Lechlade

According to the University of Nottingham’s Survey of English Place-Names,{{cite web |title=Survey of English Place-Names |url= https://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/id/53285ad5b47fc40ab3001b39| website=University of Nottingham |access-date=5 January 2025}} “Lechlade” is usually interpreted as referring to a passage across the River Thames near its confluence with the River Leach, but is more likely to mean “a water-course of the Leach”, i.e. some alternative water-channel of the Leach, such as a mill-stream:

{{blockquote|text=The present course of the R. Leach from north of Lechlade Mill to St John's Bridge may be the channel in question, for a second and now minor water-course runs from the former point to join the Thames 1½ miles further east of St John's Bridge and is in fact the county boundary.}}

A Neolithic cursus was discovered from cropmarks on aerial photographs was identified in 1943.{{PastScape |mname=Lechlade Cursus |mnumber=332220 |accessdate=18 February 2019}} There are several archaeological remains of dwellings from the Iron Age and Roman periods, which have now been scheduled as an ancient monument.{{cite web |title=Lechlade: Ancient and Historical Monuments in the County of Gloucester Iron Age and Romano-British Monuments in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/ancient-glos/pp73-77 |website=British History Online |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |access-date=18 February 2019}}{{NHLE |desc=Iron Age and Romano British settlement remains and associated features, 1km south east of Leaze Farm |num=1011604 |accessdate=18 February 2019}}{{cite journal |last1=Bateman |first1=Clifford |last2=Enright |first2=Dawn |last3=Oakey |first3=Niall |title=Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon Settlements to the rear of Sherborne House, Lechlade: excavations in 1997 |journal=Trans. Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society |date=2003 |volume=121 |pages=23–96 |url=http://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Sherborne_House_Lechlade_200dpi-1.pdf}}{{cite web |title=Lechlade on Thames Town History |url=http://www.fairfordu3a.org.uk/History/Lechlade.html |publisher=Fairford U3A |access-date=18 February 2019}}

William the Conqueror gave the manor of Lechlade to Henry de Ferrers, who had accompanied him to England in 1066, and the manor is mentioned in the Domesday Book.{{cite web|title=Open Domesday: Lechlade|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/SU2199/lechlade/|access-date=17 November 2022}} A charter granting market to the town was passed in 1210.{{cite web |title=Town History |url=https://lechladeonthames.co.uk/visiting-lechlade/town-history/ |publisher=Lechlade on Thames |access-date=18 February 2019}} Lechlade Priory was founded in the early 13th century and lasted until 1472.{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40298&strquery=Lechlade |title=43. The Hospital of St John the Baptist, Lechlade |editor-first=William|editor-last=Page |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1907 |work=A History of the County of Gloucester|volume=2 |access-date=15 June 2014 |pages=125–126}} The town developed as a trading centre linked by the river, canal, roads and railway. The town's railway station opened in 1873 and closed in 1962. The development of RAF Fairford and RAF Brize Norton after World War II increased local employment and the need for housing.

Lechlade falls in the Kempsford–Lechlade electoral ward. This ward stretches from Lechlade in the east to Kempsford in the west. The total population of this ward taken from the 2011 census was 3,973.{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/kempsford-lechlade-e05004326#sthash.JPh6t7gM.dpbs|title=Kempsford-Lechlade ward 2011|access-date=24 March 2015}}

Although in Gloucestershire, and traditionally in the hundred of Brightwells Barrow, from 1894 till 1935 the town was administered as part of Faringdon Rural District in Berkshire. From 1935 till 1974 it was part of Cirencester Rural District in Gloucestershire, and since 1974 it has been a part of Cotswold District.{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10382130|website=A Vision of Britain|title=Lechlade AP/CP|publisher= University of Portsmouth|access-date=18 February 2019}}

The town is part of the South Cotswolds UK Parliament constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, since its creation in July 2024, by Roz Savage, a Liberal Democrat.{{cite web|title=Dr Roz Savage|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/5352/contact |website=parliament.uk|access-date=10 January 2024}}

The geology of the area consists of Alluvium, Oxford Clay and River Gravels.{{cite web |title=The Riverside Marina |date=28 October 2013 |url=http://legacy-reports.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/content/uploads/2014/07/0944-The-Riverside-Marina-Lechlade-WB001242-1-illustration.pdf |publisher=Cotswold Archaeology |access-date=18 February 2019}} The land is generally fairly flat and low lying.{{cite web |title=The Character Types and Areas of the Cotswold Water Park |url=http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/5.3-river-basin-clay-vale.pdf |publisher=Wiltshire Council |access-date=18 February 2019}} It is surrounded by lakes created from disused gravel extraction sites, forming parts of the Cotswold Water Park and several have now been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and nature reserves. The Edward Richardson & Phyllis Amey nature reserve consists of marsh and reedbeds which attract dragonflies and birds such as grey heron and great crested grebe.{{cite web |title=Edward Richardson & Phyllis Amey |url=https://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/nature-reserves/edward-richardson-phyllis-amey |publisher=Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust |access-date=18 February 2019}} At Roundhouse Lake common visitors are Eurasian wigeon, red-crested pochard, common goldeneye, common pochard and tufted duck.{{cite web |title=Roundhouse Lake |url=https://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/nature-reserves/roundhouse-lake |publisher=Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust |access-date=18 February 2019}}

File:The Church of St Lawrence, Lechlade - geograph.org.uk - 333660.jpg

Lechlade is the highest town to which the River Thames is navigable by relatively large craft including narrowboats. It is possible to travel by river or walk the Thames Path from here to London. In the early eighteenth century goods unloaded in Bristol were transported to Gloucester, carried overland to Lechlade and sent down the Thames to London.Privateer: Life aboard a British Privateer In the time of Queen Anne 1708–1711 – Captain Woodes Rogers. Chapter 2, Note 1 The Halfpenny Bridge is therefore the usual start for a water based Thames meander – the term for a long-distance journey down the Thames. The Thames Path also continues upstream to the traditional source of the Thames at Thames Head. The river is actually navigable for a short distance further upstream, near the village of Inglesham, where the Thames and Severn Canal joins the River Thames. Rowing boats can reach even further upstream, to Cricklade. Lechlade is a popular resort for Thames boating. Boats of different types can be hired from here, from rowing boats to river cruisers.{{cite web |title=Cotswold Boat & GLS Marine |url=https://www.cotswoldboat.co.uk/ |publisher=Cotswold Boat Hire |access-date=27 October 2019}}{{cite web |title=Thames Canoe Hire at Cotswold Canoe Hire |url=https://www.cotswoldcanoehire.co.uk/ |publisher=Cotswold Canoe Hire |access-date=27 October 2019}}

The highest lock on the Thames is St John's Lock, at Lechlade, overlooked by a statue of Old Father Thames. There is a view from St John's Bridge across the lock and the meadows to the spire of St Lawrence's parish church. The River Leach flows into the Thames at St John's Bridge. The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley composed A Summer Evening Churchyard here{{cite book |last1=Garrett |first1=M. |title=The Palgrave Literary Dictionary of Shelley |date=2013 |publisher=Palgrave |isbn=978-1-137-32851-9 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1057/9781137328519_1 |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057%2F9781137328519_1 |access-date=2020-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180603122917/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057%2F9781137328519_1 |archive-date=2018-06-03 |url-status=live }} which includes the lines

Clothing in hues of heaven thy dim and distant spire

Around whose lessening and invisible height

Gather among the stars the clouds of night

File:Lechlade, post office and postbox No.s GL7 1 and GL7 80 - geograph.org.uk - 527695.jpg

The town is a popular venue for tourism and river-based activities.{{cite web |title=Neighbourhood Plan |url=https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/media/1460552/Lechlade-Neighbourhood-Plan.pdf |publisher=Cotswold Council |access-date=24 February 2019}}

There are several pubs, some antique shops, a convenience store, food outlets, a garden centre and a Christmas shop.

Lechlade has hosted a music festival since 2011.[http://www.lechladefestival.co.uk Lechlade Music Festival], retrieved 26 May 2015 In 2015 the festival's headline act was Status Quo.{{cite news |last1=Murray |first1=Alex |title=Lechlade Festival: Town gets down with The Quo |url=https://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/music/contemporary/reviews/12977999.lechlade-festival-town-gets-down-with-the-quo/ |access-date=18 February 2019 |work=Oxford Times |date=28 May 2015}} The festival was cancelled in 2023 due to poor weather causing the ground to be too soft, which resulted in the Lechlade Festival company going into liquidation. {{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-65581795 | title=Lechlade Festival cancelled due to water logged ground | work=BBC News | date=13 May 2023 }}

Lechlade has a number of youth activities, most of them centred on the Memorial Hall and the adjacent Lechlade Pavilion Hall. Behind the Town Hall are large playing fields, an astro turf pitch, a skate park and a playground.{{cite web |title=New skate park opens in Lechlade |date=13 April 2018 |url=https://www.soglos.com/sport-outdoor/44140/New-skate-park-opens-in-Lechlade |publisher=So Glos |access-date=24 February 2019}} The memorial hall was rebuilt after a fire in 2016.{{cite web |title=Lechlade Memorial Hall |url=https://www.book-online.co.uk/lechlade |publisher=Lechlade Memorial Hall |access-date=24 February 2019}}

1970 Squadron Air Training Corps was founded in the town in 1997. The squadron's membership consisted of young people from Lechlade and neighbouring towns such as Fairford and Faringdon. The unit has disbanded and all cadets transferred, many attending the group in Highworth. The 1st Lechlade Scout Group can trace its origins back to 1915 when Robert Baden-Powell inspected Scouts from Lechlade and the surrounding area.

Lechlade Manor, north east of the town centre, was built in a Jacobean style in 1872.{{NHLE |desc=Convent of St. Clotilde |num=1303277 |accessdate=18 February 2019}} During World War II it became the Catholic Convent of St Clotilde.{{cite web |title=St Clotilde's Convent, Lechlade |url=https://btsarnia.org/2016/06/22/st-clotildes-convent-lechlade/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121021011/https://btsarnia.org/2016/06/22/st-clotildes-convent-lechlade/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=21 January 2017 |publisher=btsarnia |access-date=18 February 2019}}

File:Lechlade station, 1950 (geograph 5190698).jpg

The main roads through the town are busy, as the town is at the crossroads of the A417 and A361. Where the A361 enters the town from the south it crosses the River Thames on Halfpenny Bridge. Another tributary of the Thames, the River Coln, joins the Thames at the Inglesham Round House.

The town's railway station opened in 1873 and closed in 1962.{{cite web |title=Lechlade Pages 106-121 A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 7. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol7/pp106-121 |website=British History Online |publisher=Victoria County History |access-date=27 October 2019}}

File:St Lawrence, Lechlade - geograph.org.uk - 1690239.jpg

The Church of England parish church of St Lawrence is a Grade I listed building.{{NHLE |desc=Church of St Lawrence |num=1155874 |accessdate=18 February 2019}} It replaced an earlier structure in the 15th century (probably around 1470–1476David Verey, Cotswold Churches (B.T.Batsford Ltd, 1976), at page 107), though the nave roof and clerestory, the north porch, and the tower and spire may have been added in the early 16th century. A west gallery for singers was installed in 1740 and there were further internal additions in the 1880s.[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol7/pp106-121#h3-0009 Lechlade], in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 7, ed. N. M. Herbert (Oxford, 1981), pp. 106-121. British History Online [accessed 15 March 2018]. The church contains a Monumental brass of John Twynyho (died 1485), set into his ledger stone on floor of north aisle. He, and his wife Agnes, acquired the manor of "Hallecourte" in Lechlade.C.T. Flower, ed., Calendar of the Close Rolls, Edward IV, Vol. 1, 1461–1468 (London: HMSO, 1949), 100, quoted in [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/pn/p20642.htm#Fp20642N1] This may have been the same property as "Butler's Court", a 4-yardland estate which in 1304 had been granted by John de Bellew to John Butler. John Twynyho of Cirencester was lord of Butler's Court in 1479.'Lechlade', in History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 7, ed. N. M. Herbert (Oxford, 1981), pp. 106-121

There is a Baptist Church on Sherborne Street which was built in 1817.{{cite web |title=Lechlade Baptist Church, Lechlade |url=http://churchdb.gukutils.org.uk/GLS1250.php |publisher=Place of Worship Database |access-date=18 February 2019}}{{NHLE |desc=Baptist Church |num=1089377 |accessdate=18 February 2019}}

• Reginald Arkell (1881–1959) was born in Lechlade. He went on to train as a journalist and then became a script writer and comic novelist who wrote many musical plays for the London theatre.{{cite web |title=Reginald Arkell |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/430374.Reginald_Arkell |publisher=Good Reads |access-date=24 February 2019}}
• Thomas Prence (1599–1673), emigrated to America in 1621 and was a co-founder of Eastham, Massachusetts, a political leader in both the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies, and governor of Plymouth, Massachusetts (1634, 1638, and 1657–1673).A genealogical profile of Thomas Prence, (pub. Plimoth Plantation and New England Historic Genealogical Society accessed 23 March 2013 [http://www.plimoth.org/media/pdf/prence_thomas.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101181422/http://www.plimoth.org/media/pdf/prence_thomas.pdf|date=1 November 2012}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Lechlade on Thames}}

• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/image_galleries/lechlade_gallery.shtml Lechlade in pictures]
• [http://www.rootsweb.com/~engcots/LechladePhotos.html Images of the church of St Lawrence]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060830155017/http://www.stlawrencelechlade.org.uk/index.html St Lawrence Church Website]

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Category:Populated places on the River Thames

Category:Towns in Gloucestershire

Category:Civil parishes in Gloucestershire

Category:Cotswold District