Colesbourne is a village and

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 authorit ...

in the

Cotswold 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 Jura ...

district of

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. The village and parish lies within the Cotswolds, a designated

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

. The village is east-southeast from the city and county town of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, and on a east to west section (defined by road entry signs) of the A435 road, which runs locally between Cheltenham to the north, and

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

, to the south. The civil parish is from north to south.

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington has a population of just ...

parish is at the north and north-east, with

North Cerney North Cerney is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire, and lies within the Cotswolds, a range of hills designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village is north of Cirencester within the Churn valley. ...

and

Rendcomb Rendcomb is a village in the Cotswold local authority area of the English county of Gloucestershire. It is about five miles north of Cirencester in the Churn valley. History Etymology Remdcomb is thought to get its name from the stream runn ...

at the south. At the north-west is

Coberley Coberley is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire in England, south of Cheltenham. It lies at the confluence of several streams ( Seven Springs) that form the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. The m ...

parish; at the west, Elkstone; and at the east,

Chedworth Chedworth is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, southwest England, in the Cotswolds. It is known as the location of Chedworth Roman Villa, administered since 1924 by the National Trust. Chedworth Stream rises close to the village a ...

. The

River Churn The River Churn is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises at Seven Springs in Gloucestershire and flows south for approximately to meet the Thames at Cricklade in Wiltshire. Its length from its source to the confluence wi ...

flows through the centre of the parish and at the north of the village, where it is joined by its tributary Hilcot Brook, which rises in the farther north parish of

Dowdeswell Dowdeswell is a civil parish in the ward of Chedworth, Cotswold, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. It is separated into Upper and Lower Dowdeswell, the former being south of the latter. The population of the civil parish at t ...

.Extracted fro
"Colesbourne"

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

map. Retrieved 28 January 2019 The village contains The Chequers Inn

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, adjacent to a restaurant, a roadside fuel station, and a village farm with a small retail park which includes a cookery school and wine merchant. At the north of the village is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St James, and north from this the house of Colesbourne Park estate. Within the parish is a game shoot estate. Colesbourne is connected by bus to Cheltenham and Swindon. In 1872

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical index or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains informati ...

recorded Colesbourne as being a parish in the Cirencester district, near the highest source of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and east from the Roman road of "Ermine-street", actually

Ermin Way Ermin Street or Ermin Way was a Roman road in Britain. It linked Glevum (Gloucester) and Corinium (Cirencester) to Calleva (Silchester). At Glevum, it connected to the road to Isca (Caerleon), the legionary base in southeast Wales. At Corini ...

(today's A417). Remains of a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

had been found. There was a post office and fifty-two houses in a parish area of . Colesbourne House was the seat of

Henry John Elwes Henry John Elwes, FRS (16 May 1846 – 26 November 1922) was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist, collector and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalaya and Korea. He w ...

, who was

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

rectory.Wilson,John, Marius (1870-72) ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales''

Landmarks

There are sixteen Grade II

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and structures in the parish. In the village is St James' Church, dating to the 12th century, with later 15th-century tower and chancel, which was largely rebuilt in 1852-53 for Henry John Elwes in early

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

style. Within the churchyard is an 18th-century tomb to John Brown (d.1760), Mary Brown (d.1736), and Mary Hayden (d.1809). At the southeast of the church is the base of a medieval cross with the remains of a 17th- or 18th-century stone sundial. To the northeast of the church are three listed mid-19th-century coachhouses built for Henry John Elwes of Colesbourne Park. On the A435 at the centre of the village is The Colesbourne Inn, a coaching inn dating to 1827, which was "built to serve the new Cheltenham oCirencester turnpike". To the west of the inn is the building listed as the 'Village Institute and Coach House', a c.1827 "former stables and coach house, now partly meeting hall". Farther west, and adjacent, is the c.1850 'Village Stores and Post Office'. To the east of The Colesbourne Inn is the c.17th-century Slys Cottage, a former shop and post office. At the northwest of the village is Southbury Farmhouse, dating to the 17th century with 18th-century additions. Adjacent to the farmhouse are mid- to late 18th century

threshing Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain (or other crop) from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain. History ...

barns and stables. At the south of the parish is Rapsgate Park, a late 17th-century "large country house" which was "remodelled and enlarged in the 18th century and altered in 1903". Next to Rapsgate Park is an 18th-century barn. At the west and southeast of the village on the A435 are 19th-century milestones of iron plate. At the north of the village, beyond St James' Church, and bordered at the east by Hilcot Brook, dammed in 1922 to form a lake, is Colesbourne Park, a house with of garden and an arboretum, which was home to the botanist and author

(1846 – 1922). The park is significant for its display of 250 cultivars of snowdrops, particularly '' Galanthus elwesii'' which was identified by and named after Elwes.Shepherd, Charlott
"Colesbourne Park is ready to reveal its snowdrops"
''Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard'', 22January 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2019

References

External links

*
"Local Insight profile for Colesbourne CP area"
''Gloucestershire Parish Profiles'',

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is a county council which administers the most strategic local government services in the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in the South West of England. The council's principal functions are county road ...

. Retrieved 28 January 2019
"Colesbourne"
''

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Univer ...

'', Retrieved 28 January 2019
"Colesbourne"

Genuki GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...

. Retrieved 28 January 2019
"Churn Valley Benefice"
Churnvalley.org.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2019
"Colesbourne Park"
Colesbourne Gardens. Retrieved 28 January 2019 {{authority control Civil parishes in Gloucestershire Villages in Gloucestershire Cotswold District