Awre () is a village,

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 ...

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

in the

Forest of Dean District Forest of Dean is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in west Gloucestershire, England, named after the Forest of Dean. Its council is based in Coleford, Gloucestershire, Coleford. Other towns and villages in the district inc ...

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, near 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 ...

. Both the parish and the electoral ward include Blakeney, Etloe, Gatcombe, Viney Hill, and Two Bridges. According to the 2001 census, Awre had a population of 1,644, increasing to 1,714 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward gives similar figures

Name

A number of etymologies have been proposed for the villages name. A possible derivation from an

Old Welsh Old Welsh () is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic around 550, ha ...

word for yellow or golden has been suggested, linking the village to its location in the ancient

Cantref Coch Cantref Coch ( ) was an area associated with the ancient kingdoms of Ergyng, Gwent and the later Kingdom of Glamorgan. Cantref Coch is linked with the modern Forest of Dean and is defined as the land between the River Severn and the River Wye, ...

and the colour of the sandy soil in the upland areas around the village. Another suggestion is that the village was named for Gilbert de Awre, a Norman knight who is said to have come over during the

Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. However, the name ''de Awre'' does not appear under this name in contemporary texts, suggesting that he took his name from the village. Today the name is commonly stated to derive from

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 ...

; ''āfor'' "bitter or sour" and ''ēa'' "water-meadow or island" translating to "sour water-meadow".

History

The manor of Awre is mentioned 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. Together with

Lydney Lydney is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been Bypass ( ...

and Alvington, the parish of Awre comprised Bledisloe Hundred.Bledisloe Hundred
A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5. Victoria County History Awre was a large parish which included the tithings of Blakeney, Bledisloe, Hagloe, and Etloe. The manors were often in royal hands or in possession of great medieval magnates.Awre
A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5. Victoria County History. The whole of Awre parish was included within the jurisdiction of the

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 ...

before 1228. The village was once larger, though probably always scattered in plan. In the 17th century, shipbuilding was established in nearby Gatcombe, once an important anchorage on the

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 ...

. By the early 19th century, the industrial and trading village of Blakeney had replaced Awre as the principal centre. A church is mentioned in

, and by the mid 12th century it was dedicated to St. Andrew. It was rebuilt in the mid-13th century as a large building with a long chancel and a nave and north aisle of six bays. The porch was added in the 14th century and the upper part of the tower was reconstructed in the 15th century. The church is a

Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive wikt:refurbish, refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England church (building), churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century Victorian era, re ...

of the 19th century with a 15th-century font and a 15th-century oak rood screen. A medieval dugout chest stands under the tower. The graveyard contains many burials of those drowned in the Severn as a result of shipwreck or other accident. From 1851 to 1959, the area was served by the Awre for Blakeney railway station.

Notable people

Johannes Urzidil Johannes Urzidil (3 February 1896 in Prague – 2 November 1970 in Rome) was a German-Bohemian writer, poet and historian. His father was a German Bohemian and his mother was Jewish. Life Urzidil was educated in Prague, studying German, art hi ...

(1896–1970), the

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

born Bohemian German writer in

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

lived with his wife, the poet Gertrude Urzidil, from 1939 till 1941 in Viney Hill and wrote in stories and essays about the

and the people living there.Johannes Urzidil: Chronology
Retrieved 22 January 2013

References

External links

*
Awre
at Forest Web * {{Authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Civil parishes in Gloucestershire Forest of Dean