Guiting Power

Last updated

Guiting Power
Guiting Power, looking South East down the village - geograph.org.uk - 53440.jpg
Guiting Power, looking south-east down the village
Gloucestershire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Guiting Power
Location within Gloucestershire
Population296 (2011 Census)
Civil parish
  • Guiting Power
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Cheltenham
Postcode district GL54
Police Gloucestershire
Fire Gloucestershire
Ambulance South Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire
51°55′N1°52′W / 51.917°N 1.867°W / 51.917; -1.867 Coordinates: 51°55′N1°52′W / 51.917°N 1.867°W / 51.917; -1.867

Guiting Power is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, in Gloucestershire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 296. [1]

Contents

Guiting Power stands on the slopes of a small valley formed by a tributary of the River Windrush, mid-way between Cheltenham and Stow-on-the-Wold, and lies to the north of the parish church, which is located at Ordnance Survey grid reference SP 096246.

History

Excavations have revealed Iron Age activity and a Roman figurine. There was a late Anglo-Saxon settlement on the site of the present village, when it was called Gyting Broc, and archaeological research has shown that there has been a settlement on this land since about 780 or even earlier. Finds include a small Saxon sarcophagus and the remains of an early Saxo-Norman chapel.

The village was at the heart of a manor owned by King Edward the Confessor, but it had declined by the time of the Domesday Book of 1086. The name Guiting is believed to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word getinge, meaning rushing, which may refer to the Windrush River, while the name Power comes from medieval lords of the manor called Le Poher. [2]

A brass monument in the church dated 1712 commemorates John Walker, Lord of the Manor. [3] In 1872, the manor was owned by another J. Walker. The population of the village was then 647, and there were 161 dwellings. The church was in good condition, and there was also a Baptist chapel. [4]

Guiting quarry Guiting Quarry - geograph.org.uk - 280829.jpg
Guiting quarry

There are abandoned quarries at Guiting where the "yellow" and "white Guiting" limestone was mined; other areas of the Cotswolds more often used the oolite stone. [5] Quarries in nearby villages still produce this type of stone. [6]

In the 1930s, twelve cottages were bought by Moya Davidson for renovation, but by the 1950s the village was run down, thanks to a post-war depression in the farming industry, which then provided most local employment. [7]

In August 1962, the British neo-Nazi organisation National Socialist Movement, led by Colin Jordan and John Tyndall organised a summer camp near the village to bring together fascists from across Europe and America. The leader of the American Nazi Party, George Lincoln Rockwell, amongst others were illegally smuggled into the country to attend the event. The camp resulted in significant media attention, and on one of the days around 100 villagers and anti-fascist protesters attacked the camp led by a local publican, Walter Morley, wielding a shotgun. [8] : 112–113  The camp resulted in the Cotswold Agreements and the establishment of the World Union of National Socialists. [8] : 142 

In 1968, the manor of Guiting Power, including about half of the houses in the village, was bought by Raymond Cochrane, who intended to renovate and develop the village. In the 1970s, he formed the Guiting Manor Amenity Trust, a charitable body, to own his estate after his death. The Trust continues to own and manage the Cochrane property, including 67 houses, some of which it rents as affordable housing. [9] [10] Many of the properties have been renovated by the Trust. [11]

The Trust also owns 580 acres of farm land, which is rented to its subsidiary, Guiting Manor Farms Ltd, a company which specializes in sustainable food production. Various crops are grown and sheep are raised; [12] the lambs are sold for meat. [13]

Facilities and features

The village is unusual for its size in having a Post Office, a village hall, a children's nursery, a bakery, a village shop, and two public houses, the Farmer's Arms and the Hollow Bottom. Nearby are the excavated foundations of the original Anglo-Saxon church and a large kerbed round barrow shown as a tumulus on Ordnance Survey maps. [14] To a large extent, the village owes its preservation to the Guiting Manor Amenity Trust.

The Farmer's Arms pub Farmers Arms Guiting Power Stevage.jpeg
The Farmer's Arms pub

The Wardens' Way passes through the village, on its 14-mile (23 km) route from Bourton-on-the-Water to Winchcombe, passing close by the church. It joins the Oxfordshire Way to the Cotswold Way and can be combined with the Windrush Way to make a circular route. It passes through the Cotswold villages of Guiting Power, Naunton, Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter.

A village School was built in 1872. When this was closed down, the building was bought by the Trust and converted into a village playschool nursery for the residents' children. [9]

There is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) wetland nature reserve, where a rich flora and fauna thrive.

The nearby Cotswolds Farm Park, privately owned by Adam Henson, [15] is a tourist attraction with some fifty different breeds of farm animals. The farm park also operates a campsite with "pitches" for campers, fourteen of them with electricity. [16] [17]

Religion

The parish church of St Michael and All Angels stands at the south end of the village. It is of Norman origin, with a later Victorian transept added. The north and south doorways were preserved in the renovations at that time. Extensive remodeling took place in the 13th and 15th centuries, and the church was enlarged in the first half of the 1800s. [18] The 12th century chancel was extensively modified in 1903. The church is in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building (List entry Number: 1089532, June 1980). [19] [5]

St Michael's is part of a team ministry called the Benefice of the Seven Churches, which also includes Temple Guiting, Cutsdean, Farmcote, Lower Slaughter with Eyford, Upper Slaughter, and Naunton. [20]

"Guiting Power" is a hymn tune by John Barnard, named after the village, for the hymn "Christ triumphant, ever reigning".

Guiting Music Festival

The Guiting Music Festival (formerly the "Guiting Festival") was founded in 1970. It runs for ten days, starting in the last week of July every year. [21] It typically comprises eight evening concerts, covering the genres of classical music, folk, and jazz. These are normally held in the Village Hall. Two open-air concerts are held in the adjacent playing fields on the first and second Sundays. The festival is a Registered Charity (No. 1100808). [22]

Notable residents

SAS soldier and author Lofty Large grew up in Guiting Power. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lechlade</span> Town in England

Lechlade is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, 55 miles (89 km) south of Birmingham and 68 miles (109 km) west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that continues south-west into Cricklade, in the neighbouring county of Wiltshire. The town is named after the River Leach that joins the Thames near the Trout Inn and St. John's Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winchcombe</span> Market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England

Winchcombe is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the county of Gloucestershire, England, it is 6 miles north-east of Cheltenham. The population was recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 census and estimated at 5,347 in 2019. The town is located in the Cotswolds and has many features and buildings dating back to medieval times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bredon</span> Human settlement in England

Bredon is a village and civil parish in Wychavon district at the southern edge of Worcestershire in England. It lies on the banks of the River Avon on the lower slopes of Bredon Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bourton-on-the-Water</span> Village in England

Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the village centre is a designated Conservation Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Windrush</span> River in England

The River Windrush is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Winchcombe in Gloucestershire and flows south east for 65 km (40 mi) via Burford and Witney to meet the Thames at Newbridge in Oxfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tormarton</span> Human settlement in England

Tormarton is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Its name may come from Thor Maer Tun meaning The settlement with the thorn (tree) on the boundary. Another source suggests the name derives from the church tower (Tor) on the border between Wessex and Mercia. It is one mile North-East of junction 18 of the M4 motorway, with the A46 road and close to the border between Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire. In 2001 and 2011 there were 144 households and the population was 348. A National Trail, the Cotswold Way passes through the village. There is a church, a hotel, a pub and also a number of bed and breakfasts in the village. A Highways Agency depot with a salt dome is situated near to the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naunton</span> Human settlement in England

Naunton is a village in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the River Windrush in the Cotswolds, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Stow-on-the-Wold is about 6 miles to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cutsdean</span> Human settlement in England

Cutsdean is a rural village in the Cotswolds and smaller than average sized parish, a few miles east north-east of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and the same distance south-southeast of Evesham. The River Windrush runs through the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Withington, Gloucestershire</span>

Withington is a Cotswold village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, about 6+1⁄2 miles (10 km) southeast of Cheltenham and 8 miles (13 km) north of Cirencester. The River Coln runs through the village. The parish includes the hamlets of Hilcot, Foxcote and Cassey Compton. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was 532.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Childrey</span> Human settlement in England

Childrey is a village and civil parish about 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) west of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. The parish was part of the Wantage Rural District in Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 582.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nympsfield</span> Human settlement in England

Nympsfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located around four miles south-west of the town of Stroud. As well as Nympsfield village, the parish contains the hamlet of Cockadilly. The population taken at the 2011 census was 382.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Slaughter</span> Human settlement in England

Upper Slaughter is a village in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) south west of Stow-on-the-Wold. The village lies off the A429, which is known as the Fosse Way, and is located one mile away from the village Lower Slaughter, as well as being near the villages Bourton-on-the-Water, Daylesford, Upper Swell and Lower Swell. As of 2021, the village had a population of 181 inhabitants, an increase of 4 from 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold Aston</span> Human settlement in England

Cold Aston is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, approximately 18 miles (29 km) to the east of Gloucester. It lies in the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In the 2011 census, the population was 255.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notgrove</span> Human settlement in England

Notgrove is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, approximately 28.5 to the east of Gloucester. It lies in the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Cotswold Rural District</span>

North Cotswold was, from 1935 to 1974, a rural district in the administrative county of Gloucestershire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael's and All Angels Church, Guiting Power</span> Church in Gloucestershire, England

St Michael's and All Angels Church is in the village of Guiting Power, Gloucestershire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Stow, the archdeaconry of Cheltenham and the diocese of Gloucester. Its benefice is combined with those of St Faith, Farmcote, St Mary, Lower Slaughter, St Andrew, Naunton, St Mary, Temple Guiting, St James, Cutsdean, and St Peter, Upper Slaughter. The church contains fabric dating from the 12th century and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It formerly stood in the centre of the village, but the demolition of buildings since 1900 has left it standing at the village's southern end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brassey SSSI</span> Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, England

Brassey is a 2.1-hectare (5.2-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954 and renotified in 1983. It is situated on the north side of the Windrush Valley, midway between Naunton and Upper Slaughter. The reserve comprises sloping, unimproved limestone pasture. There is a fast-flowing stream. This site is one of the few freshwater marshes in Gloucestershire. The stream joins the River Windrush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windrush, Gloucestershire</span> Human settlement in England

Windrush is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, approximately five miles southeast of Northleach. It lies in the Cotswolds on the River Windrush, from which it derives its name. The village name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Wenric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Guiting</span> Human settlement in England

Temple Guiting is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, in Gloucestershire, England. The civil parish includes the smaller settlements of Barton, Farmcote, Ford and Kineton. In 2011 the parish had a population of 463.

References

  1. ↑ "Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "history". Guitingmanoramenitytrust.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL, Guiting Power (1089532)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "History of Guiting Power, in Cotswold and Gloucestershire – Map and description". Visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Guiting Power". Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Appendix 11 – Natural Stone Quarries" (PDF). Westoxon.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  7. ↑ "Guiting Power Tourist Information & Guide". Cotswolds.info. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  8. 1 2 Jackson, Paul (2017). Colin Jordan and Britain's Neo-Nazi movement : Hitler's echo. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4725-0931-4. OCLC   960166586.
  9. 1 2 "About the Trust « Guiting Manor Amenity Trust". Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  10. ↑ Hall, Damian (30 April 2016). Walking in the Cotswolds: 30 circular walks in the AONB. Cicerone Press Limited. ISBN   9781783623334 . Retrieved 12 May 2019– via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Child, Mark (15 May 2010). The Windrush Valley. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN   9781445631615 . Retrieved 12 May 2019– via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Classroom, Countryside. "Guiting Manor Farms Ltd". Countrysideclassroom.org.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "History of the Farm – Guiting Manor Farms Ltd". Guitingmanorfarms.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  14. ↑ "Guiting Power 3 round barrow". University of Bradford Division of Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Sciences. 29 July 1998. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  15. ↑ "Adam Henson's Cotswold Farm Park – Guiting power – Days Out – The AA". Theaa.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  16. ↑ "About – Adam Henson's Cotswold Farm Park". Cotswold Farm Park. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  17. ↑ Outdoors, Digital. "Cotswold Farm Park Campsite in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire". Campsites.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  18. ↑ "Guiting Power, St Michael's Church, History & Photos – Historic Gloucestershire Guide". Britain Express. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  19. ↑ Stuff, Good. "Church of St Michael, Guiting Power, Gloucestershire". Britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  20. ↑ "Seven Churches". Guitingevents.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  21. ↑ Watts, Clare. "Guiting Festival 2019". The 48th Guiting Music Festival. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  22. ↑ "Charity overview". Apps.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  23. ↑ Large, Lofty (1999). Soldier against the odds. Mainstream Publishing. p. 117. ISBN   978-1-84018-346-7.
  24. ↑ Excavation, Analysis and Interpretation of Early Bronze Age Barrows at Guiting Power, Gloucestershire Alistair Marshall ISBN 978-1-78969-359-1
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.