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England
Churchdown HillAncient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork
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... the high hill in the [Matson] neighbourhood was called Robins's Wood Hill... There is another hill at Church-Down, about three miles distant, arising in like manner in the midst of the vale; and these two are called Robin Hood's Butts.From 'Folk-lore of Gloucestershire' - County Folklore v1, 1895. |
Posted by Rhiannon10th June 2009ce |
In the village of Churchdown, about four miles from Gloucester, the church dedicated to St. Bartholomew is built on the summit of Churchdown Hill, - the ascent to it being steep and tortuous. The legend runs, that "the church was begun to be built on a more convenient and accessible spot of ground, but that the materials used in the day were constantly taken away in the night and carried to the top of the hill, which was considered a supernatural intimation that the church whould be built there."*From Church-lore Gleanings By Thomas Firminger Thiselton Dyer (what a name), 1891, p3. (partially online at Google Books). Arthur Cleveland was there and he "descried a hamlet, and a Church, which my friend pointed out to me as Chozen, at the same time informing me that it was spelt Churchdown." (Impressions of England, 2nd ed, 1856, p160) He calls it one of those quaint English things where you speak and spell a word differently. But is it just referring to the legend about the church? Or is it all tied up together. The local school is called 'Chosen Hill School' so people must still refer to it as that. So it must also be the site of this snippet from http://archive.worcesternews.co.uk/2001/10/26/300903.html from 'Folklore of Gloucestershire' by Roy Palmer (1994): "For the ghoulish or fey minded, the key chapter is the aptly named, Out of this World. We hear of a Churchdown man who, early in the last century, saw headless fairies on Chosen Hill." Aren't fairies on their own hard enough to believe? Why not tell your friends you saw headless fairies instead. |
Posted by Rhiannon 16th May 2007ce Edited 16th May 2007ce |
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Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Achaeological SocietyThe Prehistoric Occupation of Churchdown Hill - H. Hurst. This article from 1977 suggests that Churchdown Hill was a fortified site in the Iron Age. This hill has been quarried and reservoired and generally messed with a great deal. The Woodland Trust now manages the woods around the hill: http://www.wt-woods.org.uk/churchdownhill/description.asp |
Posted by Rhiannon 16th May 2007ce Edited 16th May 2007ce |
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