Box, Gloucestershire

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Box
Gloucestershire

Church of St Barnabas, Box
Location
Grid reference: SO859002
Location: 51°42’3"N, 2°12’19"W
Data
Postcode: GL6
Local Government
Council: Stroud

Box is a small village in Gloucestershire, close to Minchinhampton, in whose parish it falls. Box is found three miles south of Stroud and ten miles west of Cirencester. Minchinhampton is about a mile away and Nailsworth is a mile and a half.

Box has a population of about 400.

He village stands at the edge of Minchinhampton Common (designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest). The common is used for the grazing of cattle, and the absence of a cattle grid at the entrance to the village means oxen are able to wander through its streets.

The Halfway House public house

About the village

Quarries were prevalent in the area, although by the turn of the 20th century the majority of those in Box had closed.

Until the early 20th century, an inn was situated in the centre of the village. It is now a private dwelling let, like other properties in the village,[1] as a bed and breakfast.

The village is served by the Halfway Café and Shop.[2]

Many buildings in the village use Cotswold stone. Such buildings include the early 19th-century Box Terrace, a row of five (formerly six) terraced houses,[3] as well as numerous other private dwellings.[4][5] The 17th-century Box House[6] overlooks Box Wood and the Nailsworth Valley.

Parish church

The parish church is St Barnabas, which was built in 1951.

The first place of worship in the village was a mission church built in 1880. The corrugated iron building was originally used for an infant school.[7] After the First World War, the building began to house the village Sunday School and weekly Evensong service. The church had no communion table nor organ: musical accompaniment was played on a harmonium. The church was expanded in the 1920s by the rector of Minchinhampton, who oversaw the installation of a piano and the building itself was extended in the 1930s.[7]

By the outbreak of the Second World War, the village had begun to raise money to build a permanent church. The foundation stone was laid by the Bishop in 1951, and the building completed the following October.[7]

Events

The village holds annual produce show, pantomime and open garden events.

Outside links

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

References