Gloucestershire

Yate

The Victoria History of Gloucestershire

Yate is a town in South Gloucestershire, north-east of Bristol. Its ancient parish extended across a largely flat vale, which until the 13th century lay within Horwood forest, and was then cleared, inclosed and farmed as rich pasture by the tenants of the influential owners of its three manors. A limestone ridge fringing the vale provided good building stone, and across the parish seams of coal and a rare mineral - celestine - have been exploited until recent times. Yate lay on an important early route between Bristol and Oxford, and its mineral wealth attracted early railway links, so that it was well placed for industrial development. Bristol-based industries moved there during the decades after 1900, including wartime aviation production, so that Yate's population and housing began to increase.

During the 1950s a 'new town' plan was devised which carefully controlled Yate's expansion, and included pioneering housing estate design, diverse industrial development and a large and progressive shopping mall. Yate's boundaries were redrawn in 1988, and the population of this vibrant, modern town now exceeds 20,000.

Author: Rose Wallis | VHS Shorts

Published in 2015 as part of the VCH Shorts series | Buy this book from the University of London Press.

Cheltenham Before the Spa

The Victoria History of Gloucestershire

The familiar image of Cheltenham, a large and prosperous former spa town, world-famous on account of its Georgian and Regency architecture, its festivals and educational establishments, masks an earlier history. While numerous descriptions of the town have been published over the years, most say little about the many centuries of its existence before the 1740s, when it began to develop as a fashionable resort. This is the fullest account ever attempted to chronicle those centuries, from the late Saxon period until the 18th century. In this period, Cheltenham developed into a successful small town, ranged along a single main street, with the market and trades serving not only its own needs but also those of the surrounding countryside. It draws on a range of documentary sources preserved in local and national archives, many of them never examined in detail before. It therefore helps to explain the foundations upon which present-day Cheltenham was constructed.

Published in 2019 as part of the VCH Shorts series | Buy this book from the University of London Press.

Gloucestershire XIII: The Vale of Gloucester and Leadon Valley

Edited by J.H. Chandler & A.R.J. Jurica

This volume provides authoritative accounts of thirteen ancient parishes alongside the River Severn near Gloucester or its tributary, the Leadon. Ten form a contiguous block north and west of Gloucester, extending from Upleadon to Sandhurst; two more, Minsterworth and Elmore, lie on opposite banks of the Severn below Gloucester. The volume also includes Twyning, a parish near Tewkesbury bordering Worcestershire.

It is a countryside of extensive meadows vulnerable to periodic flooding, of rich farmland between prominent, formerly wooded ridges, and of dispersed small settlements. Arable farming, which was widespread under its medieval monastic owners, eventually gave way to dairying, but cider and perry orchards, quarrying and fishing have also been important. River trade and settlement, and crossings by bridge and ferry, have influenced the area's economy and communications pattern, and its proximity to Gloucester attracted prominent citizens to build country houses and acquire estates there. Most parishes retain medieval work in their churches, and timber-framed domestic buildings are widespread. More recently, at Hartpury, the largest and most populous parish included in the volume, a large college campus has developed.

Author(s): John Chandler, Simon Draper, John Jurica | Series: VCH Red Books

Published 1 September 2016 as part of the VCH Red Book Series. | Buy this book from Boydell & Brewer.