| Siddington | |
|---|---|
 St. Peter's Church, Siddington | |
  Siddington Location withinGloucestershire | |
| Area | 3.33 sq mi (8.6 km2) [1] |
| Population | 1,249 [1] |
| • Density | 375/sq mi (145/km2) |
| • London | 79 mi (127 km) |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Cirencester |
| Postcode district | GL7 |
| Dialling code | 01285 |
| Police | Gloucestershire |
| Fire | Gloucestershire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Siddington Parish Council |
| |
Siddington is a village andcivil parish inGloucestershire, England. It is located immediately south ofCirencester. At the2011 United Kingdom Census, the parish had a population of 1,249.
There is evidence ofNeolithic inhabitation of the area. Situated adjacent toErmin Way, theRoman road connecting present-dayGloucester andSilchester, Siddington has multiple examples ofRomano-British settlements. The village was mentioned in theDomesday Book, and parts of the church areNorman. During theIndustrial Revolution, theThames and Severn Canal was built through the parish, followed by theCirencester branch line and theSwindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway in the 1840s and 1880s respectively.
Siddington is located near theCotswoldsAONB, and parts of theCotswold Water ParkSSSI are within the parish.
Pits,sherds, and flint are evidence ofNeolithic inhabitation of the Siddington area.Beaker pottery found in the area suggestsEarly Bronze Age activity, and various earthworks are evidence ofmiddle Bronze Age andIron Age use of the area.[2]Ermin Way, theRoman road connectingGlevum (Gloucester) toCalleva Atrebatum (Silchester) viaCorinium (Cirencester) forms part of the parish's north-eastern border.[3]Romano-British settlements existed near the west border and at the south of the parish. The latter settlement is evidenced by pottery and building debris, as well as discoveries of a well and a coin ofConstantius II.[3] Excavation of a third Romano-British settlement, near Ermin Way, uncovered a sherd from asitula dating from the Iron Age.[3]
The name "Siddington" is derived from theOld Englishsūð in tūn, meaning "south in the farm [or] settlement".[4] Siddington was recorded in theDomesday Book of 1086 as comprising 46 households, putting it in the top fifth of English settlements as regards population. Additionally, it was at that time recorded as lying within the hundred of Cirencester and the county of Gloucestershire. Landowners of Siddington following theNorman Conquest includedGodric,Leofwin, and Emma (wife ofWalter de Lacy).[5] Alternative spellings have included "Sudintone" and "Suintone",[6] and in theDomesday Survey of 1086, the name "Suditone" was used. At this time, Siddington was recorded as having landowners includingRoger of Lacy,Hascoit Musard,Humphrey the Chamberlain, andWilliam fitzBaderon.[5][7] The survey showed that Siddington had at least 17 villagers, 18 smallholders, 13 slaves, and 2 priests, as well as a mill and 20 acres (8.1 ha) of meadowland.[5]Ridge and furrow patterns have suggested agricultural use of the higher land during theMedieval period.[2]Geoffrey of Langley inherited the Siddington estate in the 1220s.[8]
In the 1780s, during theIndustrial Revolution, theThames and Severn Canal was constructed through the parish, and aflight of fourlocks was built to begin the canal's descent from itssummit pound towards theRiver Thames; the locks brought the canal down a total of 39 ft (12 m).[a][9] Immediately west of the top lock was a wharf andbasin where a shortcanal arm led north into Cirencester.[10] Railways arrived in Siddington in 1841, when theCirencester branch line opened betweenCirencester Town andKemble. The line did not serve Siddington until 1960, however, whenPark Leaze Halt opened across the Kemble parish border.[11] In 1883, theSwindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway, later becoming theMidland and South Western Junction Railway (MSWJR), opened betweenCirencester Watermoor andSwindon,[12] crossing the canal between the third and fourth locks in the flight.[13] As with the Cirencester branch line, the MSWJR did not give Siddington its own station; the nearest stops on the line wereCerney and Ashton Keynes and the Cirencester terminus itself, the latter being nearer at 1 mi (1.6 km) from the village.[14]
John Marius Wilson'sImperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72) described how Siddington parish covered 1,950 acres (790 ha), had a property value of £2,777 (equivalent to £313,186 in 2023), and a population of 474 within 110 households. Themanor was part of theBathurst estate,[15] and as well as the parish church, the village had anindependent chapel.[16]John George Bartholomew'sGazetteer of the British Isles, published in 1887, noted the size of the parish as 2,317 acres (938 ha) and showed that the population had risen to 481.[17]
The canal was abandoned in 1927,[18] although through-passage of theSapperton Tunnel had become near impossible after the 1910s when multiple roof collapses had occurred.[19] Parts of the canal bed in Siddington were later infilled and some areas built upon.[20] The railways were removed in the 1960s; while the decline and closure of the MSWJR preceded it,[21] the Cirencester Branch was a casualty of theBeeching Axe of the early 1960s.[22]
As acivil parish, Siddington has aparish council formed of nine councillors as well as a chair and vice-chair,[23] and is part of Siddington and Cerney Ruralward[24] withinCotswold District Council.[25] Since 2024 it has been a part ofSouth Cotswolds constituency[26] represented in Parliament by DrRoz Savage of theLiberal Democrats.[27] Historically, Siddington was in thehundred of Crowthorne and Minety.[16]
Places adjacent to Siddington, Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|
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Siddington is located within thecatchment of theRiver Thames;[28] theRiver Churn, the farthest tributary from the river mouth, flows through the parish.[29] TheEnvironment Agency operates amonitoring station near the site of Siddington Mill. Between 2009 and 2012 the classification of fish in the river was "good" or "moderate",[30] and between 2013 and 2016[b] this fluctuated between "bad", "poor", and "moderate".[31]
TheCotswold Water ParkSSSI is partly within the parish,[32] and theCotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is less than 1 mi (1.6 km) northwest of Siddington.[25] Part of the Kemble & EwenSpecial Landscape Area is within the western extremities of the parish.[25] One designatedbrownfield site is within the parish, on its east border.[25]
Situated on the edge of theCotswolds, acontour line at 362 ft (110 m)AOD runs through the parish.[33][34] Here, the Thames and Severn Canal follows the land to act as acontour canal on its summit pound west of the Siddington Locks.[35]
The bedrock geology of Siddington includes theCornbrash Formation,Forest Marble Formation,Oxford Clay Formation, and theKellaways Formation.[36]Superficial deposits includeHanborough gravel andalluvium.[36]
The parish of Siddington covers 862.34 ha (2,130.9 acres).[1] It is bordered to the north by Cirencester, to the east byPreston andSouth Cerney, to the south bySomerford Keynes, and to the west by Kemble.[37] The River Churn forms part of Siddington's boundary with South Cerney, as does the formerRAF South Cerney (now theDuke of Gloucester Barracks).[24] Ermin Way (now followed by the course of theA419) is the parish's north east border.[24]
The nearestMet Officeweather station is at theRoyal Agricultural University in Cirencester.[38] The average summer high temperature is 22.28 °C (72.10 °F), and the average winter low is 1.23 °C (34.21 °F). The average minimum rainfall is 55.53 mm (2.186 in) per month, with an annual average of 132 rainy days.[39]
| Climate data forRoyal Agricultural University, Cirencester (1991–2020 averages) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.37 (45.27) | 8.01 (46.42) | 10.67 (51.21) | 13.66 (56.59) | 16.84 (62.31) | 19.77 (67.59) | 22.28 (72.10) | 21.82 (71.28) | 18.93 (66.07) | 14.48 (58.06) | 10.32 (50.58) | 7.69 (45.84) | 14.35 (57.83) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.23 (34.21) | 1.26 (34.27) | 2.62 (36.72) | 4.15 (39.47) | 7.00 (44.60) | 9.70 (49.46) | 11.67 (53.01) | 11.57 (52.83) | 9.60 (49.28) | 7.01 (44.62) | 3.76 (38.77) | 1.62 (34.92) | 5.96 (42.73) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 82.93 (3.26) | 58.13 (2.29) | 55.53 (2.19) | 55.56 (2.19) | 64.07 (2.52) | 59.08 (2.33) | 58.95 (2.32) | 67.25 (2.65) | 58.42 (2.30) | 84.08 (3.31) | 88.77 (3.49) | 89.82 (3.54) | 822.59 (32.39) |
| Average rainy days | 13.13 | 10.60 | 10.27 | 10.30 | 10.19 | 9.17 | 8.92 | 10.63 | 9.47 | 12.37 | 13.52 | 13.27 | 131.84 |
| Source:[39] | |||||||||||||
The parish has three main areas of settlement – thenucleated village centre of Siddington, the small outlying settlement of Upper Siddington, and part of thelinear expansion of Cirencester at North Siddington.[24][40]
The2011 United Kingdom Census reported that the parish had a population of 1,249. Most residents (approximately60%) live in Siddington and Upper Siddington, and roughly32% reside in North Siddington on the Cirencester outskirts.[41] Of the population, 48% were recorded as male and 52% female.[1] The median age of Siddington residents is 48.[1] Ethnically, Siddington is 96.3%White British, with a majority of respondents reporting theirnational identity as English.[1] Approximately 74% of residents areChristian, and 25% claim to follow no religion or did not report their religious beliefs to the census. Fewer than 1% of the population followBuddhism andHinduism.[1]
| Historical population of Siddington | |||||||||||
| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 325 | 321 | 349 | 409 | 469 | 502 | 474 | 520 | 481 | 571 | 501 |
| Year | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1941 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
| Population | 524 | 520 | 501 | [c] | 466 | 659 | 829 | 961 | |||
| 1811–1851, 1871–1961;[43] 1861;[44] 1871;[45] 2001–2011[46] | |||||||||||
Early industries in Siddington includebrickmaking; the presence ofclay pits andquarries is marked onOrdnance Survey maps ofc. 1888–1913.[47] Siddington formerly had awater-driven corn mill on the Churn, although this was derelict by the 1950s.[48][49] A windmill was built in the late 18th centuryto grind corn; theMills Archive does not note its operational dates[50] but itsGrade II listing shows that by the 1980s it was "semi-derelict" and had become known asthe Round House.[51]
Of the working population of Siddington, the most common employment sector is the wholesale and retail trade.[d][1] The next most common industries are manufacturing, social work, education, and construction.[1]
Within the parish, 18.5% of all businesses lie within the professional, scientific, and technical services sector. Construction accounts for 8.6% of businesses, and 7.4% of companies are business administration and support.[52] The number ofVAT registered companies per 10,000working age population is above both the national average and that of Gloucestershire as a whole.[52]
Amenities in the village include a branch of thePost Office[53] and a public house.[54]
Twentylisted buildings are in the village,[55] including the church,[56] the old school house,[57] the Greyhound Inn,[58] the brick arch canal bridge,[59] and the Round House.[51]Scheduled monuments in the parish include thetithe barn at Church Farm[60] and part of the Romano-British settlement near Chesterton.[61]
Siddington has awar memorial within St Peter's Church. It is a plaque dedicated to 13 men killed in theFirst World War.[62] Similarly, thevillage hall was built in 1921 as amemorial hall to commemorate the war. TheEarl Bathurst gave the plot of land to the village for the hall's construction, and recycled stone from an old nearby barn was used for the building.[63]
The parish is served byStagecoach West bus services 51 (Swindon–Cirencester)[64] and C62 (Malmesbury–Cirencester College).[65] Since the removal of the two railway lines in the parish in the 1960s, the nearest railway station has beenKemble.[21][22] TheCotswold Canals Trust aims to restore the Thames and Severn Canal (albeit not the Cirencester Arm[66]) which would bring the lock flight through Siddington back in to full operation.[67][68]
Siddington Church of England Primary School, located in the north west of the parish, is aco-educationalprimary school for students aged 5 to 11.[69] Its three most recentOfsted inspections – in 2013, 2017 and 2022 – have returned "satisfactory" or "good" ratings.[70][71][72]
In 2018, the school adoptedacademy status and became part of the Corinium Education Trust along withCirencester Deer Park School and the primary schools in Kemble andChesterton.[73]
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The parish church, in theDiocese of Gloucester, is dedicated toSt Peter.[16] The church is originallyNorman, and was extended inc. 1470.[56] It underwent restoration byHenry Woodyer in 1864; at this point the church tower was added.[56] Of the Norman church, three original features remain – the south doorway, thefont, and thechancel arch.[74] The tower has apeal of six bells,[74] all of which were cast byJohn Warner & Sons in 1879:[75]
A church dedicated toSt Mary was demolished inc. 1778 after the amalgamation of its parish with that of St Peter's.[76] Unlike St Peter's, which was overseen by avicar, St Mary's had arector.[16] In 1928, abenefice was formed between Siddington and Preston; today, the Churnside Benefice covers South Cerney with Cerney Wick, Siddington, and Preston.[77]
AQuaker burial ground was established in Siddington in 1660, although it is now closed.[78]John Roberts a Quaker humourist who had been born in Siddington, was interred within the cemetery.[79]
Siddington Cricket Club was first mentioned in the 1850s, playing home games at the villagerecreation ground until the club folded in the 1950s. It was re-formed in 2017, based inAmpney Crucis.[80]
Siddington Football Club play their home games on the village playing field. The first team competes inCirencester and District League.[81]
