A chronological history of Selsley and Woodchester

Graham Thomas FRSA

A bullet point history of Woodchester and Selsley providing a sweeping chronological introduction to the rest of the site.

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 BC
  • 8000: First permanent settlers arrive in the Cotswolds. Mesolithic microlithic flints found in the Stroud area and at Frocester most likely date from ca. 5000.
  • 3500: Neolithic period. Approximate age of the Toots Long Barrow on Selsley Common and Bown Hill is ca. 2900 - 2500.
  • 2000: Ivy Lodge Round Barrow most likely built by the Beaker Folk.
  • 150: Iron Age Dyke constructed on Penn Hill. (However, this feature is possibly older and originally associated with Bown Hill Long Barrow.)
  • 100: The area under Dobunnic rule. Tribal capital possibly at Minchinhampton before moving to Bagendon near Cirencester.

AD

  • 50: Ostorius Scapual possibly builds a fort at Selsley, part of a frontier zone facing the unconquered tribes in Wales.
  • 60: St Paul may have visited Woodchester. (Highly speculative but a nice tale).
  • c100: Roman Villa initially constructed, most likely as a farm. Woodchester and Selsley a prominent military and administrative position.
  • 230: Main construction of the villa.
  • 350: Further building of the villa.
  • c400: Gradual decline of Roman occupation and influence. Villa suffers extensive damage by fire.
  • 577: Nearby Cirencester captured by the Saxons.
  • c600: Saxon battle and the Hwicce tribe settle the Woodchester and Selsley area.
  • 716: Woodchester belonged to King Athelbald. He granted 'land to the extent of three cassates of wooded country which in the ancient speech Woodchester with these ordained boundaries...' to the Bishop of Worcester.
  • 800: Woodchester is spelt Udecastre, Wuducastre etc. meaning a 'fortress in the wood.'
  • 896: Dispute over encroachment of the boundaries. King Alfred instructed his son-in-law Aethelred to hold a witan and sort out the dispute. Wulpen, the parish priest first noted.
  • 1050: Lands held by Godwin, Earl of Wessex; his daughter, Edith, was Edward the Confessors wife. One of his sons was Harold.
  • 1053: Godwin dies.
  • 1066: Selsley held by the saxon thegn Thurston; Woodchester by Gytha, wife of Earl Godwin. The estates of Gytha were forfeited to the Crown after the Norman Conquest, and those of Thurston handed over to a Norman knight.
  • 1086: Estates owned by the King. The first mill was recorded. 16 villanes (farmers) and 12 bordas (cottagers) recorded.
  • 1087: Selsley held by Le Meschin family
  • 1182: Tithes from the parish of Godichestre passed to the Priory of Bermondsey.
  • 1236: Tithes bought back from Bermondsey
  • 1265: Troops loyal to the King stationed on Selsley Common.
  • 1278: Woodchester recorded as having gallows, a pillory and ducking stool.
  • 1285: Estates owned by Elizabeth de Rivers, Countess of Devon.
  • 1311: The first record of a park. Lands held by the Mautravers family.
  • 1323: Lord Mautravers obtained a grant of Selsley Hill.
  • 1327: The Mautravers family implicated in the murder of King Edward II.
  • 1330: John Mautravers condemmed as a traitor and his estates confiscated.
  • 1345: Manor land held by the Mautravers family reinstated as a pardon is given.
  • 1349: Edmund Mautravers pays the Black Prince a knights fee of 40/-
  • 1410: Manor passes to the Earl of Arundel's family through marriage.
  • 1512: New Manor house built in Woodchester.
  • 1551: 120 communicants recorded in Woodchester.
  • 1552: Sir Thomas Arundell committed to the Tower of London and beheaded. His lands were seized by the Crown.
  • 1563: Woodchester parish registers begin.
  • 1564: Estate granted to George Huntley by Queen Elizabeth.
  • 1580: Work on Southfield Mill House in Woodchester commenced.
  • 1580: George Huntley dies and is buried at Woodchester.
  • 1584: Stanley Park House first built.
  • 1588: The Spanish Armada was defeated. Woodchester citizens have to pay a tax.
  • 1590: A glass factory is opened by Hugenot immigrants at the bottom of Spring Valley. It was used through until the 1620s.
  • 1599: George Huntley appointed High Sheriff of Gloucestershire.
  • 1600: At the start of the seventeenth century Woodchester Park was formed by the enclosure of land around the Inchbrook Valley. Initially this was for a deer park, and by 1610 a hunting lodge was built at the western end.
  • 1603: 130 Communicants recorded in Woodchester.
  • 1604: First deeds for South Cottages, Woodchester.
  • 1608: Inhabitants of Woodchester included 7 clothiers, 16 weavers, 5 tuckers, 3 dyers, 2  millers.
  • 1610: A new Manor House (now the Priory) was built in Woodchester.
  • 1610: Thomas Ferrebe incumbent Rector of Woodchester1610. Related to the Ferrebe incumbents of Bishops Cannings in Wiltshire. George Ferrebe became Vicar in 1593 and Thomas in 1623 after he resigned Woodchester. The former featured in John Aubrey's 'Brief Lives' and was a musician of national repute, on one occasion entertaining James 1 with one of his own compositions and with the choir dressed in "shepherds' weeds". Aubrey said of Bishops Cannings that  it " could challenge all England for musique, football and bell ringing."
  • 1622: George Huntley dies and is buried in the old church.
  • 1623: The estates are sold to the Dulcie family.
  • 1642: Woodchester Church raided during the Civil War.
  • 1671: 66 houses recorded in the Woodchester Hearth Tax records.
  • 1699: Woodchester Free School established at St Loes.
  • 1710: Selsley (known as Stanley End) comprised 15 houses.
  • 1712: First mention of 'Sesley' in print, by Sir Robert Atkyns in his history of the County.
  • 1720: The Tower ( a folly) that overlooks Woodchester Park was built, supposedly on the suggestion of George II.
  • 1725: Baptist Church in Kings Stanley.
  • 1730: At some time between 1730 and 1740, Spring Park House was constructed, most likely adding to and remodelling the existing hunting lodge. The Gate Posts at the west entrance date from this time.
  • 1750: Frederick, Prince of Wales visits the clothier Sir Onesiphorous Paul at Woodchester, and then goes to the Ducie residence in Spring Park.
  • 1760: The main road from Dudbridge to Nailsworth first ran uphill to Selsley (then called Stanley End) and thence along the hillside to North Woodchester, above the site of the Roman villa, here being known as Water Lane. It continued along the contours, dropping down to near the bottom of the valley where tributary streams had to be crossed, finally descending to Nailsworth Bridge.
  • 1762: Selsley Common mapped; Nags Head in Selsley mentioned. Onesiphorus Paul of Woodchester created a baronet.
  • 1763: Almshouses purchased in Woodchester.
  • 1761: The famous Woodchester Larch planted in the Rectory grounds.
  • 1766: Selsley Common estimated as being 150 acres.
  • 1766: The Ram recorded as an inn.
  • 1777: Park Mill in the Inchbrook Valley is mapped for the first time on Taylor's map of Gloucestershire - a useful but general map of the County.
  • 1779: It is noted that "Woodchester is famous for its fine broad cloth manufacture."
  • 1781: Royal Oak first recorded as an inn.
  • 1782: a survey is commissioned to re-design Spring Park. The work was done by John Spyers, working with 'Capability' Brown.
  • 1784: One of the first Sunday Schools in the County starts at Woodchester.
  • 1788: George III visits Woodchester Mill; he came on horseback, Queen Charlotte and three princesses in an open carriage.
  • 1793: Samuel Lysons begins excavation of the villa.
  • 1796: A family of Jenners lived in Woodchester.
  • 1814: First public viewing of the Orpheus Pavement.
  • 1820: Around this time, Spring Park House is altered by John Repton, who also did further work on the park - including the construction of the Boat House.
  • 1822: Pavement opened for public viewing
  • 1825: 6000 striking cloth weavers gather on Selsley Common.
  • 1827: A Baptist chapel was built at South Woodchester.
  • 1830: Knapping machine invented at Woodchester.
  • 1834: Woodchester School opened.
  • 1834: Woodchester Village Hall built by public subscription.
  • 1843: Orpheus Pavement opened up.
  • 1838: One public house and ten beer houses in Woodchester.
  • 1842: Orpheus Pavement opened.
  • 1846: Woodchester Park sold to William Leigh and Spring Park House demolished.
  • 1849: Roman Catholic church in Woodchester consecrated.
  • 1850: Samuel Marling purchases Stanley Park.
  • 1852: A plan to enclose the Common was opposed by the Rev. Benjamin Parsons of Ebley.
  • 1852: Orpheus Pavement opened.
  • 1853: Woodchester becomes the centre for the Dominican Order.
  • 1854: A cholera epidemic breaks out.
  • 1856: Work on Woodchester Mansion starts. Some of the stone comes from quarries on Selsley Common.
  • 1857: Woodchester Village Hall now becomes the Parish Room.
  • 1858: Clock Tower at Woodchester Mansion completed.
  • 1861: Franciscan Convent established in South Woodchester
  • 1862: Selsley Church built.
  • 1863: Selsley created as a separate ecclesiastical parish.
  • 1863: New parish church at Woodchester built.
  • 1865: Samuel Marling establishes Selsley Church of England School.
  • 1867: A railway line and station at Woodchester and Dudbridge (serving Selsley) opens.
  • 1863: The new church was consecrated. Bown Hill Barrow excavated.
  • 1872: Work at Woodchester Mansion ceases.
  • 1873: William Leigh dies.
  • 1877: Basil Marmont discovers the Woodchester Glass House.
  • 1879: Newman & Brice first established as a small engineering business.
  • 1880: Orpheus Pavement opened.
  • 1881: Samuel Marling knighted.
  • 1884: Sir Percival Scrope Marling wins a V.C. at the Mahdi Rebellion in Sudan.
  • 1887: Two bells were cast for Selsley church.
  • 1888: Methodist chapel erected at Selsley.
  • 1890: Orpheus Pavement opened. Woodchester Glass House is excavated by Basil Marmont.
  • 1894: Cardinal Vaughan visits Woodchester Mansion.
  • 1896: Newman & Brice becomes Newman, Hender & Co., and quickly becomes one of the UK's leading manufacturers of industrial valves
  • 1911: Stroud Piano Company, established by Douglas Grover,begins operation in Woodchester.
  • 1914: The Woodchester larch is chopped down.
  • 1915: Woodchester Rectory and Tithe Barn demolished.
  • 1916: A serious - but not disasterous - fire at Selsley Church.
  • 1920: Princess Marie Louise opens the YMCA Hut in Woodchester and lunches at Stanley Park.
  • 1926: Orpheus Pavement opened.
  • 1939: A garden house, originally erected in Woodchester in 1720, was removed by Lord Aberconway and re-erected at his home in Bodnant, north Wales.
  • 1930: Electricity comes to the villages.
  • 1938: The novelist Evelyn Waugh gives a public lecture at Woodchester Mansion
  • 1938: Fire at Bentley Piano works. (The name had changed from Stroud Pianos a few years earlier).
  • 1940: Bombs drop near Selsley.
  • 1942: Part of Selsely Common put under cultivation for the war effort.
  • 1944: The YMCA hut burns down.
  • 1947: The train service closes for passenger traffic.
  • 1950s: Extensive areas of Woodchester Park were converted to areas of forestry.
  • 1951: 42,000 visitors view the Pavement in a six week period.
  • 1952: Stanley Park split and sold at auction.
  • 1955: Bristol and Gloucestershire Gliding Club starts to fly from  Longridge Farm.
  • 1962: The Yew Tree pulls its last pint.
  • 1962: A major art exhibition is held at Woodchester Priory including works by Lynn Chadwick, Jack Greaves and Frank Auray Wilson.
  • 1963: The Orpheus Pavement is opened and 50,000 visitors come to Woodchester. A film is made of the opening.
  • 1963: Centenary celebrations at St Mary's Church.
  • 1963: Woodchester novelist Prudence Andrews publishes 'The Earthworms'.
  • 1963: The Woodchester Period Cottage Improvement Society saves two cottages from demolition, and becomes national news in the process.
  • 1966: The railway line is closed to frieght traffic.
  • 1970: The Dominican monastery demolished.
  • 1973: Last public viewing of the Orpheus Pavement.
  • 1974: Woodchester Village Hall aquired from the Church and becomes a charity.
  • 1977: A second serious fire at Bentley Pianos.
  • 1982: Princess Anne visits Selsley School.
  • 1983: Selsley School closes down.
  • 1985: Newman Hender, the largest employer in the area, closes down.
  • 1987: Woodchester Mansion Listed Grade 1 is bought by Stroud District Council to save it from further ruin.
  • 1989: A third serious fire at Bentley Pianos.
  • 1988: The new Selsley and Rodborough Cricket Club pavillion is opened by Peter West, President of the Club and famous BBC cricket commentator.
  • 1991: The Woodchester Mansion Trust opens the Mansion to the public.
  • 1991: Princess Michael of Kent reopens Bentley Pianos.
  • 1994: The National Trust takes control of Woodchester Park and opens it to the public.
  • 1994: Bentley Pianos trades under the name of the Woodchester Piano Company. The Grover family sell the assets.
  • 2000: A full-size replica of the Orpheus Pavement goes on view in Stroud.
  • 2002: Minor restoration work carried out on the ruins of the old church in Woodchester.
  • 2002: A museum at Dunkirk Mill opens.
  • 2002: HRH The Prince of Wales makes a visit to Woodchester Mansion, and agrees to become Patron of the Trust.
  • 2002: Albert and Ali Skinner take over the Royal Oak.
  • 2003: Further repairs undertaken to table-top tombs in the original Woodchester churchyard.
  • 2003: British Pianos goes into liquidation.
  • 2004: The replica mosaic is displayed at Prinknash Abbey Park, with the hope that this becomes a permanent site. Sadly the display layout is disappointing and the mosaic looking moth-eaten.

*Principal pre-1945 source: A History of Woodchester by the Rev. W.N.R.J. Back (1972)

Contents
 

Origins of the place names
Woodchester was first recorded as Uuduceaster in 716; as Woducaestar in 896 and, in the Domesday Book as Widecestre; all variations on the meaning of ' roman castle or fortification in/or of wood.'
Selsley seems to have first been recorded in 1712 when it is a name of a meadow, albeit spelt as Selsy. In Issac Taylor's 1777 Map Of Gloucestershire, Selsey Hill is marked on the northern end of the common but the village is called Stanley End. In 1779, in Rudder's History, the same field, mentioned above, is spelt Selsley. The 1830 Ordnance Survey still has Selsey Hill and no mention of Selsley as a village. By 1859, on an estate map for Woodchester Park, Selsley Hill is recorded.
However, the most likely earliest occurrence is in 1265 when a charter writes of an area known as Selgaresley which means 'Seligar's cleared land' i.e. the cleared land of the person called Seligar. In a heavily wooded area this would make some sense.

  graham thomas for further information.