Windrush, Gloucestershire

Windrush is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, approximately five miles southeast of Northleach. It lies in the Cotswolds on the River Windrush, from which it derives its name. The village name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Wenric.^[1]

Windrush
Windrush church
Windrush Location within Gloucestershire
District	Cotswold
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHELTENHAM
Postcode district	OX18
Dialling code	01451
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Cotswold
List of places UK England Gloucestershire 51.804°N 1.735°W / 51.804; -1.735

History

The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) says:

WINDRUSH, a parish in the lower division of Slaughter hundred, county Gloucester, 5 miles S.E. of Northleach. The village is situated on the Windrush rivulet, which rises among the Cotswold hills, and joins the Thames near Standlake. There is a valuable quarry of white oolite building stone belonging to Lord Sherborne. The living is a vicarage, united to that of Sherborne in 1776. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, contains some old tombs. There are day and Sunday schools, chiefly supported by Lord Sherborne. The charities produce about £24 per annum, besides 10 acres of poor's land.^[2]

During the Second World War, the parish hosted RAF Windrush, a Royal Air Force Relief Landing Ground. Although it closed for military purposes in 1945, the airfield remains in use for light aircraft and still has its control tower.^[3]

Governance

Windrush forms part of the Cotswold District, which together with Gloucestershire County Council provides local government services. It is part of the parliamentary constituency of Cotswold, represented in parliament by the Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.

Notable people

Thomas Keble, the younger brother of John Keble and also a notable Church of England clergyman, had charge of the parish of Windrush in the early 19th century.^[4]

Notes

1. Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.523.
2. The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
3. Windrush at wartimememories.co.uk, accessed 25 November 3013
4. "Keble, Thomas" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.