History of Sheepscombe

Wed, Aug 4th 2021 at 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Elisabeth Skinner talking on the history of Ebworth Park and also Sheepscombe.

Talk by Elisabeth Skinner

The first of our live speaker evenings post the Covid lockdowns took place last night. Whilst we had several speaker evenings courtesy of Zoom, it was really good to be meeting up again, in the flesh so to speak, to have a ‘live’ presentation.

Julian did us proud by getting his sister-in-law, Elisabeth Skinner, to talk to us about the history of Sheepscombe. As a long standing resident and member of the Sheepscombe History Society she was certainly something of an expert. With some quotes and photos and letters, many of which are included in her book, ‘Sheepscombe – One thousand years in this Gloucestershire valley’ Elisabeth gave us an excellent potted history about the village.

Elisabeth explained how Sheepscombe probably got it’s name originally. How it developed it’s textile industries through the 18^th and early 19^th centuries, with the last mill closing in 1839.

She touched on some of the personalities, including a contemporary of Admiral Lord Nelson. The nefarious owner of Ebworth Park and some links with the slave trade, St John the Apostle Church and the well known pub – The Butchers Arms.

Mention of the latter, causing a ripple of appreciation from the audience.

Bryan Webster.

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