Uley is a
villageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town or city. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in...
in the
countyA county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count .Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain, Ireland and France—the term is from Old...
of
GloucestershireGloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is situated in a wooded valley in the
CotswoldThe Cotswolds is a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the "Heart of England", an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The highest point in the Cotswolds range is Cleeve Hill at , to the north of Cheltenham...
escarpmentIn geomorphology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp, steep elevation differential, characterized by a cliff or steep slope. Usually escarpment is used interchangeably with scarp...
, on the road between
DursleyDursley is a market town in Gloucestershire, England. It is under the North East flank of Stinchcombe Hill , and about 6 km South East of the River Severn. The town is adjacent with Cam which, though a village, is a community of double the size...
and
StroudStroud is a town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District.Situated below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets and cafe culture...
. The population is around 1,100, but was much greater during the early years of
the industrial revolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in the United Kingdom. The changes subsequently spread throughout Europe, North...
, when the village was renowned for producing blue cloth. The placename (recorded as
Euuelege in the
Domesday BookThe Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror...
) probably signifies 'clearing in a yew wood'.
History
The
RomansAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
built a temple at West Hill, near Uley, on the site of an earlier prehistoric shrine. Following the laying of a water main pipe there in 1976, many discoveries were made including numerous Roman writing tablets or lead
curse tabletA curse tablet or binding spell is a type of curse found throughout the Graeco-Roman world, in which someone would ask the gods to do harm to others. These texts were typically scratched on very thin sheets of lead in tiny letters, then often rolled, folded, or pierced with nails...
from the temple area. These writing tablets appear often to relate to theft, and here the mention of animals and farm implements is a regular theme. There is an ongoing, online project to catalogue all those found at West Hill. Other remains from this temple, including a fine stone head of
MercuryMercury was a messenger, and a god of trade, profit and commerce, the son of Maia Maiestas, also known as Ops, the Roman version of Rhea, and Jupiter. His name is related to the Latin word merx...
, can now be seen in the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
. There were significant Roman villas nearby at Frocester, Kingscote, and
WoodchesterWoodchester Roman Villa was situated at Woodchester near Stroud in the English county of Gloucestershire.It is one of many Roman villas discovered in Gloucestershire and was occupied between the early second and late fourth centuries AD. There is now nothing visible of the villa above ground and...
, and there is a little known
Roman villaA Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
beneath Cam Peak on the road into Dursley.
St Giles's Church near the village green was designed by the 19th-century architect
Samuel Sanders Teulon-Family:Teulon was born in Greenwich in south-east London, the son of a cabinet-maker from a French Huguenot family. His younger brother William Milford Teulon also became an architect.-Career:...
. His building replaced an earlier church dating back to
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
times, which had in its turn replaced a
SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
church. The nearby church of the Holy Cross at
OwlpenOwlpen is a small village and civil parish in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England, set in a picturesque valley in the Cotswold hills. It is about one mile east of Uley, and three miles east of Dursley. The Owlpen valley is set around the settlement like an amphitheatre of wooded hills...
also has Saxon origins: the church there was rebuilt in 1828 by Samuel Manning and enlarged and decorated in 1876 by
James Piers St AubynJames Piers St Aubyn , often referred to simply as J. P. St Aubyn, was an English architect of the Victorian era, known for his church architecture and confident restorations.-Early life:...
. There were also non-conformist chapels at South St and Whitecourt until the early 1970s.
The village was once famous for its large number of pubs (around 14), lately reduced to a single hostelry (The Old Crown). Until the 1970s there was also a butcher's shop and a petrol station, these were subsequently replaced by antique shops and occasional restaurants, and now only a small village shop remains.
The area surrounding Whitecourt appears to have some considerable historical significance, with long associations to the Osborne family and a possible
Roman roadThe Roman roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate news. The Roman road system spanned more than 250,000 miles of roads, including more than 50,000 miles of paved roads...
transecting from Kingscote to the East via Bencombe, crossing the Ewelme brook close to the previous mill buildings opposite Stoutshill and then transiting what is now Lampern View before exiting W towards Cam/Coaley; elements clearly visible just uphill of Bencombe (as the road veers 90 degrees to the north) and to the West opposite the entrance to Angeston Grainge/Nursery (where it enters the wood as a paved and walled causeway.
The increased mechanisation of agriculture in the area (arable on top of the
escarpmentIn geomorphology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp, steep elevation differential, characterized by a cliff or steep slope. Usually escarpment is used interchangeably with scarp...
, sheep on it and cattle in the valleys) led to a gradual decline during the inter-war periods and this led to the construction of three
local authority housing estatesThe council house is a form of public or social housing, primarily referred to in the United Kingdom. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well built homes on secure tenancies at below market rents to primarily working class people. Council house development...
(South St, Lampern View and Raglan Way). However, increased mobility following the construction of the M4 and the Severn Bridge in the mid-1960s, together with an influx of skilled/managerial/professional migrants following e.g. the establishment of Berkeley
power stationA power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power....
, led to a steady middle-class gentrification of the village, witnessed by the construction of substantial detached homes at e.g. Court Gardens, South St and Green Close.
Economy
Uley Brewery was established in the 1980s in a Grade II
listed building that was part of the 1833 Price Brewery which closed at the end of the 19th Century. The brewery was purchased and refitted by current owner Chas Wright, complete with custom-made brewing vessels.
The brewery is built atop a natural spring, and uses Maris Otter barley (sourced from Tuckers Maltings,
Newton AbbotNewton Abbot is a market town in Devon, England on the River Teign, with a population of 23,580 .Newton Abbot has a racecourse and boasts three country parks: Decoy, Stover and Bradley...
), Fuggles and Goldings hops, and a traditional method of top fermentation, to produce a range of ales including
Old Spot Prize Ale, a 5%
abvABV is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* Alcohol by volume, a measure of the alcohol content of alcoholic drinks* Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria, from its IATA airport code...
old aleOld ale is a term commonly applied to dark, malty beers in the UK, usually above 5% abv, often also called Winter Warmers; also to dark ales of any strength in Australia. Sometimes associated with stock ale or, archaically, keeping ale, in which the beer is held at the brewery...
, and
Uley Bitter, a 4% abv cask bitter.
Amenities and surrounding locality
The following amenities and attractions are available in and around the village:
- North of the village is a Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
burial mound known as Hetty Pegler's Tump or Uley Long BarrowUley Long Barrow, also known locally as "Hetty Pegler's Tump", is a Neolithic burial mound, near the village of Uley, Gloucestershire, England. Although typically described as a long barrow, the mound is actually a transected gallery grave. It was probably built before 3,000 BC...
.
- Uley's only remaining pub, the Old Crown, is situated on the village green, opposite the church.
- The Prema Arts Centre, founded in the 1970s, is located in a former Baptist Chapel in the village and offers educational courses in the arts and crafts, musical evenings, workshops, cultural events and evening classes in many subjects.
- The village primary school is small with just above 100 pupils. Uley Primary School can be found in Woodstock Terrace.
- A Reading Room (Library) burned down in the mid-1960s and has not been replaced.
- An ancient Iron Age
In archaeology, the Iron Age is the prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.The...
hill fortA hill fort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages...
called Uley Buryright|thumb|500px|View along the north-eastern rampart of Uley Bury, drawn by E.J. Burrow in 1913Uley Bury is the long, flat-topped hill just outside Uley, Gloucestershire, England. It is an impressive multi-vallate, scarp-edge Iron Age hill fort dating from around 300 B.C...
lies just above the village. The Cotswold WayThe Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, running along the Cotswold Edge escarpment of the Cotswold Hills in England. It was officially inaugurated as a National Trail on 24 May 2007 and several new rights of way have been created.-History:...
, a popular trail path, runs close by.
- Downham Hill lies just to the west: it is known locally as 'Smallpox Hill' because of the smallpox
Smallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning spotted, or varus, meaning "pimple"...
isolation facility that stood on the top of the hill many years ago (masonry still visible).
- To the east is Owlpen Manor
Owlpen Manor is a Tudor Grade I listed manor house of the Mander family, situated in the village of Owlpen in the Stroud district in Gloucestershire, England. There is an associated estate set in a picturesque valley within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, a TudorThe Tudor style in architecture is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
manor houseA manor house or fortified manor-house is a country house, which has historically formed the administrative centre of a manor , the lowest unit of territorial organization in the feudal system...
connected with the arts and crafts movementThe Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, Australian, and American aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century...
, mainly built from the mid-fifteenth to early seventeenth centuries, but dating back to Saxon times. It was repaired by Norman JewsonNorman Jewson was an English architect-craftsman of the Arts and Crafts movement, who practiced in the Cotswolds. He was a distinguished, younger member of the group which had settled in Sapperton, Gloucestershire, a feudal village in a beautiful and changeless region of rural southwest England,...
in 1925-6, after one hundred years of neglect. Today it is a home of the Mander familyThe Mander family has held for over 200 years a prominent position in the Midland counties of England, both in the family business and public life....
.
- Stouts Hill
Stouts Hill is an 18th-Century Gothic revival country house situated in the Cotswolds, just outside the village of Uley. The house is currently a timeshare property....
, a neo-Gothic country house just outside the village, was the birthplace of the Gloucestershire historian, Samuel Rudder, and of the distinguished PersianPersian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
scholar Edward Granville BrowneEdward Granville Browne , born in Stouts Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire, England, was a British orientalist who published numerous articles and books of academic value, mainly in the areas of history and literature...
. Built for the Gyde family, from the 1770s it was a seat of the Lloyd-Baker family, who in the 20th century let the house as a preparatory schoolIn English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
. It included amongst its alumni Mark PhillipsMark Anthony Peter Phillips, CVO, ADC is a former Olympic gold-medal-winning horseman and first husband of Anne, Princess Royal...
, Stephen FryStephen John Fry is a British actor, writer, comedian, author, television presenter and film director. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and the duo also played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster...
and Rik MayallRichard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is known for his comedy partnership with Adrian Edmondson, his over the top, energetic portrayal of characters, and for being one of the pioneering members of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s.In the 2005 poll ...
, but closed down in 1979.
Trivia
- In 1837, Moses Bendle Garlick, a weaver
Weaving is the textile art in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads, called the warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a fabric or cloth...
from Uley, migrated to AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and settled just north of what is currently AdelaideAdelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth-largest city in Australia, with a population of more than 1.1 million. It is a coastal city situated on the eastern shores of Gulf St. Vincent, on the Adelaide Plains, north of the Fleurieu...
; he named the settlement Uleybury.
- During the 1920s, Miss Edna Cunningham, brought a baby gorilla to Uley. John Daniel, as the gorilla was known, lived and was raised as a normal child by Miss Cunningham. When John Daniel grew too large, he was sent to the USA. Without the company of Miss Cunningham, John Daniel fell sick and died. Upon his death he was stuffed
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all species of animals including mammals, birds, nematodes, reptiles and amphibians...
and can still be seen today in the Natural History Museum, New YorkThe American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, USA, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
.
- A brief shot of Uley is featured in episode 6 of series 3 of the Channel 4 comedy Peep Show
Peep Show is a British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The programme is written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb themselves, amongst others. It has been broadcast on Channel 4 since 2003, with the first episode of Series 6 aired on 18...
. This is despite the fact the episode is set in the QuantocksThe Quantock Hills are a range of hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England. The highest point on the Quantocks is Wills Neck, at . The hills are officially designated as the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty....
which are, in fact, a considerable distance from the village.
External links