IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Chosen Hill, GLOUCESTER, GL3 2LG

Church Cottage and Graveyard near Churchdown.

Gravestones, not one standing upright, in the churchyard of St Bartholomew's church on Churchdown Hill.

Leaning gravestones a little to the south of Image

Adjacent to St Bartholomew's churchyard.

A small sundial in the graveyard of St Bartholomew's.

Chosen Hill is such a prominent hill that it inevitably has a long history. Iron Age hill fortification evidence is strong; the church probably started out as a wooden Anglo-Saxon affair but was replaced by this stone version in about 1175 AD. The south wall of St Bartholomew's church was rebuilt in the thirteenth century. It includes these occasional voussoirs (wedges) in it, which are Norman.

From various sources it appears that parts of the church including the nave date back to Norman times. The tower was built in the first year of the 17th century. The church has an active bell-ringing team plainly proud of their peal. The youngest of their bells is 76 years of age whilst the oldest is rather older having been cast in 1678. As is often the case with old churches ancient examples of graffiti can be found within it. The church is sometimes illuminated at night.

"The ancient church of St.Bartholomew, Churchdown, Gloucestershire, was for centuries the parish church of the villages of Churchdown and Hucclecote ... It stands on Chosen Hill which is over 511 feet above sea level ...(and) is positioned on a mound, at least partly man-made, within the enclosing banks of an Iron Age Camp and it has been almost certainly a site of ritual or military significance over a very long period of time, dating perhaps from the Bronze Age or even earlier. "The present church is Norman in foundation, with the nave being the main surviving part from this era, and Roger du Pont L'Eveque, Archbishop of York from 1154 to 1181, is thought to have been the builder in about 1175 AD." This and more history and detail is at http://www.standrewschurchdown.org.uk/history.htm and full architectural details are at http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=126555 "At the end of the 19th century it was felt that the old church of St.Bartholomew's on Chosen Hill, inaccessible as it was in bad weather and difficulty of access for the elderly or infirm, could no longer adequately serve the needs of the parish's growing population." http://www.standrewschurchdown.org.uk/history.htm Hence St. Andrew's was built further down the hill.

A church on top of a substantial hill.