Sevenhampton is a village and

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Cotswold District Cotswold is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England. It is named after the wider Cotswolds region and range of hills. The council is based in the district's largest town of Cirencester. The district also includes the towns of ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, east of

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

. The parish is located in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

in an area designated as an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

. Most of the parish population reside in the two main settlements of Sevenhampton village and Brockhampton village, both are located in the valley of the

River Coln The River Coln is a river in Gloucestershire, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of is ...

. The

Church of St Andrew St. Andrew's Church, Church of St Andrew, or variants thereof, may refer to: Albania * St. Andrew's Church, Himarë Australia Australian Capital Territory * St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Canberra, founded by John Walker (Presbyterian minis ...

was built in the 12th century. It is a grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Demographics

Name

The name was recorded as " ''SEVEN..hā..TONE'' " 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 A.D.* The Survey of English Place-names documents its history as SEVEN..hā..TONE (1086), Seuehamton (1221), Sevehampton (1241), Seueshampton (1327), Sevezhampton (1327), and Senhampton or Sen(n)yngton (1575). The parish is now known by the village name of ''Sevenhampton'', but during the 16th century it was variously known as ''Senhampton'' and ''Sennington''. A house near Brockhampton was known as ''Sennington'', and an old village now deserted was known as ''Old Sennington''. The name element ''seve'' (13th–14th century) is from English dialect ''seave'' (sedge or rush). The springs and streams that feed the

in its early stages provide an ideal habitat for sedges and rushes to grow. During the

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

sedges and rushes were known as "''seaves''". The name element ''Seven'' arose from a common mistake whereby

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

confused

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''sef'' for

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''seofon'' (seven). The name element ''hampton'' is from

''hām'' and ''tūn''. The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, 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 ...

for ''Sevenhampton'' might therefore be village where seeves grow (or "overgrown with seeves").

History

The Domesday Book entry for Sevenhampton also included Prestbury in the land and resources totals, which were 5 lord's plough teams and 29 men's plough teams of ploughland, of meadow, and 1 by 0.5 leagues of woodland. A rabbit warren was established in the woods in the 13th century, however the warren was later destroyed in the 17th century. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the woods were of economic importance for the supply of timber and firewood; also for sheep grazing in the wood-pasture's. Parts of the woods were available to local people as

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

for the grazing of horses and cattle.

Sennington DMV

Old Sennington is a

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the conve ...

(DMV) about north-west of Sevenhampton village. The site is listed as a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

Geography and ecology

The landscape is mostly of high limestone plateau that has been bisected by the north – south aligned valley of the

. The river rises from springs to the north of Brockhampton and is fed by more springs along the way. The springs and streams that feed the River Coln in its early stages provide an ideal habitat for sedges and rushes to grow. During the

sedges and rushes were known as "''seeves''", hence the origin of the name ''Seven..hampton''. Puckham Woods is a large area of

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

in a deep valley on the western fringe of the parish. It is designated as a

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI). The woodland consists of a mix of original and managed ancient woodland. At the time of the

(1086), part of the woods were within the bishop of Hereford's Prestbury estate, which presumably included the ''Queen's Wood'' area to the west of Cleeve Common. There are fragmented areas designated as ' ''Woodpasture and Parkland – BAP Priority Habitat'' ' in and around Brockhampton Park.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

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External links

{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Civil parishes in Gloucestershire