Southrop village

Southrop village is in the county of Gloucestershire and is skirted by the River Leach. It is one of the rare, unspoilt villages of The Cotswolds and a delight to stay in. There are many listed buildings in this ancient village, including Culls Cottage, which dates from approximately 1670.

The church is dedicated to St. Peter and was built in about 1100 replacing an earlier Saxon Church. It is a grade 1 listed structure and its most striking feature is the fabric of the masonry, which forms a herringbone pattern on the north and south walls and probably dates from a period before The Norman Conquest. Inside the Church there is a magnificent Norman Font.

Southrop Manor is privately owned but every year the grounds are open for the village fete and a recently opened cookery school operates from the manors Barns. Thyme Cookery School.

The Swan at Southrop

The Village Hall

Southrop Village Hall is an active place with regular antique auctions and events. It also houses the Local Producers Market (9.30am - 11.30pm) once a month on a Saturday, as well as being the Community Village Shop every Wednesday morning from 8.30 until 11.30am. Run by Volunteers this shop has a good range of produce, as well as post office facilities.

A post Box is situated in the wall of the Old Post Office opposite the Swan Inn.

Southrop in Winter

History of Southrop

Until relatively recently Southrop village was owned by Wadham College Oxford.

Nicholas Wadham, the founder was born in 1532 of a good Somerset family of Merifield, near Ilminster, and was educated at Oxford, at either Corpus Christi or Christ Church. In 1555 he married Dorothy, daughter of Sir William Petre of Writtle, Essex, and in 1578 succeeded his father. He was childless, but his means were large, allegedly amounting to about £3,000 a year, with about £14,000 put by during his lifetime.  Apparently he was on bad terms with his relatives,  and decided to devote his money to founding an educational establishment. His intention was to found a college at Oxford for members of the Established Church, though he died, 20 Oct. 1609, before his scheme materialized. There is among the college archives a copy of an account of an interview between Nicholas and a few close friends and relatives wherein, four days before his death, he set out his intentions for his college.  On Nicholas's death a trust was created to execute the scheme, and the site of the former Augustinian friary was bought from the city for £600 on 6 March 1609–10, the city securing the right of nominating a fellow and two scholars on the original foundation. The king himself had written to the town to support the application of Mrs. Wadham.  Southrop became under the ownership of Wadham college in 1612 and remained so until approximately 1926 when the manor was first sold.

History of Culls Cottage

We purchased Culls Cottage in March 2009 and over nine months, the house was given lots of tender loving care. The House has had a long history and was built in the mid – late 1600’s, approximately 1670 and is grade 11 listed.  It sits within the Southrop Conservation Area. The renovations have given us some clues as to the cottages history. We believe that during the mid 1800’s what are now the kitchen, downstairs bedroom and upstairs smaller bedroom were added. A further extension of the master bedroom and lounge below, out into the garden, were added sometime during the 1940’s and the building was finally listed in January 1961. It is believed that the cottage aquired its recent name from Mr Cull who was the village cobbler.