Upper Slaughter

The name of the village derives from the Old English word "slohtre" meaning "wet land".[https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Cotswolds/ The Cotswolds]{{cite web |url =https://explorethecotswolds.com/visiting-upper-slaughter-cotswolds/ |title = Things to do in Upper Slaughter, Cotswolds: A local’s guide |date =15 November 2022 |publisher=Explore the Cotswolds |access-date =2 January 2023}}

In the past, some Roman burial mounds have found on the nearby Copse Hill.{{cite web |url = https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/glouces/Upper_Slaughter.htm |title = Upper Slaughter: History, tourist information, and nearby accommodation |publisher=Britain Express |access-date =2 January 2023}} Thus, it is very possible that Upper Slaughter was a settlement up to 2,000 years ago. More certainly, the manor of Upper Slaughter is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086; the Slaughter family acquired it in the late 12th century.{{cite web |url = https://www.pocketwanderings.com/upper-slaughter-cotswolds/ |title = A guide to visiting Upper Slaughter in the Cotswolds |date =3 July 2022 |publisher=Pocket Wanderings |access-date =2 January 2023}} The current building, on the site of an ancient building, was constructed over many years, starting in the Tudor era. Its crypt is estimated to be from the 14th century.[https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/glouces/houses/upper-slaughter-manor.htm Upper Slaughter Manor] Moreover, Upper Slaughter was the site of a Norman adulterine castle, built by supporters of the Empress Matilda during The Anarchy of the 12th century. The remains of the castle are marked by the Castle Mound on the north edge of the village.

The largest business in the village is the Lords of the Manor Hotel. The building dates from 1649 since it separated from the Upper Slaughter Manor and has been a hotel since 1960s, furnished with portraits and antiques belonging to its former owner.{{cite web |title=Lords of the Manor |website=The Daily Telegraph |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628120920/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/gloucestershire/hotels/cotswolds-lords-of-the-manor-hotel/ |archive-date=2023-06-28 |url-status=live |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/gloucestershire/hotels/cotswolds-lords-of-the-manor-hotel/}} Other hotels serving the two Slaughter villages include The Slaughters Country Inn and Lower Slaughter Manor. In 1906, the cottages around the square were reconstructed by architect Sir Edward Lutyens.{{cite web |url = https://www.wheregoesrose.com/upper-slaughter/ |title = 10 Things To Do in Upper Slaughter, a Charming Cotswolds Village |date =4 February 2022 |publisher=Where Goes Rose |access-date =2 January 2023}}

On the night of 4 February 1944 during Operation Steinbock a Luftwaffe bomber dropped 2000 incendiary bombs on Upper Slaughter. Despite some buildings sustaining damage there were no fatalities or injuries. Upper Slaughter is one of the Thankful Villages which lost no men in World War I. Furthermore, the village also lost no men in World War II, making it a Doubly Thankful Village. In the Cotswolds, the villages Little Sodbury and Coln Rogers are the only other villages to share this title.{{cite web |url = https://heritagecalling.com/2018/11/11/an-introduction-to-thankful-villages/ |title = An Introduction to ‘Thankful Villages’ |date =11 November 2018 |publisher=heritage Calling |access-date =2 January 2023}} Noting the contribution of local people to Britain’s war effort, the village hall displays a simple wooden plaque recording the 24 men and one woman in the First World War from Upper Slaughter, all of whom returned. In the Second World War, 36 joined up and 36 came home.{{cite web |url = https://heritagecalling.com/2018/11/11/an-introduction-to-thankful-villages/ |title = An Introduction to ‘Thankful Villages’ |date =11 November 2018 |publisher=heritage Calling |access-date =2 January 2023}}

The River Eye runs through Upper Slaughter,{{cite web |url = https://www.pocketwanderings.com/upper-slaughter-cotswolds/ |title = A guide to visiting Upper Slaughter in the Cotswolds |date =3 July 2022 |publisher=Pocket Wanderings |access-date =2 January 2023}} culminating in the form of a ford.{{cite web |url =https://explorethecotswolds.com/visiting-upper-slaughter-cotswolds/ |title = Things to do in Upper Slaughter, Cotswolds: A local’s guide |date =15 November 2022 |publisher=Explore the Cotswolds |access-date =2 January 2023}} The River Eye is a tributary of the River Windrush and it runs down all the way to neighbouring village Lower Slaughter and then eventually Bourton-on-the-Water. Arguably the main communal area of the village its situated near this brook, which is accompanied by a footbridge. Moreover, a large part of the village is situated at the bottom of Copse Hill.

File:The Schoolhouse, Upper Slaughter.jpg

Places of architectural interest include:

• St Peter's Church is a parish church which assuredly dates back to the 12th century, containing elements of Norman but also Saxon architecture and also memorials dedicated to the Slaughter Family.
• The Upper Slaughter Manor was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 and was owned by nobleman Roger de Lacy for a period before being taken over by the Slaughter family. However, it was revarnished in the Elizabethan Age and also fell into disrepair in the 17th century. Finally, the Manor was restored in the 19th century and today is a private home open to tourists in select weeks.
• Eyford House is located at one end of Upper Slaughter and was voted the nation’s favourite house by County Life magazine in 2011. Although the house was built in the 19th century, it contains 17th century influences. Moreover, it is said that John Milton was inspired to write Paradise Lost on its grounds.{{cite web |url =https://explorethecotswolds.com/visiting-upper-slaughter-cotswolds/ |title = Things to do in Upper Slaughter, Cotswolds: A local’s guide |date =15 November 2022 |publisher=Explore the Cotswolds |access-date =2 January 2023}}
• The Old School House is a former school which was built in the middle of the 19th century and still contains its school bell.
• The Square is adjacent to some medieval almshouses on the north side which are integrated with a few of 17th-century cottages – these were restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the early 20th century.{{cite web |url = https://www.wheregoesrose.com/upper-slaughter/ |title = 10 Things To Do in Upper Slaughter, a Charming Cotswolds Village |date =4 February 2022 |publisher=Where Goes Rose |access-date =2 January 2023}} The Square also boasts a tiny Methodist chapel from 1865.{{cite web |url =https://explorethecotswolds.com/visiting-upper-slaughter-cotswolds/ |title = Things to do in Upper Slaughter, Cotswolds: A local’s guide |date =15 November 2022 |publisher=Explore the Cotswolds |access-date =2 January 2023}}
• Home Farmhouse
• Castle Mound
• Rose Row

• Francis Edward Witts (1783–1854), a diarist, was an English clergyman who was rector of Upper Slaughter and wrote a book called The Diary of a Cotswold Parson.
• George Backhouse Witts (1846–1912), a civil engineer and archaeologist, was born in Winchcombe and lived in Upper Slaughter as a child owing to his father’s position as rector there. He was the grandson of diarist Francis Edward Witts.
• Guy Berryman (b. 1978), musician best known as the bassist for the rock band Coldplay.

Upper Slaughter has served as a location for the television shows Father Brown, Our Mutual Friend and Interceptor, as well as the film The Sailor's Return.

File:Upper slaughter manor wide 821.jpg|Upper Slaughter Manor from one side

File:Upper Slaughter Church (5).JPG|Upper Slaughter Church

File:Upper Slaughter (5).JPG|The River Eye

File:Upper Slaughter (7).JPG|

File:Upper Slaughter (6).JPG|The Old School

File:Upper Slaughter (3).JPG|Rose Cottages

File:Upper Slaughter (4).JPG|

File:Road signs, Upper Slaugher, Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the Water 7820.jpg|Directions to other villages

• Lower Slaughter
• Stow-on-the-Wold
• Moreton-in-Marsh
• The Cotswolds
• Gloucestershire

{{commons category-inline|Upper Slaughter}}

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• The Buildings of England Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds, David Verey and Alan Brooks, Penguin Books 1999

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Category:Villages in Gloucestershire

Category:Cotswold District