EASTINGTON
EASTINGTON, a former clothing parish including
the village of Alkerton, lies 4 miles west of Stroud and
9 miles south of Gloucester at the entrance to the
Stroud Valley. The ancient parish contained 2,072 a. (fn. 1)
The main body of the parish was compact in shape,
with the Gloucester-Bristol road marking the western
boundary, Wicksters brook the southern, and small
watercourses parts of the northern. Two detached
parts of Eastington (14 a.) lying near Oldend in
Stonehouse, apparently the result of inclosure of a
shared open field, (fn. 2) were transferred in 1882 to
Stonehouse, (fn. 3) and Eastington absorbed a detached
part of Leonard Stanley at Millend. (fn. 4) In 1884 five
detached parts of Eastington (40 a.) lying near
Framilode, with a population of 54 in 11 houses,
became part of the parish of Fretherne with Saul; (fn. 5)
they apparently reflected the division of a Domesday
estate between the manors of Eastington and
Fretherne. (fn. 6) In 1935 43 a. of Frampton on Severn,
lying east of the Gloucester-Bristol road with a
population of 5, were transferred to Eastington as
was 1 a. of Stonehouse. (fn. 7) The area transferred from
Frampton was the part of Alkerton meadow that had
been held in the Middle Ages by Frampton tenants. (fn. 8)
The changes left Eastington parish with an area of
2,062 a., (fn. 9) and it is to that area that the account here
printed relates.
The land of the parish is flat and lies on the Lower
Lias clay (fn. 10) mainly at under 100 ft. Deposits of
gravel lying in the west of the parish were worked
from the early 17th century, (fn. 11) and in the 18th
century there were other gravel-pits in the northeast around Nastend. (fn. 12) The area lying around the
Alkerton turning on the main Bristol-Gloucester
road had acquired its name of Claypits by 1461 when
the digging of clay there had caused flooding of the
highway, (fn. 13) and local clothiers recorded as digging
fuller's earth in Alkerton manor in 1514 and 1556
were probably operating there. (fn. 14) The River Frome,
or Stroudwater, enters the parish from the east in
two streams; a further cut from the northern stream
at Churchend was presumably made to supply
either the mill or the moat there. (fn. 15) West of the
junction of the three branches at Meadow Bridge
the river formerly meandered widely; the straight
channel was made c. 1759 as part of an abortive
scheme to make the Frome naviable. (fn. 16) g Other
meanders in the central stream of the river at
Churchend (fn. 17) had also been straightened by 1790
when the stretch was referred to as the New River. (fn. 18)
Fishing rights in the river were reserved to the lords
of Eastington and Alkerton manors. (fn. 19) The brook
flowing from the north-east corner of the parish to
join the Frome was known as Sparcroft brook in the
early 17th century, (fn. 20) but later as Nastend brook, (fn. 21)
and that forming part of the north-west boundary
was apparently the Sil brook. (fn. 22) A wood measuring a
league by half a league was recorded in the south of
the parish in 1086, (fn. 23) and the name Riding given to
several fields in the north suggests that there was
anciently thick woodland there. (fn. 24) Mole Grove in the
north-west was recorded in 1379 (fn. 25) and covered c.
5 a. in the mid 16th century; (fn. 26) in the early 18th
century it contained 272 oaks, 7 ashes, and 238
saplings. The whole of the north part of the parish
evidently remained fairly well wooded in the early
18th century when there were 881 elms, 288 ashes,
222 oaks, and 2 walnuts on 10 tenants' holdings
there. (fn. 27) In 1839 there were 36 a. of woods and
plantations in the parish. (fn. 28) Much of the parish lay
in open fields and meadows which were inclosed
gradually between the 16th and 19th centuries. (fn. 29)
A park was made for Eastington Park, a large house
built at Churchend in the early 19th century. (fn. 30)
The division of the parish into two tithings,
Eastington tithing in the north and Alkerton
tithing in the south (sometimes called Eastington
Side and Alkerton Side), (fn. 31) followed from the
division of the land between two separate manors;
the boundary between them was formed by the
river, (fn. 32) in the east of the parish apparently by its
southern arm. (fn. 33) The name of the northern manor
was adopted for the whole parish because the church
there exercised parochial rights over Alkerton
tithing, which, however, had a chapel of ease. (fn. 34)
Although most of the parish was held by one lord
from the 14th century, and the whole from the 16th,
the tithings retained their identities for the purposes
of parochial and manorial government until the
early 19th century. (fn. 35) The northern tithing anciently
had the larger population and in 1322 c. 40 tenants
were enumerated in Eastington manor and 12 in
Alkerton manor; (fn. 36) in 1608, however, 52 ablebodied men were recorded in Eastington tithing
and 70 in Alkerton; (fn. 37) in 1672 there were 43 houses
in the northern tithing and 25 in the southern. (fn. 38) In
the late 18th and early 19th centuries new building
caused the population of the southern tithing to
outstrip that of the northern, and in 1841 Alkerton
tithing had a population of 1,108 in 226 houses, and
Eastington tithing, 763 in 136 houses. (fn. 39) In 1968 the
population was to an even greater extent concentrated in the southern half of the parish.
Eastington tithing comprised 4 scattered hamlets.
The former manor-house (fn. 40) on its moated site at
Churchend, by the river, may have represented the
earliest settlement. The church was built close to
the manor-house probably by the 11th century, (fn. 41)
and there was a mill at Churchend by the late 14th
century. (fn. 42) Churchend was formerly linked to the
Stonehouse-Alkerton road by a road which ran from
the north-east of the churchyard to a point near
the entrance of the drive to Eastington Park. (fn. 43) It
was presumably the Church Way which had been
damaged by the horses of Thomas Webb, the tenant
of Churchend Mill, in 1449. (fn. 44) In 1815, evidently as
a result of the building of Eastington Park, the road
was stopped up and replaced by the lane running
along the north of the churchyard, which had
apparently formerly been the private drive of the
manor-house. (fn. 45) The cottages to the east of the church
include a 17th-century timber-framed row, and a
late-18th- or early-19th-century brick row. The
school was built there in the 19th century on the site
of the former rectory. (fn. 46)
The three northern hamlets were probably early
settlements. Nupend is, and apparently has long
been, the largest; Eastington tithing was sometimes
alternatively called Nupend tithing, (fn. 47) and the pound
for the tithing stood by a small green at the north
end of the hamlet in 1680. (fn. 48) A house at Nupend was
mentioned in 1570, (fn. 49) and Nupend Street in the
early 17th century, (fn. 50) and there were at least six
houses there in the early 18th century. (fn. 51) A pair of
cottages with thatched roofs are apparently timberframed buildings later faced in brick, and Rose Tree
Cottage north of them is timber-framed although
faced with rough-cast and restored, presumably in
1901, the date which it bears. Further north a small
timber-framed building, adjoining a later brick
cottage, retains one cruck truss and the remains of
two others. The largest house in the hamlet, Nupend
Court, formerly Nupend Farm, is an 18th-century
brick house with sash windows, having a higher 19thcentury brick extension on the east. The other houses
are mainly late-18th- and early-19th-century brick
cottages, although some probably occupy the sites
of earlier houses. Nupend had two beerhouses in
lished c. 1900. (fn. 53) The settlement at Nastend was
evidently in existence by 1447 when Nastend Street
was mentioned, (fn. 54) and six houses there were recorded
in 1594. (fn. 55) The houses stand by a small green, among
them the 16th-century Nastend Court, (fn. 56) and a
timber-framed cottage partly faced in brick; a
number of brick houses of the late 18th or early 19th
century include Nastend Farm and a house with a
pigeon-loft in a central gabled dormer. Westend, a
small and less compact hamlet, was mentioned by
name in 1449, (fn. 57) and a house was recorded there
c. 1552. (fn. 58) Grove Farm at the north end of the hamlet
is a brick house, apparently of the late 18th century;
in 1802 a large part of the manorial estate was
farmed from it, (fn. 59) but by 1839 the farm was based
on Westend Farm, an early-19th-century brick
house opposite. (fn. 60) There are also some brick cottages,
at least one of which was probably a rebuilding of
a timber-framed structure.
Chippenham Platt on the canal was recorded as
Shipman's Platt in 1626. (fn. 61) A few council houses were
built to the north, of the old workhouse there (fn. 62) in
the 20th century, almost the only modern development in the northern tithing. Oldbury to the east
was built as the rectory c. 1833; (fn. 63) it is a substantial
two-story brick house faced in stucco and has sash
windows and a central porch with Ionic columns.
Since 1946 it has housed the St. George's Diocesan
Training School, a further-education establishment
for girls run by Anglican nuns. (fn. 64) Newtown, on the
Stonehouse boundary, is a small canal- and roadside
group of late-18th- and 19th-century brick cottages;
one is the New Inn, which had opened by 1839. (fn. 65)
At Alkerton, which centres on a road-junction,
there was a settlement by 1086, (fn. 66) and the village had
35 houses c. 1710. (fn. 67) Alkerton Farm on the south
is a timber-framed house probably of the early 17th
century; a jettied cross-wing on the east has a small
timber-framed projection on a stone base in the
centre of its east wall. There is a brick cross-wing
on the west and a large timber-framed barn adjoining. Alkerton Green Farm, named from its position
south of a small roadside green, is another timberframed farm-house; sash windows were put in at
the front in the 18th century and the front and sides
have been faced in rough-cast. Another small 17thcentury timber-framed house north of the roadjunction in Alkerton village is L-shaped and mainly
faced in brick. Alkerton House at the road-junction is
basically a late-18th-century brick house faced in
stucco with wall pilasters and a central pediment,
although it contains stonework which may survive
from an earlier house and traces of what is thought
to have been a moat surrounding the house were
formerly visible. (fn. 68) It is possible therefore that it
occupies the site of the manor-house of Alkerton
manor mentioned in 1322, but alternatively that
may have been at Alkerton Farm. (fn. 69) The northern
part of Alkerton Grange, opposite Alkerton Green
Farm, was originally a two-storied brick house of
c. 1700 with a symmetrical south front and gabled
rear wings. The south wing was added at right angles
in the later 18th century. At the end of the garden is
a small baroque summer-house of the early 18th
century; the front, of red brick with stone dressings,
is divided into three bays by Ionic pilasters and has a
swept gable surmounted by carved urns and a
broken pediment. No evidence has been found to
explain the presence of so ornate a building in the
grounds of a comparatively small house, but local
tradition suggests that it was brought from elsewhere and re-erected on its present site. (fn. 70) Alkerton
Court to the west is a late-18th-century three-story
brick house with stone quoins and dressings; there
is a fan-light over the door and the two lower
floors have flanking Venetian windows. The 'King's
Head' on the south of the road-junction is a late-18thor early-19th-century brick house with a cornice and
a parapet, a doorway with a fan-light, and a porch
with Doric columns; it was a public house by 1834. (fn. 71)
The rectory, formerly Eastington Lodge, at the east
of the village is a house of similar date and type;
in the later 19th century it was the home of the cloth
manufacturer, Charles Henry Hooper. (fn. 72) On the
north side of the main road east of the road-junction
are several rows of late-18th- or early-19th-century
brick cottages, and the village west of the junction
consists mainly of mid-19th-century brick cottages
with decorative splayed window-heads. A housingestate was built north-east of the village in the 20th
century.
There may have been a settlement at Cress Green
in 1329 when William atte Croyza had land in Alkerton, (fn. 73) and the place was mentioned by name c.
1552. (fn. 74) That area, and the area round Bath Street
and Middle Street known as Muddles Hole in the
early 19th century, (fn. 75) were developed in the late
18th and early 19th centuries by the building of a
large number of 2-story brick cottages, sometimes
in pairs or longer terraces; many have diagonal
brick cornices and some are faced in rough-cast.
The expansion of the cloth-mills of the parish
was one of the main causes of the development.
Henry Hicks, the millowner, was said in 1829 to
have been responsible for bringing a large population
into the parish, (fn. 76) and Hicks's other role as lord of the
manor facilitated the provision of sites on the roadside waste. (fn. 77) There are other 19th-century brick
cottages around Millend, a mill-site from the 14th
century or earlier. (fn. 78) Five houses there were recorded
in 1569, (fn. 79) and Millend House was built soon
afterwards. (fn. 80) A house at Claypits on the west side
of the parish was recorded in 1609, (fn. 81) but the oldest
houses there in 1968 were 18th- and 19th-century
brick cottages. A green south of the road-junction
there was recorded in the early 19th century. (fn. 82) In
the mid 19th century The Hawthorns, a three-story
brick house with a dentil cornice, splayed windowheads, and a porch with Ionic columns, was built
north of Claypits on the Gloucester-Bristol road.
A Roman road to the Severn crossing at
Arlingham was approximately on the line of the
road from Frocester to the centre of Alkerton, from
where its course continued directly on the line of
the surviving footpath to Perry Way in Frampton; (fn. 83)
an ancient milestone which stood near the 'King's
Head' at Alkerton until the late 19th century was
said by tradition to be Roman. (fn. 84) Roman remains
discovered at Eastington include pottery in the
gravel-pits where the road left the parish and part
of a pavement in a field near Westend. (fn. 85) The
'portway' in Mead field, mentioned in 1623, (fn. 86)
perhaps followed the line of the old road. Other
roads which have fallen into disuse include a road
from Nupend to Moreton Valence mentioned in
1600, (fn. 87) and a road linking Millend and Cress Green
with Leonard Stanley in the early 19th century, (fn. 88)
which survives as a footpath. The GloucesterBristol road along the west boundary of the parish,
the road leaving it at Claypits and running east to
Stonehouse, and the branch from Alkerton towards
Frocester, were turnpike roads from 1726 to 1874; (fn. 89)
there were toll-booths at Chippenham Platt and
Claypits. (fn. 90) The Stroudwater Canal crossing the
parish was opened in 1779 and closed to traffic in
1954; (fn. 91) there were wharves and a dry-dock at
Chippenham Platt. (fn. 92)
Figure 7:
Frampton-on-Severn and Stonehouse area c. 1965
The divided river and its tributary brooks made the
provision and maintenance of bridges a frequent
item of expenditure. A bridge called Stony Bridge
was mentioned in 1378, (fn. 93) and an order for
repairs to Honey, Martin's, and Smith's Bridges
was made in 1439. (fn. 94) Smith's Bridge may have been
that later called Meadow Bridge carrying the main
road over the Frome west of Churchend, for in 1464
responsibility for the repair of one end of it lay with
John Breadstone, lord of the Alkerton manor of
Amey Court, and of the other end with the bailiff of
Eastington manor. (fn. 95) Horsenayle Ford mentioned in
1448 was perhaps where the Churchend-Millend
road crossed one of the branches of the river. (fn. 96) Sparcroft Bridge in Nastend Lane was recorded c.
1552, (fn. 97) and stone was provided to repair it in 1747. (fn. 98)
Oldbury Bridge, carrying the road to Nupend and
Westend over the brook at Chippenham Platt, was
mentioned in 1615 when the inhabitants of the two
hamlets were said to be responsible for its repair. (fn. 99)
In 1625 it was planned to build a bridge at Sil brook,
evidently on the Westend-Whitminster road. (fn. 1)
In the early 18th century the main road running
north from Alkerton was carried by Meadow
Bridge over the Frome and by a smaller bridge over
the cut to the north; the road from Millend to
Churchend was then carried by a bridge south-east
of the church over the main northern stream of the
Frome, but it crossed the cut to the north by a ford (fn. 2)
until 1790 when a bridge was built there. In 1790
it was also decided to build a bridge over the southern
stream of the Frome at Millend. (fn. 3) Meadow Bridge
and the smaller bridge on the north were replaced
by concrete structures in 1908, and Pike Bridge
over the canal was replaced in 1924. (fn. 4)
Fifteen taxpayers were assessed in the parish in
1327. (fn. 5) There were c. 234 communicants in 1551, (fn. 6)
and 56 households in 1563, (fn. 7) In 1650 there were said
to be more than 80 families, (fn. 8) and c. 1710 a population
of c. 450 in 100 houses. (fn. 9) About 1775 the population
was estimated at c. 767; (fn. 10) it had risen to 988 by 1801
and a steady rise continued during the earlier 19th
century to 1,886 in 1851. The population then fell
steadily to 1,138 in 1931; there was then a slight rise
to 1,399 by 1961. (fn. 11)
From the later 16th to the beginning of the 19th
century the Stephenses, who had a large estate, were
the leading family in Eastington. (fn. 12) In the 19th
century the cloth manufacturers Charles Hooper
and his son Charles Henry Hooper (fn. 13) played a
dominant role in the parish. Both gained a reputation
for a paternalistic attitude towards their workpeople, and were particularly concerned by the
effects of beershops. (fn. 14) It was probably at Charles
Hooper's instigation that the select vestry, of which
he was a member, in 1834 offered a reward to anyone
laying information against beershop-keepers who
encouraged drunkenness or acted illegally; (fn. 15) his
son opened a temperance hall in Alkerton, and a
drinking-fountain combined with a signpost which
he erected in the centre of the village to mark the
Jubilee of 1897 was intended, according to tradition,
to deflect custom from the near-by 'King's Head'.
He also encouraged education and attendance at
church or chapel among his employees. (fn. 16) There were
two public houses and 23 beershops in the parish in
1838; (fn. 17) in 1891 there were 9 public houses. (fn. 18) A
village hall at Alkerton was built by the Bush family
of Eastington Park in 1927. (fn. 19)
During the siege of Gloucester in 1643 there was
an outlying garrison of parliamentary troops at
Eastington, (fn. 20) perhaps occupying the manor-house,
then the home of Nathaniel Stephens, a supporter of
Parliament. (fn. 21) The tradition that marks on the church
tower were caused by cannon fire at that period, (fn. 22)
was supported by the discovery of a cannon-ball
in the near-by brook in 1967. (fn. 23)
Robert Stephens (1665-1732), a son of Richard
Stephens of Eastington (d. 1678), was one of the
founders of the Society of Antiquaries of London in
1717, and in 1726 was appointed historiographerroyal. (fn. 24)