Upper Slaughter

Upper Slaughter is a village in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, 4 miles (6.4 km) south west of Stow-on-the-Wold. Nearby places include Lower Slaughter, Bourton-on-the-Water and Daylesford.

Upper Slaughter
Upper Slaughter
Upper Slaughter Location within Gloucestershire
Population	177 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SP154231
Civil parish	Upper Slaughter
District	Cotswold
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHELTENHAM
Postcode district	GL54
Dialling code	01451
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Cotswold

The village is built on both banks of the River Eye. The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Peter.[2][3]

Upper Slaughter was one of the Thankful Villages,[4] amongst the small number in England which lost no men in World War I.[5] The village also lost no men in World War II, an honour known as a Doubly Thankful Village.[5][6]

Lords of the Manor Hotel, Upper Slaughter

The parliamentary constituency is represented by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP.

Upper Slaughter Manor, a Grade I Listed property

History

The name of the village derives from the Old English term "slough" meaning "wet land".[7]

The manor of Upper Slaughter is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086; the Slaughter family acquired it in the late 12th century. The current building, on the site of an ancient building, was constructed over many years, starting in the Tudor era. Its crypt is estimated to be from the 14th century.[8]

Upper Slaughter was the site of an adulterine castle, built by supporters of the Empress Matilda during The Anarchy of the 12th century. The remains of the castle are marked by the Castle Mound on the north edge of the village.

The largest business in the village is the Lords of the Manor Hotel. The building dates from 1649 and has been a hotel since 1960s, furnished with portraits and antiques belonging to the former owner.[9] Other hotels serving the two Slaughter villages include The Slaughters Country Inn and Lower Slaughter Manor.

In 1906, the cottages around the square were reconstructed by architect Sir Edward Lutyens.

On the night of February 4th 1944 during Operation Steinbock a Luftwaffe bomber dropped 2000 incendiary bombs on Upper Slaughter. Despite some buildings sustaining damage there were no fatalities or injuries.

Architecture

The Old School House, a Grade II listed property

Places of architectural interest include:

• St Peter's Church
• Upper Slaughter Manor
• Home Farmhouse
• The Old School House
• Castle Mound
• Rose Row
• The Square

Gallery

• 
  Upper Slaughter Manor from the side
• 
  Upper Slaughter Church
• 
  The River Eye
• 
• 
  The old school
• 
  Rose Cottages
• 

References

Media related to Upper Slaughter at Wikimedia Commons

1. "Parish population 2015". Retrieved 25 March 2015.
2. The Buildings of England, ed Nikolaus_Pevsner
3. Elrington, C. R. (1965). A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 6. pp. 134–142.
4. "The thankful villages by Norman Thorpe, Rod Morris and Tom Morgan". Hellfirecorner.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
5. Kelly, Jon (11 November 2011). "Thankful villages: The places where everyone came back from the wars". BBC News. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
6. "Parishes - Upper Slaughter | A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 6 (pp. 134–142)". British-history.ac.uk. 4 October 1913. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
7. The Cotswolds
8. Upper Slaughter Manor
9. The Telegraph

• The Buildings of England Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds, David Verey and Alan Brooks, Penguin Books 1999