Churcham is a small 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 authority ...

in the

Forest of Dean District Forest of Dean is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England, named after the Forest of Dean. Its council is based in Coleford. Other towns and villages in the district include Blakeney, Cinderford, Drybrook, English Bicknor, H ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, located west 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 ...

. It has a population of 655.Office for National Statistics : ''Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Forest of Dean''
Retrieved 20 January 2010 ''Churcham Primary School'', is a small

C of E The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

school with 59 pupils in two classes. The village was formerly the home of

The School of the Lion The School of the Lion was an independent school based in Churcham, Gloucestershire. The school was founded in by 1987 by a group of Gloucestershire-based parents and taught male and female students aged 4 to 19. The school closed in December 2 ...

, a small independent

Christian school A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some countr ...

, for students aged 4–19. There are a number of businesses situated in Churcham and the surrounding area. ''Churcham Business Park'', completed in April 2004, provides a base for several. Sir Nicholas Arnold (1507–1580) a leading statesman of the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

, who served as

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

, was born in Churcham and is buried in the parish church. Alfred Henry "Harry" Hook VC (1850-1905) was born in Churcham. A private in the 24th Regiment of Foot, he received his Victoria Cross for his actions at

Rorke's Drift The Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the ...

. He is buried in St Andrew's churchyard.

References

External links

Churcham Primary SchoolChurcham Village WebsiteChurcham Parish Council Website
Villages in Gloucestershire Civil parishes in Gloucestershire Forest of Dean {{Gloucestershire-geo-stub