Listed buildings in Nailsworth - Stroud District Council

I
El NAILSWORTH - A BACKGROUND NOTE
The parish of Nailsworth was created in 1894 from parts of the parishes of
Avening, Horseley and Minchinhampton. It includes the hamlets of Upper and
I Lower Nailsworth, Upper and Lower Forestgreen, Windsoredge, Horleywood, Shortwood,
Walkleywood, Newmarket, Rockness, Watledge and Theescombe. It is consequently
a somewhat scattered parish but it does have a nucleus (formerly Upper Nailsworth)
through which the main Stroud road passes (Fountain Street and Bridge Street).
* Away from the main road, and in spite of recent redevelopment, one is immediately
aware that the fabric of Nailsworth is in the tradition of vernacular Cotswold
styles. Most of the cottages are built of Cotswold stone with Cotswold stone
roofs and many have the traditional cross-gabled roof structure. This list
includes the better and least altered examples.
The background of Nailsworth's development is the woollen industry; its position
at the meeting of 3 small valleys meant that about 20 mills can be traced, the
best being Dunkirk Mills on the Stroud Road. The cloth trade and its remoteness
from parish centres fostered the growth and spread of protestant non-conformity
which contributed to the distinctness of the area at the time of its formation
into a parish. However apart from the Quaker Meeting House, the oldest chapels
have been destroyed, so only the Shortwood Chapel with its Vanbrughian front has
been selected for inclusion on this list. The first Anglican Chapel was built
in 1794 as a token of an Anglican comeback; the present Church, the Church of
St George, is on the same site and was built around 1900.
The characteristic buildings of Nailsworth date from the C17 to early C20. They
are dispersed along former hillside tracks (many still heavily wooded) or are
It more clustered in the valley bottoms where the mills are found. The best houses
are of the late C17 and early C18 and are to be found in Spring Hill and near
Cossack Square. More unusual houses are Wood Farm on the Nympsfield Road (built
for Edward Leigh of Woodchester Park) and Beaudesert School, in West Midlands
I black and white style, facing Minchinhampton Common.
I The industrial and socio-religious history of Nailsworth are important and can be
followed in the Victoria County History for Gloucestershire, Volume XI, but it is
the architectural merits which reflect this which contribute to its charm, Like
the Frome valley villages to the North-East (eg Chalford)r it is this mixture of
industrial and traditional building styles that gives the District its particular
character.
I}.
l'