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Deerhurst is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, about southwest of Tewkesbury. The village is on the east bank of the River Severn. The parish includes the village of
Apperley Apperley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, about southwest of Tewkesbury, south of Deerhurst and east of the River Severn. It is the largest settlement in Deerhurst civil parish. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 625. The p ...
and the hamlet of Deerhurst Walton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 906, the majority of whom live in Apperley. The
place-name Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
is derived from
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 ...
and means "deer-wood". It was spelt ''Deorhyrst'' in AD 804, ''Dorhirst'' in about 1050 and ''Derherste'' in the Domesday Book in 1086.


Geography

The parish has an area of about , bounded by the Severn to the west, the
A38 road The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, Bristol, Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England. The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, mak ...
to the east and Coombe Hill Canal to the south. The parish is low-lying and much of it is repeatedly flooded. After serious flooding in 1947 several cottages were abandoned and demolished. Deerhurst was inundated again by the floods of 2007.


Priory and parish church

By AD 804 there was a Benedictine monastery at Deerhurst, which also 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 ...
. In about 1060 King
Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...
divided the manor. He granted the monastery, with one hide of land, to the Abbey of St Denis in France, making it an
alien priory Alien priories were religious establishments in England, such as monasteries and convents, which were under the control of another religious house outside England. Usually the mother-house was in France.Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' p. ...
. But the larger part of the land, assessed at five hides, he granted to Westminster Abbey. Deerhurst Priory ceased to be an alien house in 1443 and the Crown granted it to Tewkesbury Abbey in 1467. Both the abbey and the priory were dissolved in 1540. The priory church of St Mary, built in the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries AD, survives as Deerhurst's
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 ...
. It has been described as "an
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
monument of the first order" and is a Grade I listed building. Part of another building of the priory survives in Priory Farmhouse, which adjoins the church. In its cellar is an 11th- or 12th-century column, but most of the core of the building seems to be 14th-century and later. After the dissolution in 1540 the building was converted into a farmhouse. It is a Grade I listed building.


Odda's Chapel and Abbot's Court

Odda of Deerhurst Odda of Deerhurst (before 993 – 31 August 1056) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman active in the period from 1013 onwards. He became a leading magnate in 1051, following the exile of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons and the confiscation of t ...
founded
Odda's Chapel Odda's Chapel is a former chantry chapel at Deerhurst, Gloucestershire. It is an 11th-century late Anglo-Saxon building, completed a decade before the Norman Conquest of England. In the 16th century the chapel ceased to be used for worship and b ...
in 1056 as a chantry for his brother Ælfric, who had died in 1053. Chantries were abolished in the 16th century and the chapel ceased to be used for worship. Early in the 17th century a timber-framed house, Abbot's Court, was built next to it as the manor house for the Westminster Abbey's estate. The former chapel was converted into the service wing of the house. The chapel is a Grade I listed building.


Deerhurst Manor

After dissolving the priory in 1540, the Crown leased its manor to a George Throckmorton. It remained with his heirs until 1604, when a Thomas Throckmorton sold it to Thomas Cassey of Wightfield Manor near Apperley. In 1615 the Cassey sold the manor to Thomas Coventry, who in 1628 was created Baron Coventry. In 1697 the 5th Baron Coventry was created Earl of Coventry and at the
subsidiary title A subsidiary title is a title of authority or title of honour that is held by a royal or noble person but which is not regularly used to identify that person, due to the concurrent holding of a greater title. United Kingdom An example in the Unit ...
" Viscount Deerhurst" was created for his heir apparent. In 1964 trustees for the 11th Earl of Coventry still held an estate of at Deerhurst. The Coventry family has never lived at Deerhurst: its seat is at Croome Court in Worcestershire.


School

A National School was built in Deerhurst in 1856. Apperley had its own school until 1923, when it was closed and its pupils were transferred to Deerhurst. By 1964 it was a primary school, and children over the age of 11 attended secondary schools in Tewkesbury. The school has since moved to Apperley,Deerhurst and Apperley C of E Primary School
/ref> and the building in Deerhurst has been converted into two private houses.


Legend

There is a local legend that a
dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
once ravaged the area, until a man called John Smith killed it with an axe.


References


Bibliography

* * * * *


External links


Apperley and Deerhurst
* * {{authority control Civil parishes in Gloucestershire Populated places on the River Severn Borough of Tewkesbury Villages in Gloucestershire