“LITTLE MINSTERWORTH BEYOND THE SEVERN”
These days it is not so well-known but there has historically been a special connection between Minsterworth and the small hamlet of Elmore Back on the opposite side of the River Severn. Children from Elmore Back attended Minsterworth school and people of Elmore Back regularly commuted across the river by ferry to attend church at St. Peter’s church in Minsterworth and to get to work in Gloucester.
But there is ample evidence that for many centuries Elmore Back (or rather certain parts of it) was once part of the ‘ancient’ parish of Minsterworth as well as being part of the historic manor of Minsterworth.
The 18th century Gloucestershire historian Ralph Bigland, when describing Minsterworth, noted that it was ‘singularly intermixed with Elmore Parish on the opposite side of the river at a place called Elmore’s Back’. He also wrote of Elmore back ‘where a part of Minsterworth extends on this side of the river’. He goes no further to clarify how this intermixing operated but a survey map of Minsterworth manor from the same period clearly identifies certain plots of land in Elmore Back as part of Minsterworth manor. A tithe map for Minsterworth from 1839 also shows most of Elmore Back as being part of Minsterworth parish except for several plots which are marked as being part of Elmore parish. This arrangement continued to be reflected throughout the 19th century in various maps of the area (including those of the Ordnance Survey) but, by the time of the 1904 Ordnance Survey, Elmore Back was no longer part of Minsterworth parish, presumably reflecting the creation of new parish councils that had taken place by then.
This connection between Minsterworth and Elmore Back seems to have existed in some form or other since much earlier times. As far back as the 13th century, certain manorial rents due to the king from Elmore were being paid through the bailiff of Minsterworth manor, evidently on land described as being in Minsterworth but ‘in the liberty and parish of Helmore’. A manor court roll of 1657 intriguingly refers to property in ‘Little Minsterworth beyond the Severn’.
The ending of the ferry service across the river in the late 1940s really marked the end of this special relationship and Elmore Back residents now have cars to get to wherever they need to go. For an ever decreasing few residents of Minsterworth though the memory if it lingers on, whilst a Charity Commission document of 1967 relating to the ancient Hiett, Wintle and Hawkins charities notes that these local charities do not appear to be applicable to Elmore Back ‘unless perchance it can be shown that for administrative purposes it is or has in bygone days been treated as part of Minsterworth parish’.
So why did this situation come about? It seems the case that the river in times past was never regarded as quite the barrier it is today; boats were constantly in use to cross water in both directions and, and at times of very low tide, it is known that in this sector of the river cattle could even be moved across to pasture on the other side.
Another factor must have been Elmore Back’s proximity to Minsterworth compared to the mile or so distance there is to Elmore village itself. It may also be the case that at times of heavy flooding the low-lying land between Elmore Back and Elmore could be impassable, making dry land at Minsterworth more easily accessible.
Terry Moore-Scott
February 2008
But there is ample evidence that for many centuries Elmore Back (or rather certain parts of it) was once part of the ‘ancient’ parish of Minsterworth as well as being part of the historic manor of Minsterworth.
The 18th century Gloucestershire historian Ralph Bigland, when describing Minsterworth, noted that it was ‘singularly intermixed with Elmore Parish on the opposite side of the river at a place called Elmore’s Back’. He also wrote of Elmore back ‘where a part of Minsterworth extends on this side of the river’. He goes no further to clarify how this intermixing operated but a survey map of Minsterworth manor from the same period clearly identifies certain plots of land in Elmore Back as part of Minsterworth manor. A tithe map for Minsterworth from 1839 also shows most of Elmore Back as being part of Minsterworth parish except for several plots which are marked as being part of Elmore parish. This arrangement continued to be reflected throughout the 19th century in various maps of the area (including those of the Ordnance Survey) but, by the time of the 1904 Ordnance Survey, Elmore Back was no longer part of Minsterworth parish, presumably reflecting the creation of new parish councils that had taken place by then.
This connection between Minsterworth and Elmore Back seems to have existed in some form or other since much earlier times. As far back as the 13th century, certain manorial rents due to the king from Elmore were being paid through the bailiff of Minsterworth manor, evidently on land described as being in Minsterworth but ‘in the liberty and parish of Helmore’. A manor court roll of 1657 intriguingly refers to property in ‘Little Minsterworth beyond the Severn’.
The ending of the ferry service across the river in the late 1940s really marked the end of this special relationship and Elmore Back residents now have cars to get to wherever they need to go. For an ever decreasing few residents of Minsterworth though the memory if it lingers on, whilst a Charity Commission document of 1967 relating to the ancient Hiett, Wintle and Hawkins charities notes that these local charities do not appear to be applicable to Elmore Back ‘unless perchance it can be shown that for administrative purposes it is or has in bygone days been treated as part of Minsterworth parish’.
So why did this situation come about? It seems the case that the river in times past was never regarded as quite the barrier it is today; boats were constantly in use to cross water in both directions and, and at times of very low tide, it is known that in this sector of the river cattle could even be moved across to pasture on the other side.
Another factor must have been Elmore Back’s proximity to Minsterworth compared to the mile or so distance there is to Elmore village itself. It may also be the case that at times of heavy flooding the low-lying land between Elmore Back and Elmore could be impassable, making dry land at Minsterworth more easily accessible.
Terry Moore-Scott
February 2008