Stinchcombe is a small village and civil parish in

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 ...

, England on the B4060 road between

Dursley Dursley is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stroud District of Gloucestershire, England. It lies between the cities of Bristol and Gloucester. It is under the northeast flank of Stinchcombe#Stinchcombe Hill, St ...

and

North Nibley North Nibley is a village in Gloucestershire, England about northwest of Wotton-under-Edge. Name The village is commonly known as ''Nibley'', but the official name distinguishes it from the village of Nibley, just outside Yate, about away i ...

. The church is called St Cyr's and its churchyard contains 40–60 gravestones. The population taken at the 2011 census was 480. It gives its name to the nearby Stinchcombe Hill () which is a , a nearly detached part of the

Cotswold Edge 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 bedro ...

, which was notified as a

biological 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 ...

in 1966.Natural England SSSI information on citation, map and unit detail
/ref> Stroud District Local Plan, adopted November 2005, Appendix 6 ‘Sites of Nature Conservation Interest’

Stinchcombe Hill

Stinchcombe Hill lies west of

and forms part of the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

scarp of 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 ...

. The site represents the semi-natural calcareous grasslands supporting particular flora and fauna, and particularly a number of rare and uncommon species. The Hill has a large golf course on the top, and has a public right of way round its edge which is part of the

Cotswold Way The Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, running along the Cotswold Edge escarpment of the Cotswold Hills in England. It was officially inaugurated as a National Trail on 24 May 2007 and several new rights of way have been created. Hi ...

. (The exact line of the right of way and its interaction with the golf greens has been the subject of some controversy over the years.) The rights of way were redefined by a public enquiry in 2012 and are signposted.

Views

The view from Drakestone Point ( at ) over the Vale to the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

and

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

beyond, is particularly fine, but the tranquility is injured by the proximity of the

M5 Motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

. Since 1992 volunteers have done a great deal of work on the Hill, attempting to restore the open views over the Severn Vale. The cleared areas can be seen from the M5, and the Cotswold Way has now been re-routed around the Hill to take advantage of this work.

Notable residents

The novelist

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

lived at Piers Court in Stinchcombe from 1937 to 1956. During this time he wrote some of his best known works, including ''

Scoop Scoop, Scoops or The Scoop may refer to: Artefacts * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (theater), a type of wide area l ...

'', ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of Charles Ryder, esp ...

'', ''

Men at Arms ''Men at Arms'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 15th book in the ''Discworld'' series, first published in 1993. It is the second novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch on the Discworld. Lance-constable Angua von Über ...

'' and ''

Officers and Gentlemen ''Officers and Gentlemen'' is a 1955 novel by the British people, British novelist Evelyn Waugh. ''Sword of Honour'' trilogy ''Officers and Gentlemen'' is the second novel in Waugh's ''Sword of Honour'' trilogy, the author's look at the Second W ...

''. The village is also the birthplace of

William Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – October 1536) was an English Biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestantism, Protestant Reformation in the year ...

(ca. 1494- 1536), scholar and translator of the Bible into English.

Popular culture

*The Potter family in the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series is said to have originated in Stinchcombe in the 12th century, with

's earliest known ancestor being known as Linfred of Stinchcombe.

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Stincombe Hill unit

External links

Natural England
(SSSI information) File:West of north from Stinchcombe Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1013401.jpg, View from Stinchcombe Hill File:North of west from Stinchcombe Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1027059.jpg, View from Stinchcombe Hill File:Trigpoint and toposcope Stinchcombe Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1024492.jpg, Trigpoint and toposcope on Stinchcombe Hill File:"Thank you" seat on Stinchcombe Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1027066.jpg, Seat on Stinchcombe Hill File:Broad Beans - geograph.org.uk - 196743.jpg, View to Stinchcombe Hill File:Stinchcombe Hill Golf Club - geograph.org.uk - 18652.jpg, Golf club on Stinchcombe Hill File:Stinchcombe Hill golf course, general view - geograph.org.uk - 1027113.jpg, Golf Course on Stinchcombe Hill {{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Hills of Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1966 Cotswolds Stroud District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire Mountains and hills of the United Kingdom with toposcopes