Stow-on-the-Wold

A Brief History

 

Origins of the town
Stow-on-the-Wold is an ancient Cotswold Wool Town of about 2000 people situated beside the Roman Fosse Way in north-east Gloucestershire, and in the heart of the Cotswold Hills. Set on a rounded hill at a height of about 800' above sea level, this elevated position and the effects of the elements have encouraged the creation of the enclosed town square.

Where the ancient Jurassic Way (Cotswold Ridgeway) and the Salt Way met, an Iron Age fort was built (c. 700 BC) that extended from the cottages in Camp Gardens to the eastern edge of the Square and northern edge of Digbeth Street. There is evidence of earlier settlements in this part of the Cotswolds. Stone Age and Bronze Age burial mounds are common throughout the area.

Originally a small settlement within the lands of Maugersbury Manor, which was controlled by Evesham Abbey from 708 AD until its dissolution in 1537 AD, Stow was intended by the Abbots to be a centre for trade, leaving Maugersbury to its agriculture. Consequently Stow expanded and became a parish in its own right, with the boundary between them being moved several times to accommodate Stow as it grew.

The houses of Stow are built with the mellow Cotswold stone from local quarries. Some have massive internal oak beams from the days when Gloucestershire was covered mainly in forest. A local artist, Trevor Ashcroft, who lived in the house next to St Edwards Hall (now a shop), created the etching seen here which shows the west side of the Square between Church Street and Stow Lodge Hotel, with the church in the background. Note the house that is on the slant, next to the last on the right.  The Council office is above St Edward’s Café in the fourth building from the left. This St Edward’s House was built in the mid 18th century and modelled on Bedfont House built in 1740s for the Cottrell family in Chipping Campden, by Thomas Woodward.  The fluted Corinthian pilasters and cornice are features common to both buildings.

The Kings Arms
The Kings Arms is a good example of a coaching inn where the main entrance was through the arch leading to the stables. Charles I stayed here at the time of the Battle of Naseby in 1645. It featured as The Kings Arms in the recent TV production of Thomas Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge.

At the end of Digbeth Street stands the Royalist Hotel, said to be the oldest inn in England. An inn has stood on the site since 947 AD.

The Wells
Stow was, until recent times, supplied with water from springs below the town. Due to the local geology, water held in the upper layers of limestone gushes out of various fissures on the hillsides. Some of these springs have never dried up, and the two in Well Lane were made into wells. The recently-refurbished top well in Well Lane is a Grade II Listed Building.
For centuries women and children had carried water with yoke and bucket from the well on Well Lane. Water carts plied between the well and the town where the water was sold to the townsfolk at a price of a farthing a bucket. To increase the supply, water was brought up from Lower Swell, and several systems were tried to force water up the hill including windmills and a horsemill, but none lasted. In 1871, Joseph Chamberlayne, lord of the manor, donated £2000 to the town for a deep well to be bored. This was built by the local ironmonger Henry Teague, who also ran an iron foundry, and it supplied the town until mains water came to Stow. Although mains water was laid on in 1937, there are still residents who drink only the well water as it tastes better.

The Market Cross
The town's main source of wealth in former times was wool, and sheep from the surrounding hills and villages were brought to the fairs in the Square where it is said that as many as twenty thousand were sold on a good day. The narrow alleyways called 'tures' leading from the Square to the perimeter of the town were constructed for the better control of animals. The Market Cross was erected as a symbolic reminder to the traders of medieval times to deal honestly and fairly. Although restored and repaired several times, a cross has stood here since the 15th century. After the local gasworks opened, there was a gas lantern at the top. The top of the cross was last restored in May 1994 after an alcohol-happy young man climbed up and fell bringing it down with him. The four sides of the lantern head represent "A Rood", "St Edward", "The Wool Trade", and "The Civil War".

St Edwards Hall
St Edwards Hall stands in the Square and was built in 1878 from unclaimed money placed in the Town Savings Bank and numerous generous gifts to provide the town with a meeting place. A figure of St Edward stands in a niche over the main entrance. The Belfry Spire was added in 1894 to house the fire bell, as the Rector of that time would not allow the church bell to be used as such. It originally housed a museum mainly of flints, fossils, and Roman coins found locally, the library of the local Book Society with a reading room, and recreation rooms with billiards and ping-pong tables. The Main Hall upstairs was used for special occasions like the Hunt Ball. On its walls is a collection of portraits dating from the Civil War. Nowadays, downstairs is occupied by the public library. Many Civil War artefacts presented to the town and kept in the museum in the 1930s were dispersed or moved to Worcester when the library took over the downstairs floor.  They have now been returned to Stow, but display facilities are limited.

The Parish Church of St Edward
The Church of St Edward was built between the 11th and the 15th centuries. It stands on the site of the original Saxon church, believed to have been of wood. The tower, completed in 1447, is 88' high and houses the heaviest peal of bells, eight in all, in Gloucestershire. A clock with chimes has existed there since 1580. The present clock was made in 1926. The painting of the Crucifixion in the south aisle was painted by Gaspar de Craeyer (1582-1669), a contemporary of Reubens and Van Dyck. Many features of this outstanding Cotswold Church may be attributed to the town's prosperity as a centre of the wool trade.

The Stocks

The stocks on the green are the latest in a long line dating back to the 15th Century, and visitors often pose there for photographs. This particular photograph was taken in about 1958. Due to the wear and tear on the grass, the stocks have since been re-sited a few feet away from this position.

A Farmer’s Market is held on the second Thursday of each month, at the edge of Stocks Green.  Charity stalls and Morris Dancers use this space alongside Stocks Green, on many weekends from spring to autumn.

Horse Fair - next held Thursdays 15th May & 23rd October 2008.
The right to hold a weekly market on Thursdays in Stow was granted in 1107 by Henry I to Evesham Abbey, owners of nearby Maugersbury Manor, and in 1126, Henry decreed that the dues should be paid directly to the Abbey and not to the Manor. Then in 1330, Edward III granted a 7-day fair in August. In 1476, Edward IV replaced this with two 5-day fairs, two days before and two days after the feast of St Philip and St James in May, and similarly in October on the feast of St Edward the Confessor.

Before the market was established, trading was a haphazard business of barter where the townsfolk of Stow relied on traders passing along the Fosse Way. Then with the market and more so with the fairs, traders could set up stalls in the space that is now the Square. These fairs grew in importance and became so widely-known that traders came from abroad as well distant parts of Britain to sell their wares, which now included luxury goods as well the necessities of life, and in return to buy the high-quality wool from the local flocks. Not only the traders but their customers also came from much greater distances as word of the fair spread. The fair's importance was such that people used its dates as references for events in their lives, a time to draw up and complete a contract, to hire labourers, and to mark one's age or someone's death. With traders and others coming together from great distances, it also became an important part of their social calendar.

The fair continues to this day, although the nature of trade has changed considerably. With the decline in the wool trade, trade in horses grew to take its place, and with the coming of shops that were open all the year, trading in and stockpiling of day-to-day necessities has fallen. However, the itinerant nature of trading has carried on with the Romanies coming in increasing numbers. For them, the two dates remain as the most important social events of the year as well as a time and place to buy and sell.

These notes are based on various publications on Stow's history, including articles that have appeared in the Stow-on-the-Wold & District Civic Society's Newsletters and published in 2000 under the title "STOW-ON-THE-WOLD Glimpses of the Past".

This page was last updated on 03/04/2008

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