Upper Slaughter is a village 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 Juras ...

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 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 ...

, south west of

Stow-on-the-Wold Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman origin. The town was found ...

. The village is located one mile away from the village

Lower Slaughter Lower Slaughter is a village in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, south west of Stow-on-the-Wold. The village is built on both banks of the River Eye, a slow-moving stream crossed by two footbridges, which also flows through ...

, as well as being near the villages

Bourton-on-the-Water Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the village ...

, Daylesford, Upper Swell and Lower Swell. As of 2021, the village had a population of 181 inhabitants. The village is built on both banks of the River Eye. The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

is dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

. Upper Slaughter is one of a handful of the

Thankful Villages Thankful Villages (also known as Blessed Villages; ) are settlements in England and Wales from which all their members of the armed forces survived World War I. The term Thankful Village was popularised by the writer Arthur Mee in the 1930s; in '' ...

, amongst the small number in England which lost no men in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The village also lost no men in

World War II 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 ...

, additionally making the village a Doubly Thankful Village. Lords of the manor hotel 7732

The parliamentary constituency is represented by Conservative Member of Parliament

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Sir Geoffrey Robert Clifton-Brown (born 23 March 1953)Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 538 is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Th ...

History

The name of the village derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

world "slohtre" meaning "wet land". In the past, some Roman burial mounds have found on the nearby Copse Hill. Thus, it is very possible that Upper Slaughter was a settlement up to 2,000 years ago. More certainly, the manor of Upper Slaughter is recorded 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; the Slaughter family acquired it in the late 12th century. The current building, on the site of an ancient building, was constructed over many years, starting in the Tudor era. Its crypt is estimated to be from the 14th century. Moreover, Upper Slaughter was the site of a Norman

adulterine castle Adulterine castles were fortifications built in England during the 12th century without royal approval, particularly during the civil war of the Anarchy between 1139 and 1154. Details During the civil war of the Anarchy, fought between the facti ...

, built by supporters of the

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...

during

The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legiti ...

of the 12th century. The remains of the castle are marked by the Castle Mound on the north edge of the village. The largest business in the village is the Lords of the Manor Hotel. The building dates from 1649 since it separated from the Upper Slaughter Manor and has been a hotel since 1960s, furnished with portraits and antiques belonging to its former owner.The Telegraph
/ref> Other hotels serving the two Slaughter villages include The Slaughters Country Inn and Lower Slaughter Manor. In 1906, the cottages around the square were reconstructed by architect Sir

Edward Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...

. On the night of 4 February 1944 during

Operation Steinbock Operation Steinbock (german: Unternehmen Steinbock), sometimes called the Baby Blitz, was a strategic bombing campaign by the German Air Force (the Luftwaffe) during the Second World War. It targeted southern England and lasted from January to M ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

bomber dropped 2000 incendiary bombs on Upper Slaughter. Despite some buildings sustaining damage there were no fatalities or injuries. Upper Slaughter is one of a selection of the

owing to the fact that it lost no men in

. Furthermore, the village also lost no men in

, making it a Doubly Thankful Village. In the Cotswolds, the villages

Little Sodbury Little Sodbury is an English village in South Gloucestershire, located between Chipping Sodbury, to the West, Old Sodbury to the South, Badminton, and the A46 road to the East and Horton and Hawkesbury Upton, to the north. The "manor of Sodbur ...

and

Coln Rogers Coln Rogers is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Coln St. Dennis, in the Cotswold district of the county of Gloucestershire, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 95. Location Coln Rogers lies on the River Coln, ...

are the only other villages to share this title.

Geography

The River Eye runs through Upper Slaughter, culminating in the form of a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

. The River Eye is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

River Windrush The River Windrush is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Winchcombe in Gloucestershire and flows south east for via Burford and Witney to meet the Thames at Newbridge in Oxfordshire. The river gives its name to t ...

and it runs down all the way to neighbouring village Lower Slaughter and then eventually Bourton-on-the-Water. Arguably the main communal area of the village its situated near this brook, which is accompanied by a footbridge. Moreover, a large part of the village is situated at the bottom of Copse Hill.

Architecture

Places of architectural interest include: * St Peter's Church is a parish church which assuredly dates back to the 12th century, containing elements of Norman but also Saxon architecture and also memorials dedicated to the Slaughter Family. * The Upper Slaughter Manor was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 and was owned by nobleman Roger de Lacy for a period before being taken over by the Slaughter family. However, it was revarnished in the Elizabethan Age and also fell into disrepair in the 17th century. Finally, the Manor was restored in the 19th century and today is a private home open to tourists in select weeks. * Eyeford House is located at one end of Upper Slaughter and was voted the nation’s favourite house by County Life magazine in 2011. Although the house was built in the 19th century, it contains 17th century influences. Moreover, it is said that

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

was inspired to write

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

on its grounds. * The Old School House is a former school which was built in the middle of the 19th century and still contains its school bell. * The Square is adjacent to some medieval almshouses on the north side which are integrated with a few of 17th-century cottages – these were restored by Sir Edward Lutyens in the early 20th century. * Home Farmhouse * Castle Mound * Rose Row

In Popular Culture

Upper Slaughter has served as a location for the television shows

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

Our Mutual Friend ''Our Mutual Friend'', written in 1864–1865, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quo ...

Interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

and the film The Sailor's Return. Upper Slaughter was the home of notable diarist

Francis Edward Witts Francis Edward Witts (1783–1854) was an English clergyman, diarist, and magistrate who was rector of Upper Slaughter in Gloucestershire. Early life and family Francis Witts was born in 1783. Career Witts was a clergyman, diarist, and magistra ...

Gallery

File:Upper slaughter manor wide 821.jpg, Upper Slaughter Manor from one side File:Upper Slaughter Church (5).JPG, Upper Slaughter Church File:Upper Slaughter (5).JPG, The River Eye File:Upper Slaughter (7).JPG, File:Upper Slaughter (6).JPG, The Old School File:Upper Slaughter (3).JPG, Rose Cottages File:Upper Slaughter (4).JPG, File:Road signs, Upper Slaugher, Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the Water 7820.jpg, Directions to other villages

References