Lower Swell
Lower Swell maps (2 available)
Map of Gloucestershire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Gloucestershire
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Lower Swell books (20 available)
Cheltenham Town Walk Guide
Paperback
Stroud Photographic Memories
Paperback
Gloucestershire Photographic Memories
Paperback
- 1 photos on Lower Swell appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Lower Swell
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Lower Swell and Gloucestershire
Lower Swell memories
Read and share memories of Lower Swell and Gloucestershire inspired by Frith photos
Lower Swell Forge
I first came to Lower Swell as a 16 year old boy; that would have been 1967. I had attended Wilsons Grammar School in Camberwell London. Austen Nichols had worked at the school teaching metal work. He told me that he lived in Lower Swell and had a forge there. He and I got on really well. He was a good teacher and became a good friend. When he left Wilsons he invited me to visit him and that summer I did. I had family friends not far away and combined my visit to him with a short stay in nearby Malmesbury.
Austen showed me the forge and his beautiful little cottage. I stayed for most of the day and before ...read more here
Contributed by ian ashley-smith
Gloucestershire memories
Lower Swell Forge
I first came to Lower Swell as a 16 year old boy; that would have been 1967. I had attended Wilsons Grammar School in Camberwell London. Austen Nichols had worked at the school teaching metal work. He told me that he lived in Lower Swell and had a forge there. He and I got on really well. He was a good teacher and became a good friend. When he left Wilsons he invited me to visit him and that summer I did. I had family friends not far away and combined my visit to him with a short stay in nearby Malmesbury.
Austen showed me the forge and his beautiful little cottage. I stayed for most of the day and before ...read more here
A memory of Lower Swell contributed by ian ashley-smith
Sheer Bliss
I lived in lovely Lower Slaughter in 1991 along with my children's father. How we came to live in such a beautiful place was pure luck. We had applied for jobs in nearby Adlestrop and with the jobs came accomodation, Manor Farm Cotts. I remember an open top mock vintage bus driving through in the summertime, usually american tourists waved on the top deck, it felt surreal. My favourite time of day was early evening, we would stroll along the river breathing the sweet air of honeysuckle. I was pregnant with my first child and just filled with complete peace and contentment. Although only there for a short time I really felt that I was home.
A memory of Lower Slaughter contributed by Jane MacCallum
The Old Post Office
My husbands Aunt, Cicely Minnie Day, was the post mistress at the Post Office in Lower Slaughter when it was situated in the house on the far right of this photo. The sign above the door denoting this fact. When she died in 1954 the post office was moved to another house in the village. As a child my husband spent happy holidays in this house when his Mother and Father visited his family there.
A memory of Lower Slaughter contributed by Judith Day
Extracts From Lower Swell & Gloucestershire books
Not far distant from the Slaughters are the little villages of Lower and Upper Swell, both situated in an entrancing rural landscape along the banks of the River Dikler. The church at Lower Swell has some fine Norman carving, and is thought to stand on an important Roman site.
An extract from from"Cotswolds Pocket Album".
The stone flaming urn of the war memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, holds centre stage at the crossroads in this
attractive village built exclusively in the native Cotswold stone. The oldest surviving houses date back to the 17th century.
How different this quiet little place might have been had the potential been developed from the chalybeate spring,
discovered in 1807 where the road leads out of the village to Stow, as inscribed on Spa Cottages with their distinctly
exotic façade.
An extract from from"Cotswold Villages Photographic Memories".
The M5 motorway divides this village and its surrounding countryside from Cheltenham. In earlier days,
Staverton’s agricultural products would have been supplied to the growing town, and its lanes would have been
well-ridden by horse owners visiting the neighbouring spa.
An extract from from"Cheltenham Photographic Memories".
An ancient ford and
footbridge, an abandoned
cartwheel and the splash
of water running over a
tiny weir - this delightful
photograph of stone
cottages and attractive
gardens reminds us that
the countryside
maintained a timeless air,
even in the hurry of the
20th century.
An extract from from"Cheltenham Photographic Memories".
Many visitors to Cheltenham will recognise this scene, for it remains a
well-known approach road to Cheltenham. However, if the car is left
behind and the area explored on foot, much of Hucclecote’s original
village identity can still be discovered.
An extract from from"Cheltenham Photographic Memories".