The HISTORY

of CHARLTONHOUSE

byAndrew Lewis

The HISTORY

of CHARLTONHOUSE

byAndrew Lewis

Mr Edward Boyce-Podmorethe Charlton House ghost

The HISTORY

of CHARLTONHOUSE

byAndrew Lewis

The River Chelt that runs through the grounds, of Charlton House.

Have you ever wondered about the history of your house, apartment, church or any other building? When was it built? Why was it built? Who owned it? What happened to the people who lived or worked there? Whether you’re looking for documentation for historic status or are just plain inquisitive, tracing a property’s history and learning about the people who have lived there can, as I found, be a fascinating and fulfilling project.

Visitors to Charlton House would not realise that it is impossible to enter or leave Charlton Kings without crossing water: either the River Chelt that runs through the grounds, the Lilleybrook, the Hamme, Hearne Brook or Poult Brook. Consequently, because of the fresh water, there were early settlements in Charlton Kings dating back to the Iron Age. In those far-off days, Charlton Kings was an agricultural settlement with small homesteads scattered around growing crops such as cherries, grapes and apples. This is recognised by the names of some of the streets: Crab End suggests crab apples, Flaxley, obviously flax and Hempcroft, hemp.

The first mention of Charlton Kings was in 1160 when it was known as Cherlton, (cheorl). It comes from the words ‘Ceorl tun’ (the peasant’s homestead), telling us that this area was developed by the lord of Cheltenham, which from early Saxon times to 1247 belonged to the king, hence the addition of the word ‘Kings’ or in Latin ‘Regis’ so it became known as Charlton Regis until the 17th century.

We have to imagine that the whole of modern Charlton Kings was covered mostly in woodland and scrub. It was cleared gradually by groups of ceorl or chuls, meaning a peasant who had a certain amount of freedom but was still tied to their lord. It is generally agreed that these Saxon settlements took the form of homesteads with a sizeable amount of cleared land around them. So we have early place names still surrounding Charlton House such as ‘Baedela’s tun’ a farm (Battledown), ‘Cuda’s hill’ (Cudnall) and ‘Babba’s ford’ (Bafford) which took in the land in which Charlton House now stands. This original homestead appears likely to have been in what we know now as, what is left of the Charlton Park estate, St Edwards School.

A typical Iron Age settlement

By the last half of the twelfth century, the frankpledge system (an English compulsory oath of fealty to a lord) demanded that every male should belong to a tithing, collectively responsible for public order and good behaviour. So Charlton Kings as it is now known was divided into three tithings, Ashley, Bafford and A copy of the 1617 map, the shaded area showing Charlton Park Estate the white box indicates the position of Charlton House Charlton. These areas, we presume, each had roughly the same number of tenants with their respective holdings.

Imagine, if you will, that the land on which Charlton House now stands was originally part of the Bafford tithing with the land belonging to Charlton Park or Forden House, as it became known. This was a hunting lodge in the midst of a densely wooded area, used by Edward the Confessor (the only English monarch who is also a canonized Saint) in the pursuit of wild boar and deer on horseback, usually with the aid of a pack of dogs.

By the mid - 1600s, it appears that the land Charlton House now stands on, had been sold by the Charlton Park estate. It was surrounded by cultivated land, Charlton Park orchard on the one side, tobacco fields on the other (the tobacco plant being bought to England in 1565, planted in Charlton Kings and according to records ‘yielded considerable produce and profit to the inhabitants’).

By 1706, however, it is a different story: the original Charlton House building starts to appear on maps. The house had three wings surrounding a courtyard, open towards the River Chelt, probably a timber-framed building, in clear contrast to the Cotswold stone hill villages near by, as the local stone near Charlton Kings was unsuitable for building because it crumbles so badly.

This original Charlton House was a messuage, meaning a dwelling house, including outbuildings, orchard, curtilage (courtyard) and garden (in other words a building of distinction). In the ‘Hearth Tax Toll’ for 1671, the Charlton House entry refers to a ‘Mr Duncester, five hearths’, putting it on an equal footing with Charlton Park estate’s Forden House and, therefore, a quality house.

Above:Edward the Confessor

Opposite Page:A copy of the 1617 map, the shaded area showing Charlton Park Estate the white box indicates the position of Charlton House

Left: St Edwards School, all that remains of Charlton Park