Having made the switch from publishing studies of the pre-colonial history of south-eastern Africa to the publication of Roman and Saxon Bisley in 2007, Huw Jones now turns to a detailed account of the history of the area in which he lives.

His research uses a wide range of resources from original source material through academic papers and books to the facilities offered by the electronic age. The third volume to follow in this series will focus on the historical development of the mediæval manor of Bisley which stretched from Holbrook Water in the north to Stroudwater in the south and from the Holbrook (Holy Brook) in the east to Slad Brook in the west.

Focusing on the evolution of the manor as an administrative unit, the study will bring to light new concepts of how such a large area split into smaller units. Challenging conventional perceptions, it will throw fresh light on the establishment of local settlements such as Stroud and the relationship of the manor with the wider political world up to the time of its decline in the late eighteenth century.

A Hamlet on Cotswold: The History of the Manor of Througham

hardback with dustwrapper: xx + 159 pages; colour frontispiece, maps and illustrations.

For the first time, the history of this small hamlet on Cotswold, its buildings 'deeply expressive of the Cotswold Country', uncovers traces of Saxon farming, the settlement of Norman incomers, and its management by the once powerful abbey of St. Mary in Cirencester.

With the dissolution of the monasteries came a sell-off by King Henry VIII, asset-stripping by the new owners and the development of estates owned by non-resident landlords. Culminating in the nineteenth century buy-out of almost the whole of the manor by the Dorington family of Lypiatt Park, the story climaxes in 1919 after the end of the first World War and another sell-off, this time to independent owners farming on their own account.

For the general reader a fascinating glimpse into rural life on remote Cotswold; for the person tracing family roots a plethora of local personalities identified with the help of a detailed index; for the historian a significant contribution to the history of Cotswold covering an area thus far somewhat overlooked.

On sale, price £25, at Stancombe Beech Farm Shop and The George Stores, Bisley or telephone 01452 770350.

Roman and Saxon Bisley