Berry Hill is a 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, 1.5 miles north of the town of Coleford. Berry Hill includes the settlements of Five Acres to the east, Christchurch in the centre, Shortstanding to the north, and Joyford to the north-east. Berry Hill is within 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 ...

West Dean West Dean may refer to several places in England: *West Dean, Gloucestershire *West Dean, West Sussex *West Dean, Wiltshire *Westdean Cuckmere Valley is a civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. As its name suggests, the p ...

History

There has been scattered building on Berry Hill since the 16th century.Coleford
A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5 (1996), pp. 117-138. Accessed: 17 April 2013 The settlement is situated on the edge of the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

, and in 1836 the extraparochial part was called Upper Berry Hill to distinguish it from Lower Berry Hill within Coleford.Forest of Dean: Settlement
A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5 (1996), pp. 377-381. Accessed: 17 April 2013 In the 18th century residents of Berry Hill are recorded as working as stone cutters, and in the 19th century there were working coal mines in the Berry Hill area. After 1840 many new cottages and houses were built at Berry Hill and Five Acres, and in 1874 the area, including nearby Joyford and Shortstanding, had 295 houses. A number of beerhouses and

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 ...

s opened in the Berry Hill area in the mid 19th century, which included the King's Head, the Globe, the Rising Sun, and the Dog and Muffler (originally the New Inn).Forest of Dean: Social life
A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5 (1996), pp. 381-389. Accessed: 17 April 2013 In 1919 there was a recreation ground at Five Acres. A second recreation ground created in 1926 became the home of Berry Hill Rugby Football club. In 1939 woodland was cleared to form the Christchurch holiday campsite. Berry Hill was the location of one of the first day schools in the Forest of Dean when P. M. Procter opened a day school in his new chapel in 1813.Forest of Dean: Education
A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5 (1996), pp. 405-413. Accessed: 17 April 2013 The school, under the control of successive ministers of Christ Church, taught 115 children in 1847. There was a separate infants school at Berry Hill in 1870. In 1914 the older children were transferred to a new secondary school at Berry Hill, originally called Five Acres Council school.

Christ Church parish church

Work began on Christ Church in 1812 when Proctor built his school-chapel.Forest of Dean: Churches
A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5 (1996), pp. 389-396. Accessed: 17 April 2013 The chapel became a north aisle in 1815 when a new nave was added to double its size and a west gallery was erected. The church was consecrated in 1816. A west tower was added a few years after 1819 and a chancel with octagonal apse and north organ chamber in 1884 and 1885. The church was restored in 1913, when a south-west vestry was added.

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

in the same name exists. The total population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 1,652.

Famous residents

Berry Hill was the birthplace of the television playwright

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

who married at Christ Church and spent most of his life in the area.

References

External links

Berry Hill Rugby Football Club

photos of Berry Hill and surrounding area on geograph
* {{authority control Forest of Dean Villages in Gloucestershire