Hempsted is a suburban village and former

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 authorit ...

, now in the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unpa ...

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 ...

, in the

district, in the county 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. In 1961 the parish had a population of 508.

History

An ancient area of Gloucester, Hempsted was just outside the City. The fine Norman church of St. Swithun was built and paid for by Norman noblemen. The churchyard contains the chest tomb of John Freeman, a Royalist officer, shot at the

siege of Gloucester The siege of Gloucester took place between 10 August and 5 September 1643 during the First English Civil War. It was part of a Royalist campaign led by King Charles I to take control of the Severn Valley from the Parliamentarians. Follow ...

in 1643. During the Middle Ages a persecuted Augustinian monastic order came out of Wales and settled at Hempsted with the blessing of the City authorities. They founded

Llanthony Secunda Llanthony Secunda Priory was a house of Augustinian canons in the parish of Hempsted, Gloucestershire, England, situated about 1/2 a mile south-west of Gloucester Castle in the City of Gloucester. It was founded in 1136 by Miles de Gloucester, 1s ...

Priory and Hempsted became an estate of the priory. The church was extended with a new vestry and a west gallery was added as well as new pews and re-roofing to the design of G.V.Maddox of Monmouth in 1839. Maddox died at the rectory in Hempsted on 27 February 1864. On 1 April 1966 the parish was abolished and became part of Gloucester,

Highnam Highnam is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of the city of Gloucester. It is three miles northwest of the city on the A40, on the way to Ross, west of Alney Island and Over Bridge. It is connected by Segregated Bicycle Paths via ...

and

Minsterworth Minsterworth is a village in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the border of the City of Gloucester, on the north bank of the River Severn (effectively on the western side of the river) and on the A48 road between Gloucester and Chepstow. Mi ...

Transport

Some areas of the village are connected to Gloucester and

Alney Island Alney Island is an island in the River Severn near Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. The Severn splits into two channels (known as East Channel and West Channel) at Upper Parting (the northernmost tip of Alney), and merges again at Lower ...

, as well as

Quedgeley Quedgeley is a suburban town of Gloucester, located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of the city centre, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. A thin strip of land between the Severn and the Gloucester Ship Canal occupies the west, and the ...

by Segregated Bicycle Path.

Sport

From 1986 until 2007, Hempsted was home to

Gloucester City A.F.C. Gloucester City Association Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Hempsted, Gloucester, England. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County Football Association and, as of the 2021–22 season, plays i ...

at their Meadow Park Ground. The club were forced to leave by the

2007 United Kingdom floods A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across Scotland on 14 June; East Yorkshire and the Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Here ...

before a return home in 2020 to a new Meadow Park stadium. Gordon League Rugby Club bought an area of land in 1932 and have been based in Hempsted since then. Gloucester Rowing Club is also based in Hempsted, on the

Gloucester and Sharpness Canal The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (also known as the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal) is a ship canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness; for much of its length it runs close to the tidal River Severn, but cuts off a sign ...

References

Areas of Gloucester Former civil parishes in Gloucestershire {{Gloucestershire-geo-stub

History

Transport

Sport

See also

References