Gloucestershire Family History Society

08/03/2026

Horsley - continued

The older picture was taken by Liz Jack in 2000. Since then, the pews have been cleared, and the church has been adopted by the school for use as a hall (though it is still used as a church.

Of course, this has not been the only change to the building. When it was rebuilt in 1836, two large galleries filled the transepts, and a further gallery was built across the west end, obscuring the arch to the tower.

In total, it could seat 1052 worshippers but, with the decline of the woollen industry, many left the parish to seek their fortunes elsewhere. When the Religious Census was taken on 30th March 1851, and the morning congregation was 158, plus a Sunday School of 183. The afternoon service congregation was 324, with the Sunday School of 184.

08/03/2026

GFHS will be at the show, come along and have a chat, and this talk by our Chair, Mia, promises to be interesting!

Expert Researcher, Mia Bennett will be giving her talk Hidden in the Small Print at The Family History Show, Midlands 2026 on 14th March

06/03/2026

Horsley - continued

Many churchyards have their distinctive features. Here in Horsley there are many tombstones which have the details of those buried etched into copper (I presume) plates. I would be interested to here if this has been seen elsewhere in Gloucestershire.

04/03/2026

Horsley - continued

The present-day church, dedicated to St Martin of Tours was built on the site of the older church in 1838. The older church, which was then 450 years old, was 'in a very dilapidated and dangerous condition'.

Pevsner mentioned an ancient twelve o'clock stone, on which the shadow of the tower fell at noon. This disappeared, and was replaced in 1996, but now, sadly, has vanished again.

With thanks to sundialsoc.org.uk for the photograph of the stone.

02/03/2026

Our parish for March is Horsley, the northerly neighbour of Kingscote, which we covered recently.

Most of the parish lies above the 500' contour, except where streams had created valleys, which were utilised by the woollen industry.

I was lucky enough to walk there on a rare sunny day last month, and the photos is an attempt to show the beauty of the landscape.

With thanks to Archiuk.com for the use of the early OS map.

01/03/2026

On 11th March at 7.30pm, our online talk will be
Opening a Treasure Chest: A peek at a Victorian Family through their Surviving Letters, by Liz Davenport.

Woodchester Mansion is the unfinished masterpiece of the young local Victorian architect Benjamin Bucknall. It stands today as evidence of both his interest in the work of the French
architect Viollet-le-Duc and the quality of the craftsmanship and perfection demanded by his patron, the wealthy Catholic convert William Leigh. The incomplete state enables people to understand how a neo-Gothic house was constructed. The talk will explore the development of the Mansion using surviving contemporary drawings and archive material from the Leigh family.
It will explain why the building was never completed and update you on the latest conservation work.

Liz has been a volunteer at Woodchester Mansion for over twenty years and a trustee since 2016. In this time she’s done all the tasks needed on public open days except driving the bus. Her main
duties as a trustee involve management of open days, assisting with finance and marketing, and writing proposals for grants. Liz is also the volunteer archivist at the Mansion and has extensively
researched the history of the building and the Leigh family, and written a book.

https://gfhs.org.uk/event/opening-a-treasure-chest-a-peek-at-a-victorian-family-through-their-surviving-letters-liz-davenport-of-woodchester-mansion/

27/02/2026

Down Hatherley – finis

Down Hatherley was the site of an airfield that preceded Gloucester Airport, at Staverton, just across the road.
In 1931 the Westgate Motor Company, of Gloucester, set up a dealership for de Havilland DH60 Moth aircraft. Needing somewhere to demonstrate these, and with there being nowhere local, they set up their own aerodrome here, complete with hangar. It also appears that in that same year, the Cotswold Aero Club became residents - and they are still in business, over the road at Gloucester Airport.
The RAF took over the site as a training school in 1936 for training until August 1946. The area is now occupied by an industrial estate.

With thanks to Down Hatherley - UK Airfield Guide for this information.

26/02/2026

Items relating to almost any topic under the sun can be found within the collections at Gloucestershire Archives - and that includes hot air balloons.

After the success of his visit to the Whitsun Fete in June 1895, Professor Gaudron, a French aeronaut from London, brought his hot-air balloon to Gloucester again for the August Bank Holiday in the same year. This extravaganza was held over two days on the Gloucester Rugby Club’s ground in Kingsholm.

Reports in both The Citizen and the Gloucester Journal give a vivid picture of the excitement of this event. Although the balloon remained fixed to the ground on the first day many of the 5000 visitors were able to make a ‘captive ascent’ in its basket to have a bird’s-eye view of the city and surrounding countryside from a height of about 700 ft. In the days before air travel, this would have been a unique and breath-taking experience!

On the next day, Professor Gaudron offered visitors the chance of making a ‘free flight’ – going wherever the wind took the balloon. Three men volunteered: Mr McCrea, the event organiser, Mr Bingle, the Rugby Club’s treasurer, and Mr Seacombe, from the City Council. Weather conditions meant that Professor Gaudron could take only one passenger and Mr Macrea was the lucky man. When the balloon was released, people across the whole city watched as it drifted off towards Cheltenham. It landed an hour later in a field near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire and Mr McCrea sent a telegram to confirm their safe arrival.

It was over one hundred years later that the next balloon was launched from the Kingsholm ground - this time the maiden voyage of G-RENI (aviation code for the balloon), sponsored by Renishaw, and carrying Ben Morgan, England international and Gloucester player. And although history doesn't to relate where the balloon landed, no telegrams were sent this time around.

Photograph Reference: SRprints/GL55.158GS

25/02/2026

Down Hatherley - continued

As well a building a new road through the parish, Alderman Wood also built a school, known as, yes, Sir Matthew Wood School. Closed in 1966, it is now a private house.

23/02/2026

Down Hatherley - continued

In the 1830s, Alderman Wood arranged for a new road, part of the present Down Hatherley Lane, to be built linking Down Hatherley with the turnpike road between Gloucester and Cheltenham.

On the old map (courtesy of https://www.archiuk.com/archi/archi_old_maps.htm) it can be seen that the village was on a dead end, and the new road must have made a substantial change.

22/02/2026

The Barton & Tredworth Community Heritage website was born during a The National Lottery Heritage Fund funded project in 2011-2012. It aims to shares the stories and lives of the people living and working in Barton and Tredworth, Gloucester.

21/02/2026

Down Hatherley - continued

Alderman Matthew Wood lived in Hatherley Court in the early 19th Century. He had become friendly with Jeremy Wood’s sister, because of his support for Queen Caroline, and she left him her house in Gloucester. He became a regular summer resident in the area and developed a close relationship with Jemmy Wood. After the house was made liveable, he moved in with his family, and lived rent-free.
Jemmy Wood died in 1836, and his will directed that his estate (worth around a million pounds) be divided equally between his 4 executors, of whom Alderman Wood was one. The court case was argued in the courts for several years, and was said to have inspired the case of Jarndyce vs Jarndyce in Dicken’s Bleak House. Alderman Wood eventually took possession of the house in 1843, shortly before his death.
When he was made a baronet by Queen Victoria, he took the title of Sir Matthew Wood of Hatherley House (even though the case was not settled at the time).