Charlton Kings

Coordinates: 51°53′16″N 2°02′29″W / 51.8877°N 2.0413°W / 51.8877; -2.0413

Charlton Kings
Charlton Kings  Charlton Kings shown within Gloucestershire
Population	10,875
OS grid reference	SO9715221074
District	Cheltenham
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHELTENHAM
Postcode district	GL53
Dialling code	01242
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	Great Western
EU Parliament	South West England
List of places: UK • England • Gloucestershire

Charlton Kings is a suburb of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England. The area constitutes a civil parish. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 coming into force on April 1, 1974, it had been an urban district. Its population is just over 10,000.

It is in the heart of the Cotswolds with beautiful surroundings.

History

The name Charlton Kings comes from Anglo-Saxon times, the word Charlton evolved from the term ceorls' tun, a ceorl or churl being the Saxon term for an independent peasant landowner and tun meaning a fenced enclosure with a dwelling. This particular ceorl's tun was established as part of the royal manor and Hundred of Cheltenham, hence the term Kings in the name.^[1]

Early settlement

Evidence of settlement in Charlton Kings as early as the middle Iron Age was found underneath a Roman villa discovered in 1980. There are many other Roman settlements close by such as Wycomb and Whittington and the area of Charlton Kings is well suited to settlement due to the well drained sand and gravel composition of the soil making early settlement much more likely. Much of early Charlton Kings was used for agriculture, tended to by small homesteads. This is evidenced by place names surviving until today. These small homesteads gave way to larger manor houses, for example, Charlton House^[2] which is now the headquarters of the engineering company Spirax Sarco. There is evidence in local place today of the crops previously grown in Charlton Kings, such as Hempcroft (hemp), Flaxley (flax) and Crab End (crab apples). Other crops known to be grown in the area were cherries and grapes. There is no evidence to suggest that Charlton Kings was badly affected by the Black Death and subsequent plagues as other areas of England were.

Transport

Charlton Kings is served by Stagecoach West, the local division of the Stagecoach Group. Stagecoach West provide a regular bus service around Charlton Kings and into Cheltenham. Main roads to London and Oxford (A40), Bath (A46) and Cirencester (A417) all run through Charlton Kings providing good connections, buses from Stagecoach and National Express also serve these destinations with stops in Charlton Kings.

A view looking into Charlton Kings village

Plans for a railway line through Charlton Kings were first drafted in 1872. The Charlton Kings section of the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway line had a troublesome construction mainly due to the clay in the soil, progress was slow, and the line was opened in 1881 with a small station in Charlton Kings. From 1891 the line was also part of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) between Cheltenham and Swindon, a north-south route that went on through Swindon to Andover and the south coast ports. Between 1899 and 1914, the Charlton Kings line had frequent services to Cheltenham, Banbury and Swindon as well as major expresses to destinations such as Manchester, Birmingham and Southampton using the line. Rail traffic along the M&SWJR line greatly increased due to the transportation of men and munitions southwards during World War I and World War II. After the war, the line was used much less. The M&SWJR closed on September 9, 1961 and the Cheltenham to Banbury line closed on October 15, 1962, when the station at Charlton Kings finally shut.

Electric trams were also used in Charlton Kings between 1903 and 1930 when they were replaced by buses.

Schools

• Charlton Kings Infants' School
• Charlton Kings Junior School
• Balcarras School (Comprehensive)
• St. Edward's Junior School (Independent)
• St. Edward's School, Cheltenham (Independent)
• Glenfall Community Primary School
• Holy Apostles C of E Primary School

Churches

Charlton Kings has five churches;

St Mary's church

• Charlton Kings Baptist Church
• Holy Apostles' Church (Church of England)
• Sacred Hearts (Roman Catholic)
• St Mary's Church (Church of England)
• Glenfall Fellowship

St Mary's Church

St Mary's church,^[3] dedicated to Mary in 1190 by William de Vere, Bishop of Hereford, is the oldest church in Charlton Kings. It was built to ease the nearby Cheltenham parish church due to increasing congregation size.

It houses numerous historical artifacts, including an old alms chest used for collecting money to donate to the Third Crusade which may date back to 1190. The church also contains a stained glass window which was donated by Japanese naval officers to the church in 1907 in memory of Robert Podmore. St Mary's church houses one of the oldest royal arms in the country, it was acquired in 1660 to celebrate the restoration of Charles II and restored in 1988 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of George III's visit to Charlton Kings. Robert Burns's granddaughters, Sarah and Annie Burns and his great-granddaughter Margaret Constance Burns Hutchinson were all buried at St Mary's church between 1909 and 1925.^[4]

Holy Apostles Church

Holy Apostles Church is located in a triangular junction between the roads to London and Cirencester. This location for the church was contested early in its development as local people thought that if another church was to be built, it would be better to have it in a location where it could serve more isolated parishioners. The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1866.

Sports and recreation

Local community organisations include:

• 1st Charlton Kings Boy's Brigade
• 1st Charlton Kings Guide Company
• 7th Cheltenham (Charlton Kings) Scout Group
• 125th (Cheltenham) Squadron Air Training Corp^[5]
• Charlton Kings Choral Society^[6]
• Charlton Kings Football Club play their home matches at the Beeches playing field in Charlton Kings.
• Charlton Kings Local History Society
• Falcons AFC http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/falconsafc/

Politics

Charlton Kings is in the Charlton Kings ward of Cheltenham Borough Council, the Charlton Kings division of Gloucestershire County Council and the parliamentary constituency of Cheltenham.

Famous people with a connection to Charlton Kings

• Sydney Dobell, a poet moved to Charlton Kings in 1840 and regarded Charlton Kings as "home above any other place".
• Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate lived in Charlton Kings between 1931 and 1938, and taught at Cheltenham College.
• Adam Lindsay Gordon was baptised at St Mary's Church in 1833.
• James Gill occasionally visits Charlton Kings.
• Jaz Coleman, composer and lead singer of Killing Joke, was born and raised in Charlton Kings.
• Gilbert Biberian, a renowned classical guitarist and composer, currently resides in Charlton Kings.

References

1. ^ Paget, Mary (1988) A History of Charlton Kings ISBN 0-904950-65-4
2. ^ "Charlton House, Charlton Kings". Images of England. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=473953. Retrieved 2008-05-12. 
3. ^ "St Mary's Church, Charlton Kings". Images of England. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=473954. Retrieved 2008-05-12. 
4. ^ http://www.stmarysck.org.uk/history.html The history of St. Mary's church
5. ^ 125th (Cheltenham) Squadron Air Training Corp
6. ^ Charlton Kings Choral Society

Corrinne Wicks is a UK actress from Cheltenham Wicks started her career in television as a casting assistant on such programmes as "Prime Suspect", "Dalziel and Pascoe" and The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, before deciding to switch to an acting career which includes Doctors,Harbour Lights, The Bill, Holby City, and played a barrister in Life on Mars. Wicks also appeared on the special charity "TV Medics" edition of The Weakest Link in December 2001. Wicks joined the regular cast of Emmerdale in November 2010

Bibliography

Transactions of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, vol. 54, 1932, pp.145-165, The Manor of Charlton Kings, later Ashley, by F. B. Welch

External links

• Charlton Kings Infants' School
• Charlton Kings Parish Council
• Holy Apostles' Church
• Sacred Hearts Catholic Church
• St Mary's Church
• Charlton Kings Choral Society
• Balcarras School - BalWeb
• Falcons AFC
• Charlton Kings Scouts
• St Edward's School
• Charlton Kings Parish Council
• Glenfall Community Primary School