Redmarley D'Abitot is a

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 ...

and village in 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 ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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 ...

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

. In addition to the village of Redmarley, the civil parish also includes the settlements of Lowbands, Haw Cross, Playley Green, Kings Green and Durbridge. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 705, increasing to 756 at the 2011 census. Although now in Gloucestershire, Redmarley was in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

until 1931.

History

The name Redmarley comes from 'woodland clearing with a reedy pond', from the Old English words hrëod and lëah. An alternative cod-derivation has been suggested as from the local red heavy clay or

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

. The difficulty with this explanation is that the word marl entered the language many centuries later. D'Abitot is thought to come from Urse d'Abetot, who was

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

of Worcestershire and who held the manor in 1086. Sometimes a circumflex is placed on the 'o' of d'Abitot, but this usage has been criticised. As Eric Smith says: "It is to be regretted that the

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 ...

placed a circumflex in the signs on the

A417 The A417 is a main road in England running from Streatley, Berkshire to Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire. It is best known for its section between Cirencester and Gloucester where it has primary status and forms part of the link between the m ...

. This is emphatically incorrect, both historically and linguistically, Abitot is a word of (Germanic) Anglo-Saxon origin."

Great Domesday

The King,

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

, received a report on Redmarley D'Abitot in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 though it would have been a very small part of his nationwide review of tax assessments. People mentioned include: Aethelric; Alvred; Alweard; Ansgot; Azur; Beorhtric son of Aelfgar; Beorhtwine; Cyneweard daughter of Sigrefr; Dodda; Durand; Ealdraed, etc.

''Battle of Redmarley''

Redmarley's fields were the site of a battle in 1644 during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. About 2000 to 3000 troops were involved and

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

leader General Mynn was killed.

Governance

The village falls in the 'Redmarley'

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 ...

. This ward stretches south to Pauntley. The total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 1,856.

Famous residents

* Alice Roberts was living with her widowed mother, Julia, at Hazeldine House in Redmarley at the time of her engagement to the composer

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

. *

Barbara Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary romance, contemporary and historical romance novels, the lat ...

's mother, Polly Scobell, grew up at the Down House and as a small girl Barbara was a regular visitor from Pershore.John Pearson (Henry Cloud), ''Barbara Cartland: Crusader in Pink'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1979 * Corporal

Thomas Priday Corporal Thomas William Priday (1912/1913– 9 December 1939) was the first British Army soldier to be killed in action during the World War II, Second World War. Early life The son of Allen L. Priday and Elisabeth A. Priday of The Gravel Pits, ...

, the first British soldier to lose his life in 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 ...

, lived here.

Distances from Redmarley

*3 miles north of Newent *5 miles south of

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street ...

*10 miles north 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 ...

*16 miles south-east of

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

File:The Causeway, Redmarley D'Abitot - geograph.org.uk - 850481.jpg, The Causeway File:Redmarley D'Abitot, Old house opposite the church.jpg, Old building File:The Village Hall, Redmarley D'Abitot - geograph.org.uk - 368591.jpg, Village hall File:Redmarley D'Abitot War Memorial - geograph.org.uk - 886929.jpg, War memorial File:Fine-looking house, Redmarley - geograph.org.uk - 849716.jpg, Once an inn File:Market gardening land near Redmarley - 1 - geograph.org.uk - 1711539.jpg File:Snow covered farmland, near Redmarley - geograph.org.uk - 1726381.jpg File:Exit from Pauntley Court - geograph.org.uk - 850781.jpg File:Poppy invasion, Ryton - geograph.org.uk - 1335295.jpg File:Meadow cranesbill - geograph.org.uk - 1335397.jpg

References

External links

Redmarley D'Abitot village website"A History of the County of Worcester: volume 3" at british-history.ac.uk
{{authority control Forest of Dean Villages in Gloucestershire