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England
Churchdown HillAncient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork
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Visited 14.2.13 Directions: From Gloucester take the B4063 north. Take the turning right signposted Churchdown and then the first right. Follow the narrow minor road up hill signposted church/burial ground. At the top of the hill is a fairly large car park. Valentine’s Day – what to do? Well, after the obligatory flowers, chocolates, card etc we planned a ‘romantic’ day out without the children. As Karen has to put up with my places to visit most of the time, I gave her the choice of where to go. Karen opted for a visit to Gloucester (lots of charity shops!) followed by a meal in a nice old timber-framed pub (can’t remember the name). I of course couldn’t help but sneak at least one ‘old stone’ site as it seemed only fair. After all, Valentine’s Day is for both of us – isn’t it? It just so happened that my choice of place to visit included a cemetery!! After parking in the car park I followed the footpath around the perimeter of the undercover reservoir? The ‘reservoir’ had a sign which also gave the site its alternative name of ‘Chosen Hill’ which perhaps accounts for why the church was built up here – not an obvious place to build a church that’s for sure. This is clearly a popular walk judging by how muddy the path was – really ‘bog like’. I slipped and slithered my way around and at one stage slipped onto my side. The hillside was steep and I could see, through the trees, what appeared to be a rampart/ditch? running half way down the slope. (natural?) Churchdown/Chosen Hill is very prominent within the landscape and would make an obvious choice to build some sort of defended enclosure. After squelching my way back to the car I headed for the pretty church of St Bartholomew, and it’s surrounding grave yard. Unfortunately the church was locked up but the views of the surrounding area and out over Gloucester were very impressive and worth the trip alone. All in all a decent ‘return’ for having to suffer a few hours shopping. Happy Valentine’s day Karen!! |
Posted by CARL 15th February 2013ce |
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... the high hill in the [Matson] neighbourhood was called Robins's Wood Hill... There is another hill at Church-Down, about three miles distant, arising in like manner in the midst of the vale; and these two are called Robin Hood's Butts.From 'Folk-lore of Gloucestershire' - County Folklore v1, 1895. |
Posted by Rhiannon10th June 2009ce |
In the village of Churchdown, about four miles from Gloucester, the church dedicated to St. Bartholomew is built on the summit of Churchdown Hill, - the ascent to it being steep and tortuous. The legend runs, that "the church was begun to be built on a more convenient and accessible spot of ground, but that the materials used in the day were constantly taken away in the night and carried to the top of the hill, which was considered a supernatural intimation that the church whould be built there."*From Church-lore Gleanings By Thomas Firminger Thiselton Dyer (what a name), 1891, p3. (partially online at Google Books). Arthur Cleveland was there and he "descried a hamlet, and a Church, which my friend pointed out to me as Chozen, at the same time informing me that it was spelt Churchdown." (Impressions of England, 2nd ed, 1856, p160) He calls it one of those quaint English things where you speak and spell a word differently. But is it just referring to the legend about the church? Or is it all tied up together. The local school is called 'Chosen Hill School' so people must still refer to it as that. So it must also be the site of this snippet from http://archive.worcesternews.co.uk/2001/10/26/300903.html from 'Folklore of Gloucestershire' by Roy Palmer (1994): "For the ghoulish or fey minded, the key chapter is the aptly named, Out of this World. We hear of a Churchdown man who, early in the last century, saw headless fairies on Chosen Hill." Aren't fairies on their own hard enough to believe? Why not tell your friends you saw headless fairies instead. |
Posted by Rhiannon 16th May 2007ce Edited 16th May 2007ce |
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Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Achaeological SocietyThe Prehistoric Occupation of Churchdown Hill - H. Hurst. This article from 1977 suggests that Churchdown Hill was a fortified site in the Iron Age. This hill has been quarried and reservoired and generally messed with a great deal. The Woodland Trust now manages the woods around the hill: http://www.wt-woods.org.uk/churchdownhill/description.asp |
Posted by Rhiannon 16th May 2007ce Edited 16th May 2007ce |
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