Bourton-on-the-Water explained

Official Name:Bourton-on-the-Water
Country:England
Region:South West England
Static Image Name:River Windrush - geograph.org.uk - 1341404.jpg
Static Image Caption:Bridge over the River Windrush
Population:3,296
Os Grid Reference:SP167209
Coordinates:51.886°N -1.759°W
Label Position:left
Postcode Area:GL
Postcode District:GL54
Dial Code:01451

Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census.[1] Much of the village centre is a designated Conservation Area.[2]

Description

Bourton-on-the-Water's high street is flanked by long wide greens and the River Windrush that runs through them. The river is crossed by five low, arched stone bridges. They were built between 1654 and 1953, leading to the nickname of "Venice of the Cotswolds".[3]

The village often has more visitors than residents during the peak tourist season.[4] Some 300,000 visitors arrive each year as compared to under 3,500 permanent residents.[5]

There are three churches, Our Lady and St Kenelm Roman Catholic Church, Bourton-on-the-Water Baptist Church and St Lawrence, Church of England. The latter is usually open to visitors during the week. It is a Grade II listed building. A part of it was built in the 14th century but major modifications were made in the 1780s and in the late 1800s.[6]

Educational institutions include Bourton-on-the-Water Primary School and the Cotswold School, a co-educational comprehensive school.

Governance

An electoral ward of the same name exists and includes Cold Aston in addition to Bourton. The total population of the ward at the 2011 census was 3,676.[7] The village itself had 3,296 people; the estimated population in mid-2016 was 3,482.[8]

Bourton-on-the-Water parish is bounded by the Fosse Way along the northwest, while the eastern boundary is defined by a series of brooks, namely Slaughter Brook, the River Dikler and the River Windrush. The southern boundary is associated with a watercourse that runs between Bourton Hill and Broadwater Bottom.[9]

History

The earliest evidence of human activity within the Bourton-on-the-Water area was found in the Slaughter Bridge gravel-spread, where Neolithic pottery (dated c. 4000 B.C.) was discovered. Moreover, excavations of the Salmonsbury Camp give evidence of almost continuous habitation through the Neolithic period, the Bronze Age and throughout England's Roman period (c. 43 to 410 A.D.). A Roman road, Icknield Street (also known as Ryknild Street), ran from the Fosse Way at Bourton-on-the-Water to Templeborough in South Yorkshire.[10] Ancient Roman pottery and coins discovered in the village itself give clear evidence of extended Roman occupation. By the 11th century a Christian church, Norman, was established and the village had developed along the River Windrush much as it is today. Centuries earlier, a Saxon timber church was located on that site in about AD 708, built on the site of an old Roman temple. Some of the St Lawrence church on that site today was built in the 14th century but most of it is from the 17th and 18th centuries.[11]

The village was served by a passenger railway between 1862 and 1962. Tourism did not become a significant factor in the village until the 1920s and 1930s. The Model Village opened in 1937. There was a significant increase in the population between 1931 and 1951.[12]

Following the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908, the town, for recruiting, was granted to the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars. Following this formation the regiment maintained a troop from B Squadron. Today the regiment, now a squadron of The Royal Wessex Yeomanry, continues to recruit from this area.[13]

The Cotswold School opened in the village in 1988 following the amalgamation of Bourton Vale Secondary Modern (Bourton on the Water) and Westwood's Grammar School (Northleach).[14] It achieved academy status in September 2010, and was named 'Comprehensive School of the Year 2015/16' by The Sunday Times.[15] During construction of the school's maths block, it was discovered to be situated upon a Roman cemetery which also contained Iron Age roundhouses, burials, and pottery.[16] [17]

The houses and shops in the village are constructed of the ashlar yellow limestone characteristic of the Cotswolds and they have the embellishments that make Cotswold architecture so picturesque: projecting gables, string-courses, windows with stone mullions, dripmoulds and stone hoodmoulds over the doors.[9]

Parts of the James Bond movie Die Another Day (2002) were filmed in the car park at Bourton-on-the-Water and on the nearby ex-RAF aircraft runway at RAF Little Rissington.[18]

Special designations

The small historic core of Bourton-on-the-Water along with associated areas along the River Windrush have been designated a UK Conservation Area.[19]

Salmonsbury Camp, a nearby Iron Age habitation, is designated a UK National scheduled monument (SAM 32392).

English Heritage designates 114 buildings within Bourton-on-the-Water; all have Grade II or Grade II* listed status. (Grade II* indicates particularly important buildings of more than special interest.)[20]

Tourism

Bourton has a number of tourist attractions:[21]

Long-distance footpaths and local walks start, finish or pass through Bourton-on-the-Water. One such route that begins its 100-mile route north is the Heart of England Way.

Sport

The village has its own non-league football club, Bourton Rovers, who play in the Hellenic Football League at the Rissington Road ground.[25]

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Oxford TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated in Icomb. [26] Local radio stations are BBC Radio Gloucestershire, Heart West, Greatest Hits Radio South West, WRFM (Witney Radio) and Cotswolds Radio, community based radio station [27] The town is served by the local newspaper, Cotswold Journal. [28]

Railway

See main article: Bourton-on-the-Water railway station. Bourton-on-the-Water was first served by rail with the opening of the Bourton-on-the-Water railway in 1862. This was a branch line from on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWWR). The station was situated just to the north of the village. The OWWR (and its branch) later amalgamated with the Great Western Railway (GWR) and, in 1881, the branch was extended westwards and formed part of the GWR's Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway. The station closed to passengers in 1962 and to goods in 1964.

The closest operating railway station now is in Moreton-in-Marsh. The heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway uses part of the route of the former Great Western Railway's main line in the Cotswolds; it does not pass through the village.

Notable people

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Parish population 2011. 22 March 2015. 1 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200901105732/https://www.ons.gov.uk/help/localstatistics. live.
  2. Web site: Conservation Area Statement. Cotswold District Council. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717013202/https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/media/451014/Conservation-area-statement-Bourton.pdf. live.
  3. Web site: History of Bourton-on-the-Water. Cotswolds Info. 16 July 2018. 21 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170621012133/http://www.cotswolds.info/blogs/bourton-on-the-water.shtml. live.
  4. Web site: Local Plan. Cotswold District Council. 2 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111107050134/http://www.localplan.cotswold.gov.uk/localplan/text/text08.htm. 7 November 2011. dead.
  5. Web site: 12 tiny villages which are drowning in tourists. The Daily Telegraph. 16 July 2018. 16 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180716224125/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/galleries/villages-where-tourists-outnumber-locals/Bourton/. live.
  6. Web site: St Lawrence Church. British Listed Buildings. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717012949/https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101170801-church-of-st-lawrence-bourton-on-the-water. live.
  7. Web site: Ward population 2011. 22 March 2015. 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104359/http://www.ukcensusdata.com/bourton-on-the-water-e05004312#sthash.YGEgu92y.dpbs. live.
  8. Web site: BOURTON-ON-THE-WATER. City Population. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717013116/https://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-southwestengland.php?cityid=E34002572. live.
  9. Web site: Parishes: Bourton-on-the-Water. C. R. Elrington. Institute of Historical Research. 1965. A History of the County of Gloucester:volume 6. 2 July 2011. 26 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121026091601/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66425. live.
  10. Web site: Roman Wickhamford. The Badsey Society. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717013155/https://www.badseysociety.uk/village-life/roman-wickhamford. live.
  11. Web site: Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire. Britain Express. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717013240/https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=1724. live.
  12. Web site: Conservation Area Statement. Cotswold District Council, June 2002. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717013202/https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/media/451014/Conservation-area-statement-Bourton.pdf. live.
  13. Book: Westlake, Ray. The Territorials : 1908–1914 : a guide for military and family historians. 2011. 9781848843608 . Pen & Sword. Barnsley, South Yorkshire. 19, 50, and 119. 780443267.
  14. Web site: Cotswold News July 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200823151138/https://cotswold.gloucs.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/CotswoldNews_JUNE_JULY_2014.pdf . 23 August 2020.
  15. Web site: Sunday Times Comprehensive of the Year . https://web.archive.org/web/20160817020641/http://www.cotswold-homes.com/news/places/cotswold-school-awarded-comprehensive-school-of-the-year/ . 17 August 2016.
  16. Web site: 11 January 2012 . Roman cemetery found under school field . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193529/http://www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/roman-cemetery-found-under-school-field/ . 29 October 2013.
  17. Web site: O Seaneachain . Diarmuid . April 2013 . New Maths Block, Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210102200455/https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/9128-New-Maths-Block-Cotswold-School-PXA-12150-complete.pdf . 2 January 2021.
  18. Web site: Tourist Information Guide. Cotswolds Info. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717041616/https://www.cotswolds.info/places/bourton-on-the-water.shtml. live.
  19. Web site: The Most Sustainable Principal Settlements: Bourton-on-the-Water. Cotswold District Council. 2001. Cotswold Local Plan. 2 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111107050134/http://www.localplan.cotswold.gov.uk/localplan/text/text08.htm. 7 November 2011. dead.
  20. Web site: Listed Buildings. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717041608/https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/bourton-on-the-water-cotswold-gloucestershire#.W00EVdVKipo. live.
    - Web site: Listed Buildings . English Heritage . 16 July 2018 . 17 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180717014701/https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/your-home/owning-historic-property/listed-building/ . live .
  21. Web site: Things to Do in Bourton-on-the-Water. TripAdvisor. 16 July 2018. 17 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717013115/https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractions-g186283-Activities-Bourton_on_the_Water_Cotswolds_England.html. live.
  22. http://www.theoldnewinn.co.uk/village.htm The Old New Inn website: the Model Village
  23. Web site: Model Village, Model Village, Model Village, The Old New Inn, Bourton-on-The-Water. Geograph . 8 May 2013 . Marshall . Brian Robert .
  24. News: Bourton-on-the-Water model village gets Grade II listed status. . 19 April 2013 . Davies . Caroline .
  25. https://www.hellenicleague.co.uk/club-details/1-west/bourton/bourton.html Bourton Rovers
  26. Web site: Freeview Light on the Icomb Hill (Gloucestershire, England) transmitter. May 2004 .
  27. Web site: Cotswolds Radio . 6 January 2024.
  28. Web site: Cotswold Journal. 19 March 2014. British Papers. 6 January 2024.
  29. News: Wilfrid Hyde-White; English Actor of Stage, Films, TV. Burt A. Folkart. 7 May 1991. Los Angeles Times. 27 August 2020. 9 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151209143002/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-05-07/news/mn-1335_1_wilfrid-hyde-white. live.
  30. Web site: Dudley G Johnson VC. VC Online. 18 January 2020. 1 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200901105731/http://www.vconline.org.uk/dudley-g-johnson-vc/4587196435. live.
  31. Web site: Olympian Sharon Laws from Bourton enjoying her farewell season with Podium Ambition . Hall . Danny . 23 June 2016 . . 3 September 2016 . 17 September 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160917012920/http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/14572414.CYCLING__Olympian_Sharon_Laws_from_Bourton_enjoying_her_farewell_season_with_Podium_Ambition/ . live .
  32. Ransford, Edwin . 3 . 75 .

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