Buckland, Gloucestershire
| Buckland | |
| Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|
 Buckland Manor, from the churchyard | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP081361 |
| Location: | 52°1’24"N, 1°53’0"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 224 (2010 est. with Laverton) |
| Post town: | Broadway |
| Postcode: | WR12 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Tewkesbury |
Buckland is a village in Gloucestershire, very close by the Worcestershire border and a mile south of Broadway in a southward finger of the latter county. To the east of the village is the Burhill iron age hillfort.
The wider parish includes the village of Laverton to the south, and had an estimated population of 224 in 2010.
Within the village itself is the mediæval Church of St Michael, a seventeenth-century manor house, and what claims to be the oldest Rectory in Britain.
Hill fort
Burhill hillfort occupies a spur on the Cotswold escarpment, overlooking Buckland and the Severn/Avon valley.[1] Very little remains of any ramparts, except for a stretch on the eastern side, against the slope of the scarp, indicating an entranceway. The site was only identified as a hillfort in 1960.[2]
An area of some seven and a half acres may have been enclosed, but on most sides the natural scarp is now the only remaining defensive feature. The whole area has been extensively ploughed, and within the hillfort a scatter of early to mid Iron-Age pottery has turned up. An area outside the fort, east of the entrance, has produced much greater quantities of pottery dating to the earliest period of the Iron Age, with many fragments of various jars and bowls.[1]
The village
The name 'Buckland' originates from Old English Boc-land, meaning land assigned under a charter.[3] The Charter in this case dates to 709AD, when Coenred of Mercia gave the land to St Peter's Abbey, Gloucester. The abbey had been founded 30 years before,[4] and in 709 Coenred made this gift to the Church, gave up being King of the Mercians and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he died.[5] Buckland (which may be the manor described as Bibladene in the original charter[6]), having come into the possession of Gloucester Abbey, remained so until the Reformation, in around 1546.
When the Normans took over, Abbot Serlo was put in charge of Gloucester Abbey, and under his stewardship Buckland, along with many of the Abbey's lands, increased in prosperity.[7] By 1190 it had a church, although possibly this was at Laverton, within the parish, rather than in Buckland.[8] The present Church,St Michael's, has fabric dating back to the 13th century, and its rectory dates in part to the 14th century.[9]
In 1086, the Domesday Book records 22 villains, 6 borders and 8 serfs. By 1266 this had risen to 29 villains, and 14 borders, with no mention of serfs. The villagers were in the main paying an annual rent rather than working for the lord, and the value of the rents was some 7 times greater than in 1086 (and 20 times greater than in 1066).[6] In 1518 the site of the Manor was leased on a 31-year lease to James Appery, along with his wife, son and daughter. However the lease was relinquished to Henry VIII's commissioners, following the dissolution of Gloucester Abbey, and in 1546 the manor of Buckland was granted to Sir Richard Gresham in exchange for his lands in Yorkshire.[6]
In a survey of 1650, Buckland with Laverton is listed as having 51 families, 10th largest of the 28 settlements in Kiftsgate Hundred.[10] The manor house, now Buckland Manor Hotel, dates back to this period, the earliest parts of it dating to the 17th century,[11] which fits well with the time James Thynne was lord of the manor (see below). Apart from the Church and rectory, at least two other houses in the village date to this period, Honeysuckle Cottage and Woodbine Cottage, both grade II listed.[12] Outlying settlements within the parish also have ancient buildings. Laverton has 8 listed buildings, and there is a 17th-century farmhouses at Leasow House, near Laverton and one dating to 1720 in Little Buckland.[12]
For many years the village church, St Michael's, housed a sixteenth-century copy of The Acts and Monuments (popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs). However, the book was stolen in January 2012.[13]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Buckland, Gloucestershire) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marshall, A. (1987). "The Hillfort at Burhill, Buckland, Gloucestershire: evidence for occupation during the earliest phases of the iron age". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 107: 197–202. http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v107/bg107197.pdf. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 328049 – Burhill
- ↑ Barnard, E.A.B. (1923). "The Church and Rectory of Buckland". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 45: 71–85. http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v045/bg045071.pdf. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ↑ A History of the County of Gloucester - Volume 2 : Houses of Benedictine monks: The abbey of St Peter at Gloucester (Victoria County History)
- ↑ Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Bazeley, W (1884). "Notes on Buckland Manor and Advowson from A.D. 709 to A.D. 1546". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 9: 103–124. http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v009/bg009103.pdf. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ↑ Walker, D.G. (1976). "Gloucester and Gloucestershire in Domesday Book". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 94: 107–116. http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v094/bg094107.pdf. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ↑ Anon (1901). "Proceedings at the Annual Summer Meeting, at Chipping Campden, August 20th. 21st. and 22nd. 1901". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 24: 33–73. http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v024/bg024033.pdf. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ↑ Emery, Anthony (2006). Greater Mediæval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500: Volume 3, Southern England. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521581325. https://books.google.com/books?id=g7EXvaDEYioC&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=buckland+rectory,+gloucestershire&source=bl&ots=IhZjxyHi5p&sig=msZmqfzv1hGdh8oQbo-U6QY7ya8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=s7j9UK2TAcbQsga4_4DgAg&ved=0CFwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=buckland%20rectory%2C%20gloucestershire&f=false. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ↑ Fullbrook-Leggatt, L. E. W. O. (1964). "The Survey of Church Livings in Gloucestershire, 1650". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 83: 85–98. http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v024/bg024033.pdf. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
- ↑ British Listed Byuildings: Buckland Manor Hotel accessed 29 January 2013
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 British Listed Buildings: Buckland Accessed 28 January 2013
- ↑ "16th Century book stolen from Buckland church". BBC News. 30 January 2012. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-16790769. Retrieved 30 January 2012.