Inglesham is a small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the Borough of Swindon,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England, notable for the Grade-I listed St John the Baptist Church. The village is just off the

A361 road The A361 is an A class road in southern England, which at is the longest three-digit A road in the UK. History When first designated in 1922, the A361 ran from Taunton (Somerset) to Banbury (Oxfordshire). It was later extended west through ...

about south-west of

Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that contin ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. Most of the population lives in the hamlet of Upper Inglesham, which is on the main road about south of the village. The parish forms the extreme north-east corner of the Borough of Swindon and County of Wiltshire, and is bounded to the west and north by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

(which also forms the county boundary with Gloucestershire), and to the east by the county boundary with Oxfordshire ( Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes). The River Cole forms part of the eastern boundary. As the parish's population is small it has a

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

instead of a parish council. The Round House, Inglesham is often used by boaters as a landmark to denote the westernmost point most

cabin cruiser A cabin cruiser is a type of power boat that provides accommodation for its crew and passengers inside the structure of the craft. A cabin cruiser usually ranges in size from in length, with larger pleasure craft usually considered yachts. Man ...

s and narrowboats can travel along the Thames, as beyond Inglesham the river becomes too clogged with vegetation and too shallow to effectively navigate.

Parish church

The 13th-century Church of England parish church of

St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

was restored in 1888–89 and is listed Grade I. It is now redundant and is cared for by the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. In the churchyard is a Grade II* listed 15th-century stone cross. The base and shaft survive but the cross itself has been lost. Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Cistercian Beaulieu Abbey held the manor and benefice.

Secular history

Until 1844 Inglesham was a

detached part An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Berkshire. It was transferred to Wiltshire by the

Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. ...

. Church Farmhouse is a former

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

that was rebuilt in the 17th centuryGarside, 2005, page 3 and is listed Grade II*. Several other houses in the parish are listed Grade II, as are the late 18th-century Halfpenny Bridge that carries the A361 across the Thames into Lechlade, and a

Cotswold stone The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

barn at College Farm built in about 1800. Inglesham lock is at the eastern end of the

Thames and Severn Canal The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south-west of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a cargo route from Bristol and the Midlands to London, linking England's two largest rivers for bett ...

and the Cotswold Canals Trust is currently raising funds to restore its structure and part of the canal. The

Round House Roundhouse may refer to: Architecture and buildings Types * Roundhouse (dwelling), a kind of house with circular walls, prehistoric and modern, all over the world ** Atlantic roundhouse, an Iron Age stone building found in the northern and weste ...

was the

lock keeper A lock keeper, lock tender, or lock operator looks after a canal or river lock, operating it and if necessary maintaining it or organizing its maintenance. Traditionally, lock keepers lived on-site, often in small purpose-built cottages. A lock ke ...

's cottage.

References

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* * * {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire Borough of Swindon

Parish church

Secular history

See also

References

External links

Sources