Box is a small village in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) 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. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. It is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Minchinhampton Minchinhampton is an ancient Cotswolds market town in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, South West England. The town is located on a hilltop, south-east of Stroud. The common offers wide views over the Severn Estuary into Wales and furth ...

, and is located south of

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

and west of Cirencester.

is about away and Nailsworth is about away. Box has a population of about 400. Box lies at the edge of

Minchinhampton Common Minchinhampton Common () is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1972. The site is owned and managed by the National Trust. The common is one of the largest grassland commons in the ...

, designated as a

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. The common is used for the grazing of cattle, and the absence of a

cattle grid A cattle grid – also known as a stock grid in Australia; cattle guard, or cattle grate in American English; vehicle pass, or stock gap in the Southeastern United States; Texas gate in western Canada and the northwestern United States; and a ...

at the entrance to the village means cows are able to wander through its streets. The village holds annual

produce show Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables ( grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and ...

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

and open garden events.

Economy

Historically, the area of Box was used for agriculture (as evidenced by farms around the village). Quarries were prevalent in the area, although by the turn of the 20th century the majority of those in Box had closed. Until the early 20th century, an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

was situated in the centre of the village. It is now a private dwelling. The village is served by the Halfway Café and Shop.

Architecture

Many buildings in the village use

Cotswold stone The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

. Such buildings include the early 19th-century Box Terrace—a row of five (formerly six)

terraced house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

s—as well as numerous other private dwellings. The 17th-century Box House overlooks Box Wood and the Nailsworth Valley.

Education

Box has two schools. The co-educational Cotswold Chine School opened in 1954 to cater for students aged 7–19 with

special educational needs Special educational needs (SEN), also known as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the United Kingdom refers to the education of children who require different education provision to the mainstream system. Definition The definiti ...

. Beaudesert Park School, a co-educational preparatory school, has been situated on the west side of the village since 1918.

Religious sites

The first place of worship in the village was a mission church built in 1880. The corrugated iron building was originally used for an infant school. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the building began to house the village

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

and weekly Evensong service. The church lacked an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

; musical accompaniment was played on a harmonium. The church was expanded in the 1920s by the rector of Minchinhampton, who oversaw the installation of a piano and provided the use of a portable altar, and the building itself was extended in the 1930s. By the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the village had begun to fundraise to build a permanent church. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop of Gloucester

Clifford Woodward Clifford Salisbury Woodward MC (12 August 1878 – 14 April 1959) was Bishop of Bristol from 1933 to 1946 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1946 to 1953. Life Woodward was educated at Marlborough School and Jesus College, Oxford, obtaining a s ...

in 1951, and the building completed the following October. The church was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

by Woodward's successor,

Wilfred Askwith Wilfred Marcus Askwith (24 April 1890 – 16 July 1962) was the 2nd Bishop of Blackburn who was later translated to Gloucester. Born in Hereford and educated at Hereford Cathedral School, Bedford School ''Who Was Who 1897–2007''. London, A ...

. The church is dedicated to St Barnabas, and now offers a

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

service on Sundays and

Holy Communion The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...

on Wednesdays.

References

* David Verey, ''Gloucestershire: the Cotswolds'', The Buildings of England edited by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

, 2nd ed. (1979) , pp. 131–132

External links

Beaudesert Park School
{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Stroud District