WESTONBIRT WITH LASBOROUGH
The rural parish of Westonbirt with Lasborough
lies 3 miles south-west of Tetbury. Lasborough,
formerly a separate parish, had become depopulated
by the late 14th century and by the mid 17th had
been united for civil purposes with Westonbirt. (fn. 1)
Lasborough remained a separate manor and
ecclesiastical parish although the benefices were
united in 1868.
Westonbirt was a small compact parish of 850 a.,
bounded by a Roman road on the north-east, an old
road from Tetbury on the north-west, and the old
Westonbirt-Leighterton road and the Sherbourne
brook on part of the south-west. The southern
boundary, which is also the county boundary with
Wiltshire, follows field boundaries. To the northwest beyond a part of Tetbury lay Lasborough, an
elongated parish of 1,054 a., bounded on the southeast by the Tetbury-Leighterton road and on most
of the north-east by the Roman road. Part of the
western boundary follows the stream on the floor of
the Lasborough valley; (fn. 2) it was redefined in 1838
after a dispute. (fn. 3) In 1935 the two parts were united
geographically by absorbing 346 a. of Tetbury
parish, which with the addition of 21 a. of Shipton
Moyne (fn. 4) brought the north-eastern boundary into
line with a new road that had replaced part of the
Roman road. (fn. 5) The enlarged parish comprises 2,271 a.
but the account printed below relates to the area
included in the parish until 1935 together with the
area on the north-east side of Westonbirt between
the Roman road and its replacement.
Most of the parish lies on the Forest Marble,
rising from c. 400 ft. in the south-east to c. 650 ft. in
Lasborough before dropping steeply into the valley,
the sides of which are formed by the underlying
strata of the Great Oolite. The floor of the valley is
overlaid with fuller's earth (fn. 6) from which issue several
springs. The Sherbourne brook flows eastwards
across the south part of Westonbirt. Formerly the
parishes were not heavily wooded. Bowldown wood
in south-east Lasborough, recorded in 1519, (fn. 7)
included 27 a. in 1797. (fn. 8) The light stone soil was
suited to both arable and pastoral farming and much
of Westonbirt lay in open fields, the inclosure of
which was completed in 1745. (fn. 9)
In the mid 19th century the character and
appearance of Westonbirt was transformed by
Robert Stayner Holford. In 1829 he founded the
arboretum on former common downland in the
north-west and he later laid it out with broad rides
aligned on Westonbirt House. The collection of
trees and shrubs from all parts of the world was
continued by his successors and in 1956 the
arboretum was acquired by the Forestry Commission and opened to the public. In the early 1970s it
covered 117 a. and its comprehensive collection was
known especially for its conifers and maples. (fn. 10) In the
1840s R. S. Holford enlarged the manor-house park (fn. 11)
which had been created by 1674 (fn. 12) and had been
divided into two parks by 1700. (fn. 13) Its extension
involved rerouting several roads (fn. 14) and moving the
village. (fn. 15) The landscaping of the gardens involved
the diversion and culverting of the brook in the late
1860s and a small lake was created west of the
church. (fn. 16) In the park, which comprised 550 a., a
golf-course was laid out before 1936 (fn. 17) on the site of
the former village.
In the north-western valley Lasborough park,
which includes land in Newington Bagpath and
Boxwell with Leighterton, was created for deer and
coneys by Sir Thomas Estcourt before 1612. (fn. 18) In the
mid 17th century it was used as a coney warren (fn. 19)
and in the 1830s larch poles were sold on a
considerable scale. (fn. 20) In 1927 it included 110 a. (fn. 21)
During the First World War there was an airfield
in the centre of Lasborough. (fn. 22)
The two parts of the parish were crossed by
several important routes. The route along Bowldown
Road, used by the Romans between the Foss Way
and the Severn, (fn. 23) was probably the most important
ancient route. The village name of Weston presumably derives from its position west of the road, as
distinct from Easton Grey east of it. The affix Birt,
first recorded in 1309, (fn. 24) was evidently added when
the manor was in the hands of the Bret family. Part
of Bowldown Road was turnpiked in 1798 as the
Gloucester-Malmesbury road. (fn. 25) A toll-house near
Park Corner (fn. 26) was built before 1808. (fn. 27) By 1854 that
part of the turnpike bordering Westonbirt had been
diverted slightly north-eastwards in two stages,
the southern part (fn. 28) probably before 1848. (fn. 29) Bristol
way, recorded in 1635, (fn. 30) which passed north-west
of the village, was turnpiked in 1743 as the BathCirencester road. (fn. 31) It was diverted to the north-west
c. 1850 and at the same time the road joining it from
Sherston to the south was moved westwards. (fn. 32) The
road from the village of Westonbirt (fn. 33) across the park
to Easton Grey (fn. 34) was closed c. 1868 and replaced by
a new road skirting the enlarged park. (fn. 35) The Romans
used a route across Lasborough between Bath and
Chavenage Green. (fn. 36) The old Bath-Gloucester road
by way of Frocester crossed Lasborough parish and
incorporated part of Bowldown Road. (fn. 37) It was
turnpiked in 1758, together with the route branching
north-eastwards to Tiltups End, (fn. 38) which later replaced it as the main road from Bath to Gloucester
and Cheltenham.
Until the mid 19th century Westonbirt village lay
south-west of the church on both sides of the Easton
Grey road. (fn. 39) The village, which c. 1710 contained
18 houses, (fn. 40) comprised in 1840 10 cottages, the
rectory, and a farm-house, (fn. 41) which may have been
the house built shortly before 1709 for Minchins
farm. (fn. 42) In 1854 R. S. Holford demolished the farmhouse (fn. 43) and most of the cottages, rebuilding the
village further west where the school and some
cottages already stood. (fn. 44) The new cottages, completed by 1856, (fn. 45) were probably designed by Lewis
Vulliamy, the architect of the mansion built by
Holford near the site of the former manor-house
north-east of the church. (fn. 46) The village hall opened
in 1923 was built largely at the cost of Sir George
Holford. (fn. 47) New Farm, an outlying farm building in
the south of the parish recorded in 1824, (fn. 48) was
called Rushmoor barn in 1840 (fn. 49) and Elmleaze Farm
by 1881. (fn. 50) Home Farm in the north-east of
Westonbirt appears to be of the mid 19th century
but incorporates earlier features.
The parish of Lasborough, which takes its name
from a small earthwork above the Lasborough
valley, (fn. 51) has no village. In 1086 13 tenants were
enumerated on the manor (fn. 52) but in 1327 only five
people, including the custodian of the manor, were
assessed for tax in the parish. (fn. 53) Lasborough was
depopulated by 1381, (fn. 54) when the lord and lady of the
manor alone were assessed for tax, (fn. 55) but it seems
unlikely that there had ever been more than a small
village in the valley at the west end of the parish
where only the church and manor-house survived
later. There are a few outlying cottages, including a
19th-century lodge on the Bath-Cheltenham road.
There was possibly a dwelling at the outlying
farmstead of Bowldown by the mid 16th century. (fn. 56)
Bowldown Farm dates from the 18th century and
was extensively modernized in the 20th. Of the
cottages there, two were built in the mid 19th
century, evidently to designs by Vulliamy.
Nine male inhabitants of Westonbirt were
recorded in 1086 (fn. 57) and 14 people assessed for tax in
1327. (fn. 58) In 1381 17 people were assessed in
Westonbirt, (fn. 59) where there were said to be c. 40
communicants in 1551 (fn. 60) and 13 households in
1563. (fn. 61) Lasborough had c. 17 communicants in
1551 (fn. 62) and only 2 households in 1563. (fn. 63) Westonbirt
had 30 families in 1650 (fn. 64) and the estimated population rose from 80 c. 1710 (fn. 65) to 106 by c. 1775. (fn. 66) In
1801 the population of the combined parish was
157, (fn. 67) of whom only about 15 lived in Lasborough. (fn. 68)
During the 19th century there were marked fluctuations resulting possibly from building operations at
Westonbirt House and variations in the size of the
household there. It rose as high as 198 in 1821, 234
in 1851, and 282 in 1871, shortly after the completion of Westonbirt House; but it dipped to 138
in 1831 and to 154 in 1921, before rising, with the
transfer of a population of 112 to the parish in 1935,
to 226 by 1961. (fn. 69)
Two unlicensed alehouses were being kept in the
parish in 1667. (fn. 70) The Hare and Hounds, a coaching
inn mentioned in 1716, (fn. 71) stood inside Tetbury
parish at the junction of the old Bath-Cirencester
road and Bowldown Road on the site later occupied
by Home Farm. (fn. 72) It belonged to the Doughton
manor estate until 1834 when it was acquired by
R. S. Holford (fn. 73) who by 1854 had replaced it with a
new inn, built in the Renaissance style, on the
north-west side of the recently diverted BathCirencester road. (fn. 74)
From the late 17th century until 1926 the Holford
family dominated the community of Westonbirt.
The physical changes that resulted from the interest
of R. S. Holford (d. 1892) in horticulture and
arboriculture have already been mentioned. Under
his son Sir George Holford, who shared his
enthusiasm, Westonbirt became widely known for
its orchids. Westonbirt House, a mansion of unusual
size and magnificence built for Robert, was visited
several times by Edward VII. (fn. 75) The genealogist
Thomas Lyte (1568?-1638) lived in Westonbirt for
a time. (fn. 76)