Describes the area's varied agrarian history and industrial activity. This volume of the county history covers the part of north-west Gloucestershire extending from the foothills of the Malverns in the north to the distinctive feature of May Hill in the south. Centred on the parish and former markettown of Newent, it also covers the ancient parishes of Bromesberrow, Dymock, Huntley, Kempley, Longhope, Oxenhall, Pauntley, Preston, and Taynton. Over much of the area a pattern of scattered farmsteads and small fields emerged from the clearance of ancient woodland. That process continued after the Norman Conquest but with the consolidation of farms from the later middle ages the story became one of the abandonment of numerous farmhouses and farmsteads. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries road improvements facilitated the growth of outlying villages and squatter settlement on common and waste land created a number of hamlets, as on May Hill and on the Herefordshire border at Gorsley. The volume also describes the area's varied agrarian history, from sheep, dairy and arable farming to its orchards, and, more recently, viniculture. Industrial activity has included glassworks and ironworks,and charcoal production. Newent, the chief trading centre from the thirteenth century on, saw both a short-lived coalfield, one of the principal objects for the construction of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire canal, and a spa.
Reviews
[T]he volume's structure is clear, logical and easy to follow. [It] has been produced to the VCH's usual high standards. * SOUTHERN HISTORY *
Volume XII, Newent and May Hill, maintains the impeccable scholastic standards of the VCH whilst extending the range of research and introducing changes both cosmetic and substantial to the familiar 'Red Books'. Like its predecessors it provides a vast range of hard facts, prompts further enquiries and builds a solid base for future research. It is perhaps especially valuable for its coverage of the medieval period. * TRANSACTIONS OF THE BRISTOL & GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY *
The volume is a delight to read and provides a powerful antidote to sloppy thinking about the history of rural England. * THE LOCAL HISTORIAN *



Book Information
ISBN 9781904356363
Author A.R.J. Jurica
Format Hardback
Page Count 392
Imprint Victoria County History
Publisher Victoria County History
Weight(grams) 2g