Longford
Longford flooding in 2007
Longford is located in Gloucestershire
Longford
Longford
Location within Gloucestershire
OS grid referenceSO839205
• London103m
Civil parish
  • Longford
District
Shire county
  • Gloucestershire
Ceremonial county
  • Gloucestershire
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townGLOUCESTER
Postcode districtGL2
Dialling code01452
PoliceGloucestershire
FireGloucestershire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
Longford on a 1930s Ordnance Survey map
New houses at Whittington Park.

Longford is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. Although situated within two miles of Gloucester city centre, Longford parish falls within the jurisdiction of the Borough of Tewkesbury.[1]

The village borders the Tewkesbury Road running north out of Gloucester and is bisected by the A40 northern bypass at the busy Longford roundabout.[2] Connected with Segregated Bicycle Path to Gloucester.

Longford is primarily residential; it is home to Oxstalls Sports Park and Tennis Centre, the Winfield Hospital, [3] and both Longford AFC and Gala Wilton Football Clubs.

History

From Gloucester, the Tewkesbury road ran northwards from Alvin gate through the settlements of Kingsholm, Longford, and Twigworth. In Kingsholm it was joined by a road from the blind gate, which in its south part was known in 1803 as Dean's Walk and in its north part in 1722 as Snake Lane (later Edwy Parade). Bridges and a causeway carried the Tewkesbury road over water courses and low-lying meadows in Longford, which took its name from the crossing.[4]

On the Tewkesbury road north of Kingsholm a house was converted into three cottages in the early 19th century. Further north in Longford there was a small early settlement at the south end of the causeway, where a medieval cross and possibly a chapel stood. There was evidently a house there by the early 13th century, when a man surnamed of the plock was recorded, and Plock Court, east of the road, occupied the site of a medieval manor house.

Extract from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England, 1831:

LONGFORD, a hamlet in those parts of the parishes of ST-CATHERINE, and ST-MARY-de-LODE-GLOUCESTER, which are in the upper division of the hundred of DUDSTONE-and-KING'S-BARTON, county of GLOUCESTER, 1 mile (N.E. by N.) from Gloucester, containing 215 inhabitants.

In 1851 market gardeners were fairly numerous in Longford and Twigworth, and later there were several market gardens and nurseries at Longlevens (called Springfield) and Innsworth. In 1855 the civil parish of Longford was created.[5]

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Longford like this:[6]

LONGFORD-ST.CATHERINE, a hamlet in St. Catherine parish, Gloucestershire; contiguous to Gloucester city, 1 mile N of Gloucester r. station. Acres, 200. Real property, with Longford-St. Mary, £4,735. Pop.. 213. Houses, 37. The manor belongs to the Bishop of Gloucester; and most of the land, to the Dean and Chapter. A Roman settlement is supposed to have been here.

In 1866 a free hospital for children of the poor was begun next to St. Lucy's Home of Charity on the site of the current Gambier Parry Gardens. The home, a converted villa east of the Tewkesbury Road, was occupied by the sisters of St. Lucy, an Anglican community founded in 1864 by Thomas Gambier Parry of Highnam to train nurses and tend the sick in their homes. By 1866 the sisters, who were sent to many parts of the country, nursed some patients in the home. Gambier Parry also conceived the idea for the children's hospital in connection with the home and paid much of the building costs. The hospital, a brick building designed by William Jacques, opened in 1867 with 22 beds. Children of the poor from any distance were admitted and out-patients were treated at a house in Bell Lane. The hospital was supported by subscriptions and donations. In 1872 the sisters of St. John the Baptist from Clewer, Berkshire, took over the work of the sisters of St. Lucy. In 1876, Gambier Parry moved the home to a large house at the corner of Hare Lane and Pitt Street.

The Gloucester Farmers Club, founded in 1840, now meet in Agriculture House, Greville Close, which was previously Greville House, a substantial family home built in the 1860s.

In 1927, Mary Fluck gave up her residence at the Limes (next to Westfield Terrace) for use as a convalescent home. It became a temporary maternity hospital in 1940 while Gloucester Maternity Hospital was being built, and then became a children's home in the mid-1940s.

Notable residents

Education

Longford Park Primary Academy,[8] a new primary school and nursery with 210 places, opened at Whittington Park, Longford, in September 2017 near the Longford Village Hall.[9][10]

From 2017 to 2022, the University of Gloucestershire made significant improvements to Plock Court as part of its Oxstalls Campus redevelopment. The improvements comprised a new business school and growth hub together with substantial sports facilities: a sports hall, 4G pitches, landscaping, and better community access.

Sport and entertainment

Every summer from 2013 to 2017, Oxstalls Sport Park, Plock Court was the venue for the Sportbeat Music Festival, a two day outdoor music and sports festival.[11]

Sports activities include:

  • Oxstalls Tennis Centre, Oxstalls Sports Park, with 6 indoor and 4 outdoor tennis courts[12][13]
  • Gala Wilton Football Club
  • Longford A.F.C.[14][15]

From 1981-83, Fairmile House in Fairmile Gardens was used as one of the filming locations for two series of the BBC2 TV sitcom The Last Song (TV series) starring Geoffrey Palmer (actor).

Flooding

Longford was severely affected by the July 2007 floods[16][17][18][19][20] resulting in the many homes being flooded. The bar at the Queen's Head on the Tewkesbury Road was under a couple of feet of water.[21]

References

  1. ↑ GloucestershireCC. "Longford Parish Council" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Lane, Ellis (7 March 2020). "This is how Longford roundabout on the A40 will be improved in seven months of roadworks". Gloucestershire Live. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. ↑ WinfieldHospital. "Winfield Hospital" Archived 25 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Winfield Hospital, Longford, Gloucestershire. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  4. ↑ BHO. "Gloucester: Outlying hamlets" Archived 16 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, British History Online, Gloucester. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Relationships and changes Longford CP through time through time". Vision of Britain. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. ↑ VisionOfBritain. A Vision Of Britain Through Time Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Longford, Gloucestershire. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Dorothy Wilding (1893-1976). National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  8. ↑ Longford Park Primary Academy Archived 6 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine, ', Gloucestershire. Retrieved on 22 December 2017.
  9. ↑ GRCC. "Gloucestershire Rural Community Council, Longford Village Hall" Archived 9 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Longford Village Hall, Longford, Gloucestershire. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  10. ↑ CitizenNews. "Help raise funds for the Longford Village Hall" Archived 10 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Gloucester Citizen, Gloucestershire, 25 May 2013. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "SportBeat Festival". efestivals. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Oxstalls Sports Park". Tennis Round. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  13. ↑ LTA. "LTA Oxstalls Sports Park" Archived 16 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine, LTA Gloucestershire Tennis, Gloucestershire. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  14. ↑ TheFA. "TheFA Full-time League Websites, Ground Directions - Longford" Archived 4 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Football Association, 21 May 2015. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  15. ↑ CitizenNews. "Wanted: 11 players and manager for Longford FC" Archived 5 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Gloucester Citizen, Gloucester, 2 September 2015. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Wikimedia. "Longford village flooding on Tewkesbury Road (A38) - geograph.org.uk" Archived 24 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Wikimedia. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  17. ↑ BBCNews. "Gloucestershire floods: Longford concerns over new homes" Archived 20 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, Gloucestershire, 18 February 2014. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  18. ↑ BBCHome. "Gloucestershire floods photos" Archived 7 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine, BBC Home, Longford, Gloucester. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  19. ↑ CitizenNews. "Fears grow over flooding in Longford as a new primary school comes to the area" Archived 15 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Gloucester Citizen, Gloucestershire, 18 February 2014. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  20. ↑ SkyNews. "Building Homes On Flood Plains 'To Be Blocked'" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Sky News, 6 March 2014. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.
  21. ↑ CitizenNews. "Prime Minister David Cameron visits flood victims in Gloucestershire" Archived 16 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Gloucester Citizen, Gloucestershire, 17 February 2014. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.

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