IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
The Downs, WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE, GL12 8JD

A path covered with pine needles and cones from the woodland.

The inscribed stone above the door reads 'Free School 1684', today it appears to be occupied by a plumbing services company.

This part of the road through Wickwar is controlled by traffic lights. Wheely bins are present.

Originally known as The New Inn until a few decades ago, the Buthay refers to a field not far away where archery was practised (by law in the past!). The pub is the only one left of many in the village and Wickwar was known, not surprisingly, as a brewery venue.

Now selling exclusively the Chinese-owned MG vehicles. Previously the showrooms were offering Daihatsu and Citroen too.

The sign on The Buthay. The same image appears on the reverse side, this time pointing towards the wall.

After a search of www can do no better than quote from http://plantaliscious.janetbruten.co.uk/2011/03/wickwar-late-winter-walk/ "Turning my back on the view my route takes me up to the High Street, and the local pub. Yes, I live in stumbling distance of it! A sign of the times, it now offers free WiFi alongside the locally brewed ales and home cooked food. The pub was recently taken over after a long period of caretaker landlords, and the new owners are very committed to making the pub the centre of village life again. They are running all sorts of activities, including exercise classes and during half term a children’s cinema. We thought we were going to lose the pub altogether, so we are thrilled to have such enthusiastic people in charge of it. The name comes from the nearby Buthay or archery practice ground, where the archery Butts were."

Looking north, the sign of the Red Lion marks then Wickwar Social Club. "The place-name 'Wickwar' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Wichen', meaning 'dairy farm or settlement'. The manor was given to John la Warre by King John and was held by Roger la Warre in 1285, when it was referred to as 'Warre Wyke'. Warre is a Norman family name which gave its name to Wickwar. The village originally lay on the Old Saltway from Droitwich to Chipping Sodbury and Pucklechurch, and was developed in the late 13th century by the de la Warre family with the establishment of a market in 1285. The main street, the present High Street, was laid out around the market place with uniform burgage plots and rear access lanes. Burghers paid an annual fixed rent to the overlord, but they could sell their tenancies much as in the free market today. In addition they often carried on trades and crafts which, together with their property rights, distinguished them from the feudal peasant. Livestock were often kept on the burgage plots behind the house, and this necessitated the rear access lane. The original settlement of Wickwar was located around the church and Poole Court, a 16th-century Manor House demolished in the 19th century, to the north of the village. All that remains of the Manor is its terraced garden, south-west of the church, which formerly stood on the edge of a lake. The Parish Church of the Holy Trinity is set on a small hill and is of 12th-century origin. It was extensively remodelled in the 14th and 15th centuries and was restored c.1881 by W L Bernard. Inside there is an interesting sculpture of St John the Baptist dated 1496, which was originally housed at Poole Court." The above was copied from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickwar

Houses along with Wickwar Social Club on Wickwar's High Street.