Hasfield

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Hasfield
Gloucestershire

St Mary's in Hasfield
Location
Grid reference: SO826276
Location: 51°56’24"N, 2°15’0"W
Data
Population: 131  (2011)
Post town: Gloucester
Postcode: GL19 4
Local Government
Council: Tewkesbury
Parliamentary
constituency:
Tewkesbury

Hasfield is a village in Gloucestershire, on the west side of the River Severn in the Vale of Gloucester close to the border of Worcestershire to the north. The village is to be found six miles south-west of Tewkesbury and seven miles north of Gloucester.

The Severn runs just a mile from the centre of the village and its broad floodplains lap at the edge of Hasfield. The village itself is subject to regular flooding.[1]

History

The manor of Hasfield is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, which records that it had 59 villagers, 54 smallholders and 51 slaves. This compares closely with a 2010 estimate of population, that there were 111 residents (none of them slaves).[2][3]

The parish became the seat of the Pauncefootes of Pauncefoote Court in 1199 and remained in their hands until 1598. All that remains of the original manor house appears to be an ancient gateway with several blank escutcheons found near the parish church.[4]

Parish church

The Parish Church, called St. Peter's when it was established in the 14th century, is now dedicated to St. Mary.

It has a square tower which still retains the earlier dedication to St Peter. The tower, which houses the church's four bells, is decorated with crenellations and gargoyle-like figures that double as waterspouts. Inside the church are numerous notable artefacts, including several stained glass windows, a Norman font, and a monument to Lady Pauncefort for sending her "right hand" to Palestine to ransom her lord from the infidels.[5]

The church is a Grade I listed building.[6]

The Old Rectory as it is now called, situated next to St Mary's, was constructed in 1837 and retains much of its original character. The rather grand and large Tudor-Gothic building, in private hands since 1957, is constructed of yellow limestone and adorned with several gables and bay windows. The Old Rectory is a Grade II listed building.[7] A new rectory was built off-site.

About the village

Hasfield Court today is built on the same site as the old manor house. It is a Grade II* building.[8]

The manor house changed hands several times and once belonged (1847–63) to the architect Thomas Fulljames.[1] The house was sold in 1863 to William Baker, a bachelor, of Fenton House, Staffordshire. He owned a pottery at Fenton where he built several municipal buildings and Christ Church. His nephew, William Meath Baker, was a patron and friend of Sir Edward Elgar, who based his Enigma Variation no. 4 on him, and nos. 3 and 10, respectively, on WMB's brother-in-law and niece.[8]

Hasfield Court remains in the ownership of the Meath Baker family.

The Great House of Hasfield is a Grade I listed building.[9] The exterior presents rather unusually in that it is constructed in three styles, with various sections being primarily of brick, or of stone, and yet others of timber-framing. The yellow-sandstone centre part of the house was the earliest constructed (late 16th century). The north side is mostly reddish brick and some stone. It was reported the timber-framed west wing was added in the 19th century to improve the sight view from Hasfield Court, with which it shares ownership.[1]

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Hasfield)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 A History of the County of Gloucester - Volume 8 pp 282-290: Parishes: Hasfield (Victoria County History)
  2. "Gloucester Country 2010 Population Estimates". http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/inform/utilities/action/act_download.cfm?mediaid=48935. Retrieved 12 February 2012. 
  3. "Domesday Online". http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SO8227/hasfield/. Retrieved 12 February 2012. 
  4. Langston, J. N.. "Old Catholic Families of Gloucestershire. I. The Pauncefotes of Hasfield". Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v071/bg071122.pdf. Retrieved 12 February 2012. 
  5. Information on Hasfield  from GENUKI
  6. National Heritage List 1091440: Church of St Mary
  7. National Heritage List 1091405: Old Rectory
  8. 8.0 8.1 National Heritage List 1091444: Hasfield Court
  9. National Heritage List 1340306: The Great House