Rendcomb is a village in the

Cotswold The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the be ...

local authority area of the English county of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. It is about five miles north of

Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...

in the

Churn Valley The Churn Valley is a valley in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England that extends from Seven Springs, Gloucestershire, Seven Springs to Cirencester. It runs along the River Churn and the A435. Settlements along the upper valley i ...

History

Etymology

Rendcomb is thought to get its name from the stream running through the small valley or ''coomb'' which lies south of the village. The stream which flows into the Churn, was called ''Hrindan Broc'' in 852 AD, with the modern name of Rendcomb deriving from ''Hrindan'' + ''coomb''.

History

In 1086 a total of 39 inhabitants of Rendcomb and Eycot was recorded 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as part of Rapsgate Hundred. By 1563, there were 12 households in Rendcomb. The existence of Rendomb Park estate was recorded in 1544, and by the 1670s it consisted of 250 acres. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Rendcomb manor was the property of the earls of Gloucester and owned by their knights including the de la Mare family. In 1503, the manor was sold to Edmund Tame of

Fairford Fairford is a market town in Gloucestershire, England. The town lies in the Cotswold hills on the River Coln, east of Cirencester, west of Lechlade and north of Swindon. Nearby are RAF Fairford and the Cotswold Water Park. History I ...

, son of

John Tame John Tame (c. 1430 - 8 May 1500) of Cirencester and of Beauchamp Court (or "Warwick Court") in the parish of Fairford, both in Gloucestershire, England, was a wealthy wool producer and merchant who re-built the surviving St. Mary's Church, Fairf ...

. Sir Richard Berkley was the owner in 1564 who invited

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

to the manor house in 1592. It later came into the possession the MP Sir

Christopher Guise Sir Christopher Guise, 1st Baronet (died 1670), of Elmore Court in Gloucestershire, England, was a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire in 1654. Origins Guise was the son of William Guise of Elmore by his wife Cecilia Dennis, a daughter of ...

. In 1864, the manor was sold to Sir Francis Goldsmid, MP for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. Soon after 1914, the estate had multiple owners and had essentially disintegrated. St Peter's church dates from the 16th century. It was restored by Frederick R. Kempson in 1895. The diplomat

Thomas Roe Sir Thomas Roe ( 1581 – 6 November 1644) was an English diplomat of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Roe's voyages ranged from Central America to India; as ambassador, he represented England in the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empir ...

was living at Rendcomb in 1608. In 1641, Sir Maurice Berkeley and Richard Berkeley of Rendcomb were fined by Parliament for supporting the Royalist cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, but were spared having their estates seized. About 1773, the lord of the manor, Sir William Guise, improved access from the village to Cirencester by building a new road. Sir

Berkeley Guise Sir Berkeley William Guise, 2nd Baronet (14 July 1775 – 23 July 1834) of Highnam Court in the parish of Churcham, Gloucestershire, was a British landowner and Whig Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. Origins He was th ...

funded a charity school at Rendcomb from 1808. In the mid-1860s, Sir Francis Goldsmid rebuilt the manor-house, Rendcomb Park, and made some improvements to the village, including a new river bridge and funds for the village school which closed in 1930.

Philip Hardwick Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...

was the architect commissioned to undertake the improvements.

Education

A free school was established in 1808, supported by

. In 1857, a National school was built and supported by Sir Goldsmid. It closed in 1930 In 1920

Rendcomb College Rendcomb College is a public school (English private boarding and day school) for pupils aged 3–18, located in the village of Rendcomb five miles north of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England. Rendcomb College was founded in 1920 by ...

, a public school, was founded at Rendcomb Park adjacent to the village.

Notable residents

Frederick Sanger Frederick Sanger (; 13 August 1918 – 19 November 2013) was a British biochemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice. He won the 1958 Chemistry Prize for determining the amino acid sequence of insulin and numerous other prote ...

(1918–2013),

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who won the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

twice, in 1958 and 1980; the fourth person to win two Nobel Prizes * R. N. D. Wilson (1899–1953), Irish poet who taught at Rendcomb College from 1934 to 1944

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Cotswold District

History

Etymology

History

Education

Notable residents

See also

References

External links