Didmarton
| Didmarton | |
| Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|
 Didmarton St Lawrence Church has an unusual open bell tower. | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST819875 |
| Location: | 51°35’10"N, 2°15’43"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 415 (2011) |
| Post town: | Badminton |
| Postcode: | GL9 |
| Dialling code: | 01454 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cotswold |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
The Cotswolds |
Didmarton is a village in Gloucestershire, about six miles south-west of Tetbury. The parish is close to the border of Wiltshire to the south.
Immediately to the north is a smaller village, Oldbury-on-the-Hill, where the original parish church stands: Oldbury was once the dominant settlement.
Parish church
St Laurence's church at Didmarton (Church of England) is an early English building with a later open bell tower, unusual in England.[1] Archaeological work at Didmarton church has suggested an origin in the 12th century.[2] The church's dedication is to St Laurence of Canterbury, whose feast day is on 3 February.[3]
The village's Congregational church is a square stone building with arched sash windows.
Another Anglican church at the western end of the village, once dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, has been converted to a private house, but its churchyard is still consecrated ground.[4]
History
A military survey of Didmarton in 1522 shows that it was then a very small village, overshadowed by the neighbouring Oldbury-on-the-Hill.[3]
In the 16th century, the manor of Didmarton was owned by the Seacole family. In 1571, Simon Codrington married Agnes, daughter and co-heiress of Richard Seacole, and the estate thus passed to their son Robert Codrington. It was sold to Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort, in about 1750, but has had a succession of other owners since then.
Together with Oldbury, the parish was subject to enclosure in 1829.[5][6]
According to The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868):[7]
| “ | DIDMARTON, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of Grumbald's Ash, in the county of Gloucester, 5 miles S.W. of Tetbury, and 9 N.E. of Yate station. It is situated near the river Avon, and consists of a few farmhouses. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, annexed to the rectory of Oldbury-on-the-Hill. The church, dedicated to St Lawrence, is an ancient stone edifice in the early English style of architecture. The charities amount to £11 per annum. There is a school for the children of this parish and that of Oldbury-on-the-Hill. Roman coins are frequently found. The Duke of Beaufort is lord of the manor. A fair was once held here on St Lawrence's Day (3 February), which is now transferred to Lansdown, near Bath. | ” |
Public houses
The village's present-day pub, the King's Arms, was first mentioned in 1772. The former George Inn dated from at least 1791, and the former Compasses Inn (or Three Compasses) from 1798.[3]
Local names
Parish registers from 1674 to 1991 are held at the Gloucestershire Record Office.[8]
Surnames in the marriages register for 1675 to 1751 are: Acton, Allen, Biggs, Bishop, Brooks, Brush, Burcombe, Byrton, Carey, Chapman, Chappel(l), Codrington, Collings, Davies, Drew, Emely, Frith, Gingill, Harris, Hatchett, Heaven, Iddols, Kingscott, Lewis, Milsum, Minchin, Porter, Powel, Power, Robbins, Scrope, Shipton, Smart, Sparkes, Taunton, Thompson, Walls, Watts, Weekes, White, and Witchell.[9]
The surnames recorded in the parish graveyard, and in that of the Didmarton Congregational church, include: Baker, Bickerton, Borham, Cox, Gould, Hatherell, Inane, Lucas, Pritchard, Short, Rice, Robbins, Till, and Tuck.[4]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Didmarton) |
- Information on Didmarton from GENUKI
- Didmarton, Lasborough, Leighterton, Boxwell, Oldbury-on-the-Hill & Saddlewood page at rootsweb.ancestry.com, with photograph of St Lawrence's Church, Didmarton
- Gloucestershire census returns 1801-1901 at genuki.org.uk
References
- ↑ photograph of St Lawrence's Church, Didmarton Template:Webarchive online at wishful-thinking.org.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
- ↑ Bryant, R., 'Observations at Didmarton church, 1981' in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, vol. 101 (1983) pp. 183-185
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Didmarton: A ramble through history (Didmarton Parish Council, 2000)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Some Memorial Inscriptions - Didmarton, Gloucestershire, St Michael's & St Lawrence's Churchyards and Didmarton Congregational Church Template:Webarchive online at wishful-thinking.org.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
- ↑ AN ACT for inclosing Lands in the Manors and Parishes of Didmarton and Oldbury-on-the-Hill (HMSO, 1829, 18pp.)
- ↑ Didmarton and Oldbury on the Hill enclosure at nationalarchives.gov.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
- ↑ Hamilton, N. E. S. (ed.), The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (London, J. S. Virtue, 1868)
- ↑ PARISH: Didmarton (St Lawrence) - abstract of available parish records online at genuki.org.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
- ↑ Didmarton, Gloucestershire, Marriages 1675-1751 Template:Webarchive online at glosgen.co.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)