Inglesham is a small
village and
civil parish in the
Borough of Swindon
The Borough of Swindon is a local government authority in South West England, centred on the urban area and town of Swindon and forming part of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire.
History
In 1974 the Thamesdown district of Wiltshire was cre ...
,
Wiltshire, England, notable for the Grade-I listed
St John the Baptist Church. The village is just off the
A361 road about south-west of
Lechlade in
Gloucestershire. Most of the population lives in the hamlet of Upper Inglesham, which is on the main road about south of the village.
The parish forms the extreme north-east corner of the Borough of Swindon and County of Wiltshire, and is bounded to the west and north by the
River Thames (which also forms the county boundary with Gloucestershire), and to the east by the county boundary with
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
(
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
until the
1974 boundary changes). The
River Cole forms part of the eastern boundary.
As the parish's population is small it has a
parish meeting instead of a
parish council.
The
Round House, Inglesham is often used by boaters as a landmark to denote the westernmost point most
cabin cruisers and narrowboats can travel along the Thames, as beyond Inglesham the river becomes too clogged with vegetation and too shallow to effectively navigate.
Parish church
The 13th-century
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of
St John the Baptist was
restored
''Restored'' is the fourth
studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings.
Track listing
Standard release
Enhanced edition
Deluxe gold edition
Standard ...
in 1888–89 and is
listed Grade I
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 ...
. It is now
redundant and is cared for by the
Churches Conservation Trust.
In the churchyard is a
Grade II* listed
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 ...
15th-century stone cross. The base and shaft survive but the cross itself has been lost.
Before the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, the
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
Beaulieu Abbey
Beaulieu Abbey, , was a Cistercian abbey in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1203–1204 by King John and (uniquely in Britain) populated by 30 monks sent from the abbey of Cîteaux in France, the mother house of the Cistercian order. Th ...
held the
manor
Manor may refer to:
Land ownership
*Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England
*Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism
*Man ...
and
benefice
A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
.
Secular history
Until 1844 Inglesham was a
detached part of
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. It was transferred to Wiltshire by the
Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844.
Church Farmhouse is a former
watermill that was rebuilt in the 17th century
[Garside, 2005, page 3] and is listed Grade II*. Several other houses in the parish are listed Grade II, as are the late 18th-century Halfpenny Bridge that carries the A361 across the Thames into Lechlade, and a
Cotswold stone rubble barn at College Farm built in about 1800.
Inglesham lock is at the eastern end of the
Thames and Severn Canal and the Cotswold Canals Trust is currently raising funds to restore its structure and part of the canal. The
Round House was the
lock keeper's cottage.
See also
*
HMS Inglesham (M2601)
References
External links
Sources
*
*
*
{{authority control
Villages in Wiltshire
Civil parishes in Wiltshire
Borough of Swindon