Farmcote is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

in the

Cotswolds 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 Ju ...

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 ...

, England. It lies east of the town of

Winchcombe Winchcombe () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the county of Gloucestershire, England, it is 6 miles north-east of Cheltenham. The population was recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 census and estimated at 5,347 i ...

and west of

Temple Guiting Temple Guiting is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, in Gloucestershire, England. The civil parish includes the smaller settlements of Barton, Farmcote, Ford and Kineton. In 2011 the parish had a population of 463. The place was ...

. Farmcote is a small place, a few houses along a dead end lane, but has a long history. Beckbury Camp, half a mile north of the hamlet, is an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

univallate hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

. St Faith's chapel in the hamlet dates back to

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

times. Farmcote was mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, in the form ''Fernecote''. The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name o ...

is derived from the Old English ''fearn'' "fern" and ''cot'' "cottage", and so means "fern cottage(s)". In the Middle Ages

Hailes Abbey Hailes Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey, in the small village of Hailes, Gloucestershire, Hailes, two miles northeast of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. It was founded in 1246 as a daughter establishment of Beaulieu Abbey. The abbey was ...

held land here, and built Farmcote Grange, the remains of which are still visible. In 1314 Stephen de Stratford was granted lordship of Farmcote Manor, and his

Stratford family The House of Stratford () is a British aristocratic family, originating in Stratford-on-Avon between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The family has produced multiple titles, including Earl of Aldborough, Viscount Amiens, Baron Balti ...

descendants held the manor until the estate was sold in 1756. Following the

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

of Hailes Abbey in 1539 the Farmcote Stratfords occupied Great Farmcote Manor House. The manor house, still bearing the

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

of the Stratford family, is now a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. Farmcote became a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the com ...

of the parish of

Guiting Power Guiting Power is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, in Gloucestershire, England. The population of the parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 296. Guiting Power stands on the slopes of a small valley formed by a trib ...

(also known as Lower Guiting), but in 1883 was transferred to the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

Pinnock and Hyde Pinnock and Hyde was a township and civil parish in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It lies east of the town of Winchcombe. Pinnock was a medieval village, later deserted, and is now a single farm. Hyde consists of a farm and a few h ...

. The civil parish of Pinnock and Hyde was abolished in 1935 and merged with the civil parish of Temple Guiting.

References

External links

{{commonscat inline, Farmcote, Gloucestershire
The Stratfords by Gerald H. Stratford. Chapter 6. Farmcote, The House, Manor, and Chapel
Hamlets in Gloucestershire Temple Guiting