BLAISDON
BLAISDON, a small rural parish of c. 900 a. lying 7
miles west of Gloucester, was united with Flaxley
parish in 1935; the boundary between the two
parishes had roughly followed the Longhope brook. (fn. 1)
Previously, in 1883, Blaisdon had taken in a detached
part of Flaxley, covering 45 a. with one house and a
population of seven, which lay on its western
boundary near Northwood, while it lost to Flaxley
a detached part of its own north of Gaulet; in 1890
Blaisdon received a small detached piece of Lea
Bailey situated at Woodgreen. (fn. 2) The account which
follows relates to the parish of Blaisdon as it existed
before 1883.
The south-eastern part of the parish lies at c.
100-200 ft., while the north-western is occupied by
a large wooded spur of land rising to over 500 ft.;
the low ground is formed by the Keuper Marl and
the high ground by Upper Silurian formations. (fn. 3) The
parish is drained by the Longhope (or Blaisdon)
brook (fn. 4) which runs along the south-west boundary
through a narrow valley between the high ground of
Blaisdon and Flaxley, and by its tributary the Beech
brook (fn. 5) to the south-east. About a third of the parish
is woodland, most of it lying on the spur of high
ground although the parish also includes part of Ley
Woods on the east; in 1839 there were an estimated
276 a. of woodland. (fn. 6) Fifty acres of conifers were
planted on waste land in the parish in the early 18th
century, (fn. 7) and the woods on the hills included some
conifers by 1879; (fn. 8) in 1969 they comprised conifers
and deciduous trees in about equal parts. There were
some small open fields on the low ground until the
mid 19th century. (fn. 9) Blaisdon lay within the ancient
bounds of the Forest of Dean given in the earliest
perambulations, but in 1300 it was one of the vills
which it was claimed should be excluded as they had
been afforested only since the reign of King John. (fn. 10)
The parish church recorded from the 13th century (fn. 11) stands some way from the main village which
developed along the road leading northwards from
the crossing of the Longhope brook; the road was
called Blaisdon Street in 1679. (fn. 12) In 1699 the village
was partly destroyed by a fire which, beginning in a
smith's shop, burnt 135 bays of building and caused
damage estimated at over £4,000. (fn. 13) The destroyed
houses had apparently been replaced by c. 1710 when
there were said to be 40 houses in the parish (fn. 14)
compared with the 34 mentioned in 1672. (fn. 15) A
timber-framed cottage later faced in brick, at the
south end of the village, retained the remains of a
cruck-truss until it was rebuilt in 1969. The Tanhouse, a former farm-house on the west side of the
street, has a 17th-century timber-framed range dated
1669; it was faced in brick c. 1800 and additions were
made on the west and north-east in the early and
mid 20th century. Two timber-framed cottages of
the 17th century survive, and there are a few 18th-
or early 19th-century brick and stone houses. Several
of the cottages were rebuilt by the MacIver family
in the early 20th century: they are in brick or stone
with small ornamental gables, sometimes with mock
timber-framing; three pairs which stand together on
the west side of the street were built in 1908 (fn. 16) replacing brick cottages of c. 1800. (fn. 17) The village also
has a few mid-20th-century bungalows. Spout Farm
on the east side of the street was recorded in 1754, (fn. 18)
and was rebuilt in brick c. 1800. The 'Red Hart',
which was open by 1816, (fn. 19) is the only inn that has
been found recorded in the parish.
Nottswood Hill, on the northern boundary of the
parish, is the main outlying settlement, and is
evidently a squatter development which grew up
around the common there that was recorded in
1679 (fn. 20) and covered 11 a. in 1839; (fn. 21) at least one house
had been built there by 1688. (fn. 22) The cottages, which
are scattered over a bracken-covered hillside, include
one with a timber frame but most are brick or stone
buildings of the late 18th or early 19th century. A
few cottages have been demolished since 1839. (fn. 23) The
Mount at Nottswood was rebuilt in the later 19th
century as an ornamental cottage; it is of patterned
brick with stone dressings, mock timber-framed
gables, and casement windows, and adjoining there
is a small tower with an observation platform. At
Stanley, a small roadside settlement north-east of
Blaisdon village, there was a house by 1628; (fn. 24) in
1969 it comprised only the 17th-century Stanley
House (fn. 25) and an early 20th-century cottage. There
was a house at Woodgreen on the western boundary
of the parish by 1685, (fn. 26) and in 1969 the settlement
consisted of three cottages, one a 17th-century
timber-framed building. The Velthouse, an outlying
farmstead to the north, was recorded from 1591; (fn. 27) it
was rebuilt in brick in the 19th century.
A road linking Stanley with Northwood in Westbury was recorded in 1652 (fn. 28) but survived only as a
track in 1969. The Gloucester and Hereford railway
line through the parish was opened in 1853 (fn. 29) and
there was a halt for Blaisdon village on the Westbury
road; the line was closed in 1964. (fn. 30) A water-supply
was laid on to some of the houses in Blaisdon village
by Peter Stubs, the lord of the manor, c. 1900. (fn. 31)
There were c. 100 communicants in the parish in
1551, (fn. 32) and an estimated 35 households in 1563. (fn. 33)
Forty families were recorded in 1650, (fn. 34) and about
180 inhabitants c. 1710. (fn. 35) The population apparently
declined during the earlier 18th century: there were
said to be 137 inhabitants c. 1775, (fn. 36) but there had
been an increase to 152 by 1801. The population rose
steadily to 299 in 1851 but then declined to 203 in
1881. Although there was a slight recovery in the
early part of the 20th century, at the time of the
union with Flaxley in 1935 the population of Blaisdon was 186; (fn. 37) the population of the former parish remained about the same in 1969. (fn. 38)