Oddington, Gloucestershire

Lower Oddington and Upper Oddington are a pair of adjoining villages in the English county of Gloucestershire. Together they form the civil parish of Oddington. In 2010 the parish had an estimated population of 477,[1] decreasing at the 2011 census to 417.[2]

Oddington
Lower Oddington
Oddington is located in Gloucestershire
Oddington
Oddington
Location within Gloucestershire
Population417 (2011 Census)
Civil parish
  • Oddington
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMoreton-in-Marsh
Postcode districtGL56
PoliceGloucestershire
FireGloucestershire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire
51°55′45″N 1°40′32″W / 51.929126°N 1.675594°W / 51.929126; -1.675594

The two villages are located to the south of the A436 road two miles east of the town of Stow-on-the-Wold.[3]

History

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In 1780 the Oddington estate, at one time the seat of the Chamberlayne family, was left to Elizabeth Ann Wilson by Crayle Crayle. Elizabeth, who was married to Charles Loraine Smith in 1784, sold this inheritance to Sir John Reade who extended the land by purchasing other lots.[4] The 17th-century Oddington House was remodelled by Lady Reade c.1810 to form a large three storey L-shaped house but the East wing was demolished in a later restoration. It is a grade II* listed building, having been added to the register on 25 August 1960.[5]

St. Nicholas Church

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St Nicholas church

The Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas is a Grade I listed building, having been added to the register on 25 August 1960.[6] The church was originally a cell of St Peter’s Benedictine abbey in Gloucester. It was ceded in 1157 to the Diocese of York and exchanged with the Crown in 1547. The church is built of dressed limestone and has a stone slate roof. Part of the nave is twelfth-century and part thirteenth-century. The chancel is fifteenth-century and the tower at the east end is thirteenth-century. The Norman south aisle probably represents the original nave. The church was all but abandoned among its fields in 1852, and has been little altered since.

The north wall of the nave has a medieval wall paintings of the Doom, dating to the early fifteenth century. These were whitewashed over in the English Reformation and conserved by Eve Baker from 1969. Scenes depicted include the Seven Acts of Mercy and the Seven Deadly Sins.[7][8]

Notable residents

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  • Carol Mather (1919-2006), 20th Century soldier and politician.

References

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  1. ^ Parish Population Estimates for Gloucestershire Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine Gloucestershire County Council
  2. ^ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  3. ^ Concise Road Atlas of Britain. AA Publishing. 2016. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7495-7743-8.
  4. ^ 'Parishes: Oddington', A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 6 (1965), pp. 87-98. Date accessed: 7 June 2014
  5. ^ Historic England. "Oddington House (1341130)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  6. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Nicholas (1155273)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  7. ^ Express, Britain. "Oddington, St Nicholas church Doom wall paintings, Gloucestershire". Britain Express. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Medieval Painting of the Doom, Oddington, Gloucestershire". reeddesign.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
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