| Alderton | |
|---|---|
 St Margaret's parish church | |
  Alderton Location withinGloucestershire | |
| Population | 747 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SP001332 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Tewkesbury |
| Postcode district | GL20 |
| Dialling code | 01242 62 |
| Police | Gloucestershire |
| Fire | Gloucestershire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Alderton Village |
| |
Alderton is a village andcivil parish in theTewkesbury district ofGloucestershire, England.
The village is about 15 miles (24 km) north ofCheltenham, 6 miles (10 km) east ofTewkesbury, 7.5 miles (12 km) south ofEvesham and 15 miles (24 km) west ofStow-on-the-Wold. The main roads are theB4077 (Stow Road) and theA46.
The parish has 1,170 residents.[2]
TheChurch of England parish church ofSt Margaret of Antioch may originate from theAnglo-Saxon era.[3] The current building is mostly 14th century and was restored in 1890–92.[4] St Margaret'secclesiastical parish forms part of the Aldertonbenefice that incorporates the nearby villages ofDumbleton,Little Washbourne andGreat Washbourne. The benefice is administered from St Peter's church,Winchcombe.
AldertonMethodist chapel was built in 1899.[4] It is now a private house.
Alderton parish includes the satellite settlement of Alderton Fields, which is conjoined with Gretton Fields,Gretton. The distinctiveness of Alderton Fields, as a separate entity to Gretton Fields, was the subject of controversy when in the early 2000s, a road sign declared the whole area to be named Gretton Fields. The sign has since been moved to the Gretton parish boundary, and a new sign for Alderton Fields erected.
The name of thehill between Alderton andDumbleton is the subject of local rivalry. There are three peaks to the hill, which are distinctively and separately named Dumbleton Hill, Alderton Hill and Oak Hill onOrdnance Survey maps. To avoid controversy, the local primary school - which has two sites, one each in Alderton and Dumbleton - took the name Oak Hill. However, local residents will use the three names Oak Hill, Dumbleton Hill and Alderton Hill interchangeably to refer to the same hill, rather than the individual peaks.
The village has the Gardners Armspub, a local garage and petrol station, and avillage shop that includes apost office. There is also theJunior campus ofOak Hill Primary School - theInfant campus being in nearby Dumbleton. There is a number of pubs in the outlying areas around the village, including the Hobnails Inn at Little Washbourne. Amilkman continues to provide doorstep delivery of dairy and bakery goods on certain days of the week - including milk sourced locally from dairy farms in the parish (althoughpasteurisation occurs at theCotteswold Dairy plant inTewkesbury).
Most of the residents are either retired or commute to jobs in nearbyTewkesbury,Cheltenham orEvesham.[5] A small number of people work in farming: there is a large dairy farm in the parish, plus sheep and wheat farming. Others work in tourism: there are severalbed and breakfast guest houses, and a number of houses available as holiday lets. The WinchcombeCamping and Caravanning Club has a large campsite on the B4077 nearGretton.
There is a free publicWiFi hotspot provided from nearbyFrampton Cottages.ADSLbroadband is available throughout the parish.
In December 2006 a book documenting life in the village, along with some of its history, was published. The book was featured in the April 2007 edition ofCountry Life.
Lying on the edge of both the Cotswolds and the Vale of Evesham, the village incorporates bothCotswold stone andred brick architecture, in addition towattle and daubhalf-timberedthatched buildings, plus more modern houses andbungalows with Cotswold stone cladding. There are also a small number ofcouncil houses with white pebbledash. Several houses in the outlying areas of the parish are built in a Victorian style using local red brick manufactured from a now-disused clay mine on the top of the nearby Oak Hill (also called Dumbleton Hill or Alderton Hill); these were originally constructed as farmworkers' cottages for the Dumbleton Hall estate (Dumbleton Hall itself is now a hotel).
A footpath system connects the village over the wooded Oak Hill to the nearby village of Dumbleton. These footpaths are known locally as "The Dungeons" due to the deep channel that they cut into the hillside and the darkness of overhanging trees. Oak Hill itself remains a managed estate, with organised game bird shooting and rearing of deer for sale to other game estates. A number of gamekeepers ensure public safety by directing ramblers to keep to marked footpaths.
