Frocester
| Frocester | |
| Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|
 Village centre | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SO785031 |
| Location: | 51°43’37"N, 2°18’43"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 155 |
| Post town: | Stonehouse |
| Postcode: | GL10 |
| Dialling code: | 01453 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Stroud |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Stroud |
Frocester is a village in Gloucestershire, standing below the Cotswold escarpment, ten miles south of Gloucester and four miles west of Stroud. At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 155.
Frocester was the site of a Roman settlement, on a Roman road which ran from Cirencester to Arlingham. The remains of a Roman villa have been excavated in the grounds of Frocester Court,[1] and another near the remains of St Peters Church.[2]
The name of the village, first recorded in the Domesday Book as Frowecestre, is from the River Frome, while ceaster may refer to the Roman town here.[3] However the River Frome is just beyond the present northern boundary of the parish.
In 1726 the line of the Roman road became a turnpike road, and formed part of the coaching route between Gloucester and Bath. Use of the road declined in the 19th century, and it is now a minor road.
Between 1844 and 1961, Frocester had a railway station on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, later the Midland Railway.
Events
For the past 33 years, Frocester has been the site of the Frocester Beer Festival, organised by the Dursley Lions as a fund-raising event. Usually over 100 beers, from all over the British Isles, are offered at this popular event.[4]
Frocester Court
Frocester Court is a Grade II* listed building within the village.[5] Once much larger, it was vastly reduced in size in the mid 19th century.[6] The Victorian rebuilding of the house and its precincts hid many mediæval features which remain in situ. Parts of the house predate the Reformation, while other parts date from the 15th century.
The grounds have a late mediæval dovecote and a Grade I listed 14th-century tithe barn.[7]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Frocester) |
References
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 113199 – Frocester Court Roman Villa
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 113220 – St Peters Church
- ↑ Mills, A.D. and Room, A. A Dictionary of British Place-Names Oxford University Press
- ↑ Dursley Lions
- ↑ National Heritage List 1091169: Frocester Court
- ↑ David Verey & Alan Brooks. Gloucestershire 2:The Vale and the Forest of Dean. Yale University Press. New Haven and London. 2002. ISBN 0-300-09733-6.
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 113202 – Frocester Court
