Didmarton

Didmarton is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Cotswold District, about 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Tetbury. The parish is on the county borders with South Gloucestershire (to the southwest) and Wiltshire (to the south and southeast).

Didmarton

Didmarton St Lawrence Church has an unusual open bell tower.
Didmarton
Location within Gloucestershire
Population415 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceST819875
District
  • Cotswold
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBadminton
Postcode districtGL9
Dialling code01454
PoliceGloucestershire
FireGloucestershire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

Since 25 March 1883, the civil parish has included the former parish of Oldbury-on-the-Hill.[2]

History
Copper engraving by Jan Kip entitled Didmarton, the Seat of Robert Codrington, Esq. from Britannia Illustrata, 1709

A military survey of Didmarton in 1522 shows that it was then a very small village, overshadowed by the neighbouring Oldbury-on-the-Hill.[2]

In the 16th century, the manor of Didmarton was owned by the Seacole family. In 1571, Simon Codrington married Agnes, daughter and co-heiress of Richard Seacole, and the estate thus passed to their son Robert Codrington.[3] It was sold to Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort, in about 1750, but has had a succession of other owners since then.

Together with Oldbury, the parish was subject to enclosure in 1829.[4][5]

According to The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868):[6]

DIDMARTON, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of Grumbald's Ash, in the county of Gloucester, 5 miles S.W. of Tetbury, and 9 N.E. of Yate station. It is situated near the river Avon, and consists of a few farmhouses. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, annexed to the rectory of Oldbury-on-the-Hill. The church, dedicated to St Lawrence, is an ancient stone edifice in the early English style of architecture. The charities amount to £11 per annum. There is a school for the children of this parish and that of Oldbury-on-the-Hill. Roman coins are frequently found. The Duke of Beaufort is lord of the manor. A fair was once held here on St Lawrence's Day (3 February), which is now transferred to Lansdown, near Bath.

Places of worship

St Laurence's church at Didmarton (Church of England) is an early English building with a later open bell tower, unusual in England.[7] Archaeological work at Didmarton church has suggested an origin in the 12th century.[8] The church's dedication is to St Laurence of Canterbury, whose feast day is on 3 February.[2]

The village's Congregational church is a square stone building with arched sash windows.[9]

Another Anglican church at the western end of the village, once dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, has been converted to a private house, but its churchyard is still consecrated ground.[10]

Public houses

The village's present-day pub, the King's Arms, was first mentioned in 1772. The former George Inn dated from at least 1791, and the former Compasses Inn (or Three Compasses) from 1798.[2]

Local names

Parish registers from 1674 to 1991 are held at the Gloucestershire Record Office.[11]

Surnames in the marriages register for 1675 to 1751 are: Acton, Allen, Biggs, Bishop, Brooks, Brush, Burcombe, Byrton, Carey, Chapman, Chappel(l), Codrington, Collings, Davies, Drew, Emely, Frith, Gingill, Harris, Hatchett, Heaven, Iddols, Kingscott, Lewis, Milsum, Minchin, Porter, Powel, Power, Robbins, Scrope, Shipton, Smart, Sparkes, Taunton, Thompson, Walls, Watts, Weekes, White, and Witchell.[12]

The surnames recorded in the parish graveyard, and in that of the Didmarton Congregational church, include: Baker, Bickerton, Borham, Cox, Gould, Hatherell, Inane, Lucas, Pritchard, Short, Rice, Robbins, Till, and Tuck.[10]

Notes
  1. "Parish population 2011". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  2. Didmarton: A ramble through history (Didmarton Parish Council, 2000)
  3. Robert Codrington at thepeerage.com (accessed 13 April 2008)
  4. AN ACT for inclosing Lands in the Manors and Parishes of Didmarton and Oldbury-on-the-Hill (HMSO, 1829, 18pp.)
  5. Didmarton and Oldbury on the Hill enclosure at nationalarchives.gov.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
  6. Hamilton, N. E. S. (ed.), The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (London, J. S. Virtue, 1868)
  7. photograph of St Lawrence's Church, Didmarton Archived 20 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine online at wishful-thinking.org.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
  8. Bryant, R., 'Observations at Didmarton church, 1981' in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, vol. 101 (1983) pp. 183-185
  9. photograph of the Congregational Church, Didmarton Archived 12 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine, online at wishful-thinking.org.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
  10. Some Memorial Inscriptions - Didmarton, Gloucestershire, St Michael's & St Lawrence's Churchyards and Didmarton Congregational Church Archived 8 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine online at wishful-thinking.org.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
  11. PARISH: Didmarton (St Lawrence) - abstract of available parish records online at genuki.org.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
  12. Didmarton, Gloucestershire, Marriages 1675-1751 Archived 5 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine online at glosgen.co.uk (accessed 13 April 2008)
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