Southam, Gloucestershire

Last updated

Southam
Southam Church.jpg
Church of the Ascension, Southam, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Southam
Location within Gloucestershire
Population1,175 
OS grid reference SO970256
Civil parish
  • Southam
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Cheltenham
Postcode district GL52
Police Gloucestershire
Fire Gloucestershire
Ambulance South Western
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire
51°55′45″N2°02′37″W / 51.929266°N 2.043728°W / 51.929266; -2.043728

Southam is a village in Gloucestershire, England, located on the outskirts of Cheltenham. Its main features are a Manor House, which has now been converted to a hotel, a 12th Century Church and the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, which runs through the outskirts of the village.

It is primarily a residential community for workers in Cheltenham, and has a growing retired and working population, attracted by the scenic countryside.

Though small in size, Southam has a thriving community. The village hall is used for coffee mornings, yoga sessions and the regularly occurring kids club among other things.

The parish of Southam had a population of 1,175 according to the 2011 census. [1]

History

By c.991 the name Southam was already in use, possibly derived from its position south of the larger parish of Bishop's Cleeve. [2] In the Domesday Book it is written as Surham and was held by Durand, the Sheriff of Gloucester. [3] From 1865 the village was also known as Southam-de-la-bere, this was to distinguish it from Southam in Warwickshire. [4]

Before Southam was in the hands of the de la Bere family in the 17th century, the land was owned by Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford. His youngest daughter, Mary de Bohun, was given the Manor as a dowry when she married Henry Bolingbroke in 1381, who later became Henry IV.

Henry IV annexed it to the Duchy of Lancaster and later on James I granted the Manor to Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, who then sold it to Richard de la Bere.

Richard de la Bere was the Lord of the Manor of Southam from 1609, [5] and his Manor house was near the present Pigeon House in Southam Lane.

Richard de la Bere was a Barrister of Law at Lincoln's Inn, and he died in 1636. His wife Margaret had the magnificent de la Bere tomb built in the south aisle of St. Michael's Church in Bishop's Cleeve in 1639, at a cost of £400.

They had no children, so his cousin, Kinnard de la Bere, inherited the title, and Southam House became the Manor House from 1636. In 1734 Kinnard's great-grandson Kinard de la Bere died childless, leaving the manor to William Baghott of Prestbury, [6] the second son of William Baghott and Anne de la Bere (m.1684), [7] who took on the name and arms of de la Bere. His eldest son, Thomas Baghott de la Bere, then inherited the estate. [8]

Southam House, now Ellenborough Park Hotel Southam House, Southam, Glos..jpg
Southam House, now Ellenborough Park Hotel

Thomas Goodman is thought to have begun building Southam House c.1500 and was completed by Sir John Huddleston, [9] who was steward of Sudeley Castle. [10]

Southam House was later used by The Oriel School for Girls and now it is the Ellenborough Park Hotel.

The Grade II* listed Tithe Barn [11] and 12th-century Church of the Ascension [12] are also points of interest. The church was abandoned to storing crops and making cider at some stage after 1646. In 1862 The Earl of Ellenborough restored the church in memory of his first wife, Lady Octavia Stewart, who had died of tuberculosis after five years of marriage. Ownership of the church transferred to the Diocese of Gloucester in 1957.


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloucestershire</span> County of England

Gloucestershire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire to the east, Wiltshire to the south, Bristol and Somerset to the south-west, and the Welsh county of Monmouthshire to the west. The city of Gloucester is the largest settlement and the county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tewkesbury Abbey</span> Church in England

The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury, commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey, is located in the English county of Gloucestershire. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Considered one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Britain, it has the largest Romanesque crossing tower in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheltenham</span> Place in England

Cheltenham, also known as Cheltenham Spa, and sometimes called "the Garden Town of England", is a spa town on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is also a local government district with borough status. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the most complete Regency town in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop's Cleeve</span> Human settlement in England

Bishop's Cleeve is a large village and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. The village lies at the foot of Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds. Bishop's Cleeve had a population of 10,612 in 2011, which has increased to 14,068 in the 2021 Census. The village is located 99 miles (159 km) from London, 13 miles (21 km) from Gloucester, 57 miles (92 km) from Birmingham and 44 miles (71 km) from Oxford. The village is also close to the towns of Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Stratford-upon-Avon and Evesham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Gloucestershire</span> Aspect of history

The region now known as Gloucestershire was originally inhabited by Brythonic peoples in the Iron Age and Roman periods. After the Romans left Britain in the early 5th century, the Brythons re-established control but the territorial divisions for the post-Roman period are uncertain. The city of Caerloyw was one centre and Cirencester may have continued as a tribal centre as well. The only reliably attested kingdom is the minor south-east Wales kingdom of Ergyng, which may have included a portion of the area. In the final quarter of the 6th century, the Saxons of Wessex began to establish control over the area.

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

Whitminster is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, and on the A38 trunk road approximately 6 miles (10 km) south of Gloucester and 6 miles (10 km) north-west of Stroud. The parish population at the 2011 census was 881. The hamlet of Wheatenhurst is signposted from the A38 at Whitminster. Whitminster is close to the M5 motorway, with Bristol, South Wales and the south Midlands all within an hour's drive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tewkesbury (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1997 onwards

Tewkesbury is a constituency in Gloucestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 recreation by Laurence Robertson, a Conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodmancote, Tewkesbury Borough</span> Human settlement in England

Woodmancote is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. The parish lies immediately east of Bishop's Cleeve; the village is about 3+1⁄2 miles (6 km) north of Cheltenham. In old English the name meant 'woodmen's cottage' and an early form was Wudumannacote. In the southeast of the parish is the small village of Cleeve Hill, under the slopes of the hill of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford</span> 12th-century Anglo-Norman nobleman and earl

Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford was a great magnate based in the west of England. He was hereditary Constable of England and Sheriff of Gloucestershire.

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

Gotherington is a small village north of Bishops Cleeve in Gloucestershire, England. It is surrounded on the north by the villages of Woolstone and Oxenton, and to the south by Woodmancote and Bishop's Cleeve, a very large urban village. Gotherington has a population of around 1,200, while its neighbour, Bishops Cleeve, has a population of 15,000. The populations reduced at the 2011 census to 995 for Gotherington.

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

Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it became a part of that parish. It forms however a part of the civil parish of Chittlehampton, which is mostly located on the east side of the River Taw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llanthony Secunda Priory</span>

Llanthony Secunda Priory was a house of Augustinian canons in the parish of Hempsted, Gloucestershire, England, situated about 1/2 a mile south-west of Gloucester Castle in the City of Gloucester. It was founded in 1136 by Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, a great magnate based in the west of England and the Welsh Marches, hereditary Constable of England and Sheriff of Gloucestershire, as a secondary house and refuge for the canons of Llanthony Priory in the Vale of Ewyas, within his Lordship of Brecknock in what is now Monmouthshire, Wales. The surviving remains of the Priory were designated as Grade I listed in 1952 and the wider site is a scheduled ancient monument. In 2013 the Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust received funds for restoration work which was completed in August 2018 when it re-opened to the public.

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

Seend is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (5 km) southeast of the market town of Melksham, Wiltshire, England. It lies about 3.5 miles (6 km) west of Devizes and 5.5 miles (9 km) northeast of the county town of Trowbridge. The parish includes the sub-village of Seend Cleeve and the hamlets of Inmarsh, Martinslade, Seend Head, Sells Green and The Stocks.

<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">Sedgeberrow</span> Human settlement in England

Sedgeberrow is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Evesham. It stands beside the River Isbourne, a tributary of the River Avon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael & All Angels Church, Bishop's Cleeve</span> Church in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

St Michael & All Angels is the Anglican church in the village of Bishop's Cleeve, just north of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. Informally the church is known simply as St Michael's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellenborough Park Hotel</span> Building in Gloucestershire, England

Ellenborough Park Hotel is a country house hotel in Southam, about 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) northeast of the centre of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.

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

Weston-sub-Edge is a village in Gloucestershire, England.

Kinard de la Bere was an English landowner and MP. He was the son of John de la Bere of Southam, Gloucestershire and Anne, daughter of John Stephens of Lypiatt, Gloucestershire. The various branches of his mother's family frequently represented Gloucestershire in parliament. In 1699 he married Hester, the daughter and co-heiress of John Neale of Nether Dean, Beds. Her sister Anne had married his mother's nephew Thomas Stephens, a Whig MP for Gloucestershire from 1713 until his death in 1720. At the general election in 1722 he was returned to sit for Gloucestershire through the influence of the Stephens. He served only one term and did not stand in the following election. He died childess and his estate was inherited by his nephew William Baghot, who assumed the name De la Bere.

References

  1. ↑ "Southam (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "Parishes: Bishop's Cleeve: British History Online". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Hinde, Thomas (1985). The Domesday Book, England's Heritage Then & Now. Book Club Associates. p. 114. ISBN   0091618304.
  4. ↑ "Parishes: Bishop's Cleeve: British History Online". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Griffith, Samuel (1826). Griffith's New historical description of Cheltenham and its vicinity. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green. p. 57. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Elrington, Christopher (1968). "Parishes: Bishop's Cleeve," in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 8. British History Online.
  7. ↑ "Ellenborough Estate: The National Archives". The National Archives. The National Archives. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  8. ↑ Rudge, Thomas (1803). The History of the County of Gloucester: Compressed and Brought Down to the Year 1803. G F Harris, Herald Newspaper Office. p. 91. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Parishes: Bishop's Cleeve: British History Online". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "History of Bishop's Cleeve and Southam". cheltenham4u. cheltenham4u.co.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1091668)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  12. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1303115)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 17 March 2015.


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.