Salvation Data 0800 075 0720

Wotton-under-Edge
Wotton-under-Edge  Wotton-under-Edge shown within Gloucestershire
Population	5,400 (2001 Census estimate)
OS grid reference	ST758933
District	Stroud
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE
Postcode district	GL12
Dialling code	01453
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	Great Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Cotswold
List of places: UK • England • Gloucestershire

Wotton-under-Edge

The first recorded appearance of the town as such is to be found in a Saxon Royal Charter of King Edmund of Wessex, who in A.D.940 leased four hides of land in Wudetun to the theign Edrick. The name Wudetun means the enclosure, homestead or village (tun) in or near the wood (wude). The "Edge" refers to the limestone escarpment of the Cotswold Edge which includes the hills of Wotton Hill and Tor Hill that flank the town^[1]

The Mercian Church of St. Mary was established around 940 AD.^{[citation needed]}

Kingswood Abbey was founded in 1139^[2] but all that remains is a 16th century Cistercian gatehouse. Nearby historical buildings include the Tudor houses of Newark Park and Owlpen Manor. The medieval former public house The Ancient Ram Inn dates back to 1145.^[3]

St. Mary the Virgin was consecrated in 1283, remaining the oldest and largest church in the town.

The Katharine Lady Berkeley's Grammar School was established in 1384 and is now a comprehensive named Katharine Lady Berkeley's School although the present modern building is a little outside of the town on the way to the village of Kingswood.

Overlooking the town on the top of Wotton Hill are a collection of trees planted in the 19th century to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. These are situated on the site that housed one of the early warning beacons used to warn England of the approach of the Spanish Armada in 1588.^{[citation needed]}

A map of Wotton-under-Edge from 1946

New Mills, founded in 1810, prospered by supplying both sides in the Napoleonic wars but after a century of decline the mill was near to closing in 1981 when it was acquired by Renishaw plc.^[4]

The town's corporation status was abolished in 1886 following the Municipal Corporations Act of 1883

The Wotton-under-Edge BT Tower formed part of the microwave communication network.

In the 1950s^{[citation needed]} local people built the town swimming pool with volunteers helping to run it. Subsequently the pool has had heating and roofing installed with the help of local groups.^[5].

In 2002, following the closure of the local cinema, a group of volunteers got together and raised funds for a refurbishment to become one of the first^{[citation needed]} digital cinemas in the UK. It re-opened in 2005 as a 100 seat modern facility inside an old stable yard, once part of the Crown Inn which closed in 1911. Films were first shown in the old Banqueting Hall of the Inn and moved to the stable yard some years later, due to the popularity of films. The Wotton Electric Picture House (the original name) is now a thriving venue^[6] run by volunteers and showing more films each week than almost any other single screen cinema in the UK^{[citation needed]}.

Ian Alexander - Professional footballer

John Biddle - Unitarian

Charles Blagden - Physician

U.A. Fanthorpe - Poet

Sir Matthew Hale - Lord Chief Justice (1671-1676).

Matthew Blagden Hale - Bishop

Mark Horton - Archaeologist

Catherine Johnson - Playwright

Richard Knill - Missionary

Sir Isaac Pitman - Creator of Pitman Shorthand. Wotton's Pitman Place is named after him.

Mark Porter - Doctor

Sean Rigg - English footballer

E.S. Lindley. Wotton under Edge: Men and Affairs of a Cotswold Wool Town. Published by Museum Press, 1962

Simon Herrick. Under the Hill. (1979). ISBN 0904387364