Withington is a Cotswold 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 ...

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, about southeast 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 ...

and north of Cirencester. The River Coln runs through the village. The parish includes the hamlets of Hilcot, Foxcote and Cassey Compton. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was 532. The site of a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

lies to the south of the village. Remains of the villa were rediscovered in 1811 by

Samuel Lysons Samuel Lysons (1763 – June 1819) was an English antiquarian and engraver who, together with his elder brother Daniel Lysons (1762–1834), published several works on antiquarian topics. He was one of the first archaeologists to investiga ...

, and investigations by the ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4, Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television produce ...

'' television programme for an episode first broadcast in 2006 found further Romano-British buildings east of the villa, towards the river. The origin of the name is unclear but it is found in records as early as 737 AD (''Wudiandun'', which would mean the hill of Wudia: Wudia may be a real settler or the legendary Germanic hero Witege). The other English places called Withington may have different origins. In his 1955 work, H. P. R. Finberg argued for continuity between Anglo-Saxon Withington and an earlier Roman settlement. During Saxon times there was an important monastery at Withington. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of St Michael and All Angels dates from the 12th century and 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 ...

. The church was altered in the 15th century when the

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

and higher tower were added, and has been described as "a typical example of an important Cotswold church". From 1891 to 1961, Withington had a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the

Midland and South Western Junction Railway The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' t ...

which ran between

Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...

and

. The Mill Inn, now the only

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

in Withington, is credited locally with creating the popular "chicken in a basket" fried chicken and chips meal in the 1960s. The 2000 Trees music festival is held annually at Upcote Farm, near the village.

History

From April to May 2021, it was filmed as the fictional village of Cotson for the

folk horror Folk horror is a subgenre of horror film and horror fiction that uses elements of folklore to invoke fear and foreboding. Typical elements include a rural setting, isolation, and themes of superstition, folk religion, paganism, Human sacrifice, sa ...

film ''

Men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

'', released in 2022 and directed by Alex Garland.

1963 air crash

Two miles east of Chedworth on Thursday 2 May 1963, 23 year old Flt Lt Charles J Sturt, ejected from his BAC Jet Provost over Northleach. Firemen attended from Cirencester and Northleach. The Jet Provost aircraft was from RAF Little Rissington. Charles Sturt would be Group Captain Sturt, by the late 1980s. His brother Sqn Ldr Peter Sturt ejected from Harrier ''XV791'' on 9 July 1973, with 20 Sqn from RAF Wildenrath, after suffering a bird strike.XV791
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References

External links

Withington Parish Council

at GenUKI
Victoria County History
Villages in Gloucestershire Cotswold District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire {{Gloucestershire-geo-stub