JFM Photography

The shallow north porch of St. Edwards Church, a medieval-built Church of England parish church, serving Stow-on-the-Wold ('Stow'), Gloucestershire, is from the 17th century masks a 13th-century molding on the north door, which is framed by yew trees. The trees are estimated to be 300 years old. It is suggested that JRR Tolkien who frequently stayed in Stow used the North Door as the bases for his visualization for the “Doors of Durin or the Westgate of Moria to Middle Earth” in his book the “The Fellowship of the Ring”. You decide if it makes sense or not.
The door was replaced in 1923 as a memorial for George Edward Hookham who died at age 31. The information about this person appears above the door on the inside. It is as follows:

"To the glory of God. These doors presented by Mark Hookham are in memory of his son George Edward Hookham late Capt. Royal Gloucester. Hussars, who died 6th of April 1923, Aged 31 years, having served in the Great War in Palestine and Egypt."

Fleece Alley is one of the many alleyways known as "tures" run from Back Walls St. on the outside edge of Stow between the buildings of Stow into the market square on Sheep Street. These once were used in the herding of sheep into the square to be sold. It also made it easy to count the sheep as they are herded through the 5 foot wide alleys with 8 foot high limestone walls.

Stow-on-the-Wold ('Stow'), Gloucestershire. UK. It is situated on top of an 800 ft (244 m) hill, at the convergence of a number of major roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429) Roman Road. The town was founded as a planned market place by Norman lords to take advantage of trade on the converging roads. Fairs have been held by royal charter since 1330 and an annual horse (Gypsy)fair is still held on the edge of the town. As the fairs grew in fame and importance the town grew more prosperous. Traders who once only dealt in livestock, now dealt in many handmade goods, and the wool trade always stayed a large part of the trade. Reportedly (writer Daniel DeFoe), 20,000 sheep changed hands at one 19th century fair. 

The Fleece Alley /"tures" (originally “chures”) run from Back Walls St. on the outside edge of Stow between the buildings of Stow  (140 Sheep Street) into the market square on Sheep Street.  Ancestors owned the 137 and 140 Sheep St. houses from the 1841 and 1851 census. The numbering system disappeared some time in the past and the limestone buildings where given names by the owners. The most abundant building material in the Cotswold’s is the Jurassic Limestone.

Is it really # 6 Sheep St., Stow-on-the-Wold UK. ? The numbering system disappeared some time in the past and the limestone buildings where given names by the owners. The most abundant building material in the Cotswold’s is the Jurassic Limestone with fossil shells deposited just a foot under the topsoil.  A prehistoric sea covered this area. All the buildings in Stow-on-the-Wold are built with this limestone.

The Optician is at the “top end of Sheep Street near the junction with the Fosse Way/Roman Road/ A429/Celtic Ditch”. The Fosse Way was originally a Roman defensive structure 230 miles long constructed by the 1st Legion between 44 to 46 AD. Stow-on-the-Wold, UK. This building was constructed with the Jurassic Bedrock limestone quarried from this golden coloured Cotswold stone.

Church Street is lined with shops and leads to the main entrance of St. Edwards Church, a medieval-built Church of England parish church, serving Stow-on-the-Wold ('Stow'), Gloucestershire, UK.  The buildings around the Stow Market Square is hemmed in by clusters of old houses and Inns arranged in “higgledy-piggledy fashion” to protect against the strong cold winds. It was once the center of the wool industry.

The Stow UK Post Office is at the corner of Church Street and Sheep Street Stow-on-the-Wold ('Stow'), Gloucestershire, UK. Stow-on-the-Wold, originally known as Stow St Edward or Edwardstow after the town’s patron saint lies about 244 metres above sea level and is the highest town in the Cotswolds.

Its exposed location is reflected in the local couplet/ Children’s rhyme: “At Brill on the Hill, The wind blows shrill, The cook no meat can dress; At stow in the Wold The wind blows cold, I know no more than this. Where horses young & old are sold, Where farmers come to spend their gold, Where men are fools & women are bold & many a wicked tale is told” This rhyme can be found in The Mother Goose; Containing All The Melodies The Old Lady Ever Wrote, edited By Dame Goslin (1850). It can also be found in English Folk Rhymes (1892) By G. F. Northall. 

The Stow Drinking Fountain and Horse Trough (British Heritage ID # 126341 Grade 2 Located at 5224 High Street (North end). 1867-8.

The first regular supply of pure water for the town. The structure commemorates this and the generous gift of £2,000 by Squire Joseph Chamberlayne  (Family also build the Stow Lodge Manor) to enable the well to be dug deeper. 1896 Piers Thursby Esq. paid for the current fountain: Gothic, 4 sided with masonry pyramidal roof and poppyhead. Rough label to cusped panel on each face, 2 horse troughs, 2 drinking fountains and a dog bowl. Replaces a horse pond at the junction of High Street and the Fosse Way.  Mr. H Hookham who was "builder of the town" built the beautiful water fountain where the old drinking pond for the horses, had been.  In Sept 1896 it was formally opened.  The engineer of the town helping with the work was a Mr. J Cox of the Elms.  A name that sometimes crops up in relation to the Hookhams and Cliffords of this town.

Sir Jacob Astley sat at the base of this cross-monument when he surrendered in the early morning of 21 March 1646.  The last battle of the English Civil War (1642-1646) took place in Gloucestershire, one mile north of the town of Stow on the Wold. After initial royalist success the superiority of the parliamentary forces, particularly Brereton’s cavalry, soon overwhelmed and routed the royalist forces. Fleeing the field, the royalists fought a running fight back into the streets of Stow where the streets ran red with blood the final action took place, culminating in Astley’s surrender in the market square. The destruction of the last royalist field army at Stow on the Wold dashed the last desperate hopes of the Royalist cause and effectively signaled the end of the Civil War. King Charles 1 surrendered soon afterwards, to the Scottish army at Newark, in May 1646. He was executed in 1646. In the background one can see the Kings Arms Inn, Charles 1 stayed here in 1645 before the Battle of Naseby.

The Bell at Stow is an old English country Inn at the edge of Stow where Park Street joins Oddington Road, Stow-on-the-Wold, GL54 1AJ, Gloucestershire

England, United Kingdom. This is located in the Cotswold’s an area in south central England containing the Cotswold Hills, a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the UK and that is quarried for the golden coloured Cotswold stone. It contains unique features derived from the use of this mineral; the predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, historical towns and stately homes and gardens.

Afternoon ride in Stow-on-the-Wold, GL54 1AJ, Gloucestershire, UK,
heading to the Cotswold Hills grasslands outside of Stow.

Vintage & Paint, 8 Park St, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire GL54 1AQ, UK. This is a quaint little antique and more shop on Park Street in the heart of Stow. They advertise with these old black bicycles around Stow usually with flowers in the basket. 

Mangan & Webb Saddlery, Digbeth Street, Stow On The Wold, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL54 UK. "Digbeth" or "Duck's Bath" street has it’s name because the 21 March 1646 last battle of the English Civil War took place in Gloucestershire, one mile north of the town of Stow on the Wold and moved to the market Square. It was so deadly that it was said ducks could bathe in the pools of blood left in the street. Hence the street was renamed. This is located across from the “Porch House Inn” formerly the “Royalist Hotel” establish 947 AD. This is the oldest establishment in England.

Fresh Yorkshire Milk delivered to your house. In 1913, at the age of 8, Thomas Dunwell Goodall started delivering milk on his way to school in 2 pint milk churns.  This milk was untreated and produced at Fearnville Farm, Oakwood Lane, by his father (also Thomas Dunwell Goodall.) It was delivered by horse and cart, using 3 gallon churns which were ladled into customer's jugs. The tradition continues today.

A pillar-box is a freestanding post box. They are found in the United Kingdom and in most former nations of the British Empire. Mail is deposited in pillar-boxes to be collected by the Royal Mail, An Post or the appropriate postal operator and forwarded to the addressee. The boxes have been in use since 1852, just twelve years after the introduction of the first adhesive postage stamps (Penny Black) and uniform penny post. Mail may also be deposited in lamp boxes or wall boxes that serve the same purpose as pillar-boxes but are attached to a post or set into a wall. According to the Letter Box Study Group, there are more than 150 recognized designs and varieties of pillar-boxes and wall boxes, not all of which have known surviving examples. The red post box is regarded as a British cultural icon. Royal Mail estimates there are over 100,000 post boxes in the United Kingdom.

Parish Priests lodge residence door to St. Edwards Church grounds. The Stow Lodge Hotel picturesque gardens overlook the Stow Market Square. Originally built in the 18th century, for the Chamberlayne family (Also donated the Stow Fountain) whose crest it bears and was used as the parsonage for a large part of the 19th century. The original parsonage, which was under repair in 1840, has been lost; with a plausible reference northeast of the town Centre 'Parson's Corner'. The rectory was built in the early 20th century, away from the town at the southern end of the graveyard.  Four rectors spanned the whole period from 1744 to 1899, and three of them were members of the Hippisley family. The Reverend Robert William Hippisley (1844-1899) lived in it prior to Mr. Mark Hookham (1844-1934). Mr. Hookham, a local businessman and elected warden for 23 years at St. Edwards Church, a medieval-built Church of England parish church, purchased the Manor house and lived in it with his wife Jane and their children (one was Capt. George Hookham) from 1900 to 1911. In 1935 it was sold after his death and converted into the Stow Lodge Hotel. The Hartley family currently owes the Cotswold Stow Lodge Hotel.  

Main entrance to St. Edwards Church is here on Church Street.  St. Edwards Church, is a medieval-built Church of England parish church for Stow

This letterbox was on Park St., Stow On The Wold, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL54 UK.

Rollright Stones 7.8 miles outside Stow in the Cotswold countryside. It consists of 3 main sites standing on the Warwickshire / Oxfordshire border which are thought to date from as early as 3800BC to as late as 1500BC - The King's Men, the King Stone and the Whispering Knights. The King's Men circle is made up of 77 stones in a small 31 metre stone circle of heavily weathered and eroded limestone with possibly an entrance to the north. This is the only circle in this area. It is believed to date from the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age period of 2500-2000BC. There are many legends attached to this site, one local tale claims that it is a king and his army turned to stone by a witch. Sybil Marshall recounts the tale in her book 'English Folk Tales'.

The Stow City graveyard is located south of Back Walls St. beside the Fosse Way. – Roman Rd in Stow. The St. Edwards graveyard around the church was closed in 1855 by the newly formed burial board. The tower of St. Edwards Church is in the background of the Stow city graveyard.  St. Edwards Church is a medieval-built Church of England parish church, serving Stow-on-the-Wold ('Stow'), Gloucestershire. UK. It is a four-stage tower from the 15th century, with corner buttresses to the second stages, two-light super mullioned bell openings, battlements adorned with blank arches, and crocketed corner pinnacles. A projecting rectangular turret on the southwest side houses the stair. The parapet includes pinnacles and a string course with gargoyles. The tower was completed in 1447, is 88 feet (26.8 metres) high and houses the heaviest ring of bells, eight in all, in Gloucestershire.