Ampney St Peter

Ampney St Peter is a small village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, part of the Cotswold of Gloucestershire, England. According to the 2014 mid year estimate the parish has a population of 75.[1] Locally the town was known as Easington.[2]

Ampney St Peter

The church of St Peter
Ampney St Peter
Location within Gloucestershire
Population75 
OS grid referenceSP080014
Civil parish
  • Ampney St Peter
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Postcode districtGL7 5SH
PoliceGloucestershire
FireGloucestershire
AmbulanceSouth Western

The Ampney Brook flows near the village, which is near to Ampney Crucis and Ampney St Mary, and is about four miles east of Cirencester.[3]

History
The gold-painted post box to celebrate Laura Bechtolsheimer's equestrian team dressage gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Ranbury Ring to the south east of the village is the remains of an Iron Age enclosed settlement or bivallate hillfort covering 4.6 hectares (11 acres),[4] and surrounded by a ditch and rampart.[5] It has been scheduled as an ancient monument.[6] Nearby is a neolithic burial pit.[7]

The Red Lion is an 18th-century Grade II listed public house.[8] It is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.[9]

Religious buildings

The Anglican Church of St. Peter has late Saxon origins. It is Grade II* listed. The fabric of the current building dates from the late 12th or early 13th century and underwent Victorian restoration, and was largely rebuilt, by George Gilbert Scott in 1878.[10] It consists of a four-bay nave and chancel with a three-stage west tower supported by diagonal buttresses.[10]

Inside the church is a Sheela na gig.[11] The font is from the 15th century.[10] The Romanesque archways were moved from their original positions during the Victorian restoration.[12]

In the churchyard is a 14th century cross which is both a listed building and has been scheduled as an ancient monument.[13][14] There is also a chest tomb and gravestones to the local Taylor family.[15]

Notable residents

The village is the hometown of Dressage Olympians Laura Bechtolsheimer and Lara Butler. In August 2012 the village's postbox was painted gold by Royal Mail to signify the gold medal earned by Laura Bechtolsheimer in the 2012 Olympic team dressage.[16]

References
  1. "Local Insight profile for 'Ampney St. Peter CP' area" (PDF). Gloucestershire Parish Profiles. Gloucestershire County Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  2. "Ampney St Peter Gloucestershire". A Vision of Britain. University of Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  3. "Ampney St Peter". Tinstaafl Transcripts. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. "Ranbury Ring". Pastscape. Historic England. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. "Ranbury Ring". The Megalithic Portal. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  6. "Ranbury Ring". Historic England. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  7. Mudd, Andrew (2012). "A Neolithic burial and pit alignment near Ranbury Ring, Ampney St Peter: Excavations in 2008/9" (PDF). Trans. Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 130 (2012), 129–141. 130: 129–141. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. Historic England. "Red Lion, Ampney St Peter (1392432)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  9. Brandwood, Geoff (2013). Britain's best real heritage pubs. St. Albans: CAMRA. p. 38. ISBN 9781852493042.
  10. "Church of St. Peter". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  11. "Ampney St Peter". The Sheela Na Gig Project. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. "St Peter, Ampney St Peter, Gloucestershire". The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. "Cross in churchyard of Church of St. Peter". Historic England. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  14. "Churchyard cross at Ampney St Peter". Historic England. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. "Group of six Taylor Monuments about 6m south of blocked south door in churchyard of Church of St. Peter". Historic England. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  16. "Ampney St Peter gold post box". Royal Mail. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
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