglo-Saxon era. The current building is mostly 14th century and was restored in 1890-92.

St Margaret's ecclesiastical parish forms part of the Alderton Benefice, that incorporates the nearby villages of Dumbleton, Little Washbourne and Great Washbourne.

Alderton Methodist chapel was built in 1899. It is now a private house.

About the village

Alderton parish includes the satellite hamlet of Alderton Fields, which is conjoined with Gretton Fields, Gretton. The distinctiveness of Alderton Fields, as a separate entity to Gretton Fields, was the subject of controversy when in the early 2000s, a road sign declared the whole area to be named Gretton Fields. The sign has since been moved to the Gretton parish boundary, and a new sign for Alderton Fields erected.

The name of the hill between Alderton and Dumbleton is the subject of local rivalry. There are three peaks to the hill, which are distinctively and separately named Dumbleton Hill, Alderton Hill and Oak Hill on Ordnance Survey maps. To avoid controversy, the local primary school - which has two sites, one each in Alderton and Dumbleton - took the name Oak Hill. However, local residents will use the three names Oak Hill, Dumbleton Hill and Alderton Hill interchangeably to refer to the same hill, rather than the individual peaks.

The village pub is the Gardners Arms. Alderton has a local garage and petrol station, and a village shop that includes a post office.

Most of the residents are either retired or commute to jobs in nearby Tewkesbury, Cheltenham or Evesham, though farming is a busy activity. Others work in tourism: there are several Bed and Breakfast guest houses, and a number of houses available as holiday lets.

Footpaths connects the village over the wooded Oak Hill to the nearby village of Dumbleton. These footpaths are known locally as "The Dungeons" due to the deep channel that they cut into the hillside and the darkness of overhanging trees. Oak Hill itself remains a managed estate, with organised game bird shooting and rearing of deer for sale to other game estates.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Alderton, Gloucestershire)

• Alderton in the Domesday Book

References

• A History of the County of Gloucester - Volume 6 pp 189–197: Parishes: Alderton with Dixton (Victoria County History): Bitish History Online
• Nikolaus Pevsner: Pevsner Architectural Guides