About
Lechlade
Lechlade is a
quiet town, situated on the Upper
Thames. Its chief industry is
agriculture,
but during the past few years
gravel has been dug in large
quantities, and
many local farming lands are no
longer grazing pastures for sheep and
cattle. It is said to be some of
the best gravel in the Thames
valley.
For
the
leisure hours of those who enjoy
water sports, motor boating,
hydroplane
racing, water skiing and yachting
surround us, in fact we are now known
as
the "Broads of the
Cotswolds."
Lechlade,
where the salt way ends, is also
where four counties meet.
Gloucestershire
is joined by Oxfordshire on the
East, and across the river to the
south is
Berkshire and Wiltshire.
Two
small
rivers join the Thames at
Lechlade, the Coln and the Leach. The
Old Canal,
once a busy waterway to the town,
no longer exists.
Lechlade is
only 74 miles from London,
Faringdon 6 miles, and the busy
railway town of
Swindon 11 miles, and the old
Roman town of Cirencester (or
Corinium) 13
miles away.
The
town’s
population at the 1961 census was
1,134. Plenty of buses link the town
with
Cirencester, Fairford, Swindon and
Oxford, but the railway was closed
down
in 1963. Early closing day is
Thursday.
The
Town
The
privilege
of holding a market was conferred
upon Lechlade in 1260 and was well
known
for the sale of cheese, which was
produced in great quantities along the
rich Thames meadows. There is no
regular market held today. The wool
trade
also flourished here, the Black
Death causing such a labour shortage
that
the land was used for the
production of sheep.
The
people of
nearby Southrop and Eastleach and
adjacent villages sent their wool to
the
weekly market in the mediaeval
times.
The
town,
situated on the Thames, where it
is joined by the Leach, from which it
takes
its name, is built
mainly
of
local stone
and contains many Georgian
residences, Period houses and
attractive
cottages.
An
18th
century gazebo may be seen along
the main road to Fairford, and good
examples of these rather unusual
features for a small country town may
also
be found in Sherbourne Street,
Church House, and Butler’s Court Farm.
These
gazebos were used in the days of
the stage coach as waiting rooms for
"my
lady" and her
friends.
The
Town
formerly had a market cross, but
this was pulled down in 1770 by Sir
Thomas
Wheate, it is said that he used
the stones in a house he was building,
the
stocks also disappeared. A
building of interest is the Swan Inn
which was
originally built about 1520 by Sir
Edward Tame and many houses in the
High
Street date from Charles II. As
early as 1698 a regular stage coach
ran from
Lechlade to London.
A
number of
picturesque dove cotes may also be
found around the town.
THE
PARISH CHURCH
Click here for the ST
Lawrence church web
site
Although a
Church existed here in 1255[i],
as is evident from a Charter of
Henry
III to the Priory, and was one of
the few endowed with the privilege of
Sanctuary, the present St.
Lawrence’s Church dates entirely from
about 1470,
and is a good example of the
Perpendicular architecture, and
consists of a
nave with aisles, chancel,
chapels, and an embattled western
tower rises to
a height of 140 feet. A peal of
six bells can be heard from this tower
on
Sundays calling people to worship.
The bell ringers are one of the
youngest
teams in the country, being mainly
composed of teenagers.
The
oldest
bell in the tower is dated 1593,
with others dated 1626, 1635, 1743,
1802
and 1911. A little bell the ‘Ting-
Tang’ is still in the steeple, above
the
other bells, rang a nightly curfew
until 1850.
The
porch.
with its panelled roof, is said to
contain some of the masonry from the
former Priory.
The
interior
of the church is lofty and
spacious, and has a beautiful east
window of five
lights, a brass to John Townsend,
wool merchant, and his wife, dated
1458,
and another to John Twinhoe (1510)
who founded the chantry of St. Blaise.
Both memorials are in good state
of preservation. The Chancel has a
fine oak
panelled roof and is enclosed by
oak screens on three sides.
The
upper
portion of the font is ancient and
beautifully worked in stone, and the
stone pulpit has a modern upper
portion but the base was found some
years
ago, in the Vicarage
garden.
About
1510 a
fire destroyed part of the
interior and the roofs, and it is
evident that
soon after alterations were made
to the building, the tower was
strengthened
and
topped by
the present elegant spire and a
west window and doorway were
rebuilt.
It
was on a
beautiful evening in August, 1815,
that Shelley, one of our greatest
poets,
visited Lechlade Churchyard, which
inspired him to write this
famous
STANZAS IN
LECHLADE CHURCHYARD
[i]
‘The
wind
has swept from the wide
atmosphere Each vapour that obscured
the sunset’s
ray,
And
pallid evening twines its
beaming hair In duskier braids around
the
languid eyes of day
Silence
and twilight, unbeloved of men,
Creep hand in hand from yon obscurest
glen.
They
breathe their spells towards the
departing day, Encompassing the earth,
air, stars, and sea;
Light,
sound, and motion over the
potent sway, Responding to the charm
with its
own mystery
The
winds
are still, or the dry Church
Tower grass Knows not their gentle
motions as
they pass.
Thou
too,
aerial pile! whose pinnacles
Point from one shrine like pinnacles
of fire
Obeys’t
in silence their sweet solemn
spells, Clothing in hues of heaven thy
dim
and distant spire,
A
round
whose lessening and invisible
height Gather among the stars the
clouds of
night.
The
dead
are sleeping in their
sepulchres; and, mouldering as they
sleep, a
thrilling sound,
Half
sense, half thought, among the
darkness stirs, Breathed from their
wormy
beds all living
things
[i]around:
[i]
And
mingling with the still night
and mute sky, Its awful hush is felt
inaudibly.
Thus
solemnized and softened, death
is mild A mid terrorless as this
serenest
night,
Here
could 1 hope, like some
enquiring child Sporting on graves,
that death did
hide from human
[i]sight
[i]
Sweet
secrets, or beside its
breathless sleep That loveliest dreams
perpetual
watch did keep."
HALFPENNY PIKE
BRIDGE
This
unusually
shaped hump ‘bridge took the place
of a ferry and ford, and was built in
the
year 1792, primarily for the
Thames and Severn Canal traffic. It
takes its
name from the halfpenny toll
levied until 1839. The toll house is
still to
be seen on the East
side.
The
nearby
docks and free wharf were
constructed for the considerable barge
traffic,
and towards the end of the 18th
century, coal was being carried in
large
tonnage from the Forest of Dean
along the Severn Canal, connecting
with the
Thames at the Round House,
Lechlade, and with it bringing much
prosperity to
the town until the advent of the
railways, which provided alternative
transport, and the river traffic
dwindled until the canal finally
closed
down and become derelict in
1901.
The
river is
now the playground of boatmen and
fishermen. The latter may be seen
sitting
along the Donkey path which was
the towpath in the days of the barges.
Visitors may hire punts by the
hour, day or week, and the excursions
up or
down the river are
delightful.
ST
JOHN’S BRIDGE
AND
LOCK
The
river has
been spanned by a stone bridge at
this point for hundreds of years.
London
Bridge was first built in stone in
1209, and St. John’s Bridge followed,
the
foundation stones were laid in
1229.
The
original
bridge was of timber and was
washed away by a severe flood, a stone
bridge
taking its place in the 13th
century. The bridge takes its name
from a
nunnery founded by Isabella de
Ferras and dedicated to St. John the
Baptist,
and endowed with land near the
river. Soon afterwards, Peter
Fitzgerald,
second husband of Isabella,
founded a hospital nearby, and the
Prior and
monks undertook the care of the
bridge and causeways leading to
it.
Unfortunately
this work was not carried out and
the bridge fell into disrepair. in
1338
St. John’s Bridge became so broken
down and dangerous to people passing
over
it, that in 1342 Edward lii made a
special grant towards the cost of
repairs
and a further grant was made by
Richard II in 1388. Trouble over the
bridge’s upkeep did not end here,
for, years later in 1626, after a law
suit, the county appears to have
employed a builder to repair and
renovate
it.
Nearby is St.
John’s Lock, the highest lock on
the Thames. It is not the oldest, and
the
earliest mention of the lock and
weir is in 1789. The first lockhouse
was
put up in 1830, and prior to this
it is thought that the lockkeepers
lived
at the nearby Trout Inn. The
present lockkeeper, Mr. L. David, won
the "Best
Kept Lock" Award in
1963.
In
March,
1966, the lock was drained when a
new set of lock gates were fitted.
This
operation has not been carried out
since the last set of lock gates were
fitted in 1922
THE
ROUNDHOUSE
About
one
mile up river from the Halfpenny
Bridge is the picturesque old Round
House,
situated at a point where the old
canal joins the Thames.
Until
a few
months ago a wooden bridge, or
"donkey" walk, spanned the
river, leading to
the canal path alongside the Round
House.
Unfortunately over the years the
bridge became in a bad state of repair
and
funds for its renewal could not be
found, so that both residents and
visitors are now deprived of this
ancient right of way.
The
Round
House is one of 30 built for the
lockkeepers who worked on the Thames
and
Severn Canal. Only two or three
are now in a good state of repair and
being
used as dwelling houses.
THE
MANOR
The
earliest
notice of Lechlade is at the time
of Edward the Confessor. Certain Danes
in
the King’s favour were granted
immense tracts of land. One such
favourite
was named Siward, who was awarded
the Manor of Lechlade and the lands
around
it.
Later
the
Manor passed into the hands of the
de Ferras, a powerful Norman family,
and
remained in their possession for
many years.
Catherine of
Aragon received the Manor of
Lechlade, with its entitlement of the
fair and
market tolls, as part of her dowry
when she married Henry VIII. The
Parish
Church was dedicated to St.
Lawrence at her request at this
time.
The
old Manor
House was demolished in the 1870’s
and a new manor built, which was
acquired
by the congregation of St.
Clotilde, and is now a convent
school.
THE
PRIORY
The
Priory was
founded in the 13th century. The
greatest benefactor of land and gifts
was
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who,
with his wife, came into possession of
the
Manor in 1252. The Priory was soon
in financial trouble however, and the
buildings quickly disappeared;
some of the stone was probably used
for
alterations to the Parish Church,
where work was in progress.
A
record of
the Priory exists and date from
1240, and from it are taken some
interesting
points as to how the monks
lived . . . The prior, brethren, lay
brethren and
lay sisters, were not to interfere
with the running of the Parish Church,
but the local vicar was to
celebrate one
service
annually in their chapel. The
inmates of the Priory, on receiving
the habit,
must nevermore return to the
world. All were to dress, drink and
eat in
common, sleep in their shirts and
breeches.
The
Priory
income arose from various sources
such as dovecotes, meadowland, rent of
mills, fisheries, tolls and tithes
from the church, also labour and
tenants
etc.
By
1300,
however, reports showed that the
Priory was being run in an
unsatisfactory
manner, and little was being done
to put things right. The bridge of St.
John the Baptist had become in a
poor state of repair, enquiries showed
that
the brethren had gone around the
countryside saying masses for the
souls,
for which payment was sought. it
was about this time that the Priory
ceased
to exist.
A
curious
piece of sculpture built into the
south aisle wall of Inglesham Church
(which is situated in a charming
and unusual farmyard setting about one
mile
from Lechlade), representing
Christ and the Virgin Mary, was
brought from
the Priory of St. John when it was
destroyed and is apparently the work
of
the 11th century.
The
Trout Inn,
situated near the Priory was
formerly called St. John the Baptist’s
Head and
stands near the bridge of St.
John, was probably once a guest house
for the
Priory, and is now a well
preserved old inn, and the landlord
possesses the
ancient fishing rights which are
on both sides of the river. These
rights
were granted by Loyal Charter to
the early brethren.
About
fifty
years ago, excavations on the
Priory site resulted in the finding of
the
skeletons of forty monks, some
coins, tiles and worked
stones.
The
Priory is
now a modern and well known
Caravan Park, for both the
holidaymaker and
resident.
| More about ST. JOHN'S PRIORY,
LECHLADE |
St. John's Bridge, the second
stone
bridge over the Thames, was
built in 1229 by Peter Fitzherbert the
second
husband of Isobel de Mortimer.
The nunnery she founded in 1200 became
a
hospital for the care of the
workers and later for the poor,
elderly and
sick. In 1245 Isobel granted to
the hospital the bridge itself, some
adjacent land, a chape and the
mill. The King's brother Richard Duke
of
Cornwall became Lord of the
Manor in 1252 and rebuilt and enlarged
the
hospital into a Priory of the
Order of St. Augustine. He also
founded the
great abbey and Shrine of Hailes
(near Winchcombe) to which his son
Edmund
granted the Manor of Lechlade
and the advowson (patronage) of the
Vicarage
and hospital.
The Priory seems to have
consisted of
seven priests including a Prior,
lay brothers and sisters who looked
after
the sick and poor. They wore
russet habits and in a record of 1240
rules
were laid down concerning the
services to be held and the way of
life to
be observed. The monks were told
to be chaste and sober, to eat
moderately
and to obey the discipline
humbly and obediently. The Prior
received a
Royal Grant to take tolls for
the repair of the bridge but several
complaints were made of its
neglect.
The subsequent records show
us that the
monks often failed to live up to
the high ideals of the Priory's
foundation. In 1291 a report to
the Bishop of Worcester under whose
spiritual authority the Priory
came showed that the services were
being
neglected and the discipline not
observed. A mandate was sent out for
the
reform of the hospital which
stated that the services were to be
held at
the proper times, uniformity of
dress was to be observed, food was
only to
be taken at regular times and
places, hospitality was to be
dispensed
charitably and cheerfully and
regular accounts were to be kept. In
1300,
an inquisition was held by the
Bishop of Worcester when it was said
that
the Prior had expelled a number
of lay brothers and sisters. In 1351 a
Commissioner was sent by the
Bishop to punish certain brothers for
laying
violent hands on other brethren.
The following year it was said that
the
monks had laid aside their
habits and were celebrating Mass for
payment.
At this time after the Black
Death however, there were economic
difficulties and disorder in the
countryside and it may be that the
amount
of land and dues supporting the
Priory were insufficient for its
proper
maintenance.
In 1375 Prior Stephen of
Lechlade was
excommunicated because he had
diminished the services, wasted and
defiled
the goods of the Priory and led
a dissolute life. We have a
description of
the ceremony when the Dean of
Fayreford with all the rectors, vicars
and
parish priests of Fayreford
Deanery, having put on their albs
(white
tunics) and rung the bells, then
extinguished their candles and threw
them
to the ground with other
requisite solemnities to denounce
Stephen as
excommunicate. By 1454 there
were not enough brethren to elect a
Prior and
one was appointed by the Bishop
on the recommendation of the patron
Richard Duke of York. In 1462
the hospital was so impoverished that
it was
exempted from the payment of the
tenth.
The end of the Priory came in
1472 when
it was in a ruinous condition
and Cecily Duchess of York, then the
Lady of
the Manor, obtained a licence
from Edward IV to transfer all its
possessions to the maintenance
of a Chantry of three priests founded
in
the Chapel of
the Virgin
in Lechlade Church. Three years
later this was put into effect by the
Bishop of Worcester and it was
stipulated that the Chaplains should
repair
the Chapel and Hospital and hold
services on the Vigil and Feast of St.
John the Baptist.
Our last view of the Priory
is that of the
traveller Leland who, writing in
1543, described the ruins of the
Chapel and
Priory. As a sad postscript we
have a picture of the workhouse in
1770 built
on the same site to which the
overseers of Lechlade paid £20 a year.
It was
divided into stalls in which the
wretched pauper women sat spinning. In
1794
the Pest House was built to the
north of the town and the workhouse
disappeared.
THE THAMES GRAVEL
BED
Lechlade
stands on a very favourable broad
gravel bed which is said to be one of
the
best in the country. Huge
quantities of gravel have been dug
over a wide
surrounding area during the past
few years, and even entire farms have
been
sold for their rich gravel
deposits. Where sheep and cattle used
to graze,
huge stretches of water are now
becoming the happy leisure grounds for
water
sports, fishing and wild life
preserves.
The
gravel bed
was once formed by the water of an
ancient river in prehistoric times,
and
is composed of white lime stones
and flint to the North East and is red
with
no flint beyond the Market Place.
When the bottom of the gravel has been
reached there is a bed of
laminated clay. During recent
excavations river
silt has been found. An excavation
of between 12 to 20 feet deep anywhere
in
the gravel bed will give a
plentiful supply of water. There are
many
man-made lakes in the district
~particular1y in the Lechlade and
Fairford
area, which are well stocked with
brown and rainbow trout and coarse
fish
which delight the keen
angler.
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