Todenham is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is significant for its Grade I listed 14th-century parish church.
History Todenham, 'Todanhom' in 804 (in the kingdom of Mercia) and 'Teodeham' in 1086, derives from the Old English for an "enclosed valley of a man called Teoda" the 'ham' part referring to "...land hemmed in by water or marsh or higher ground...".Mills, Anthony David (2003); A Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford University Press, revised edition (2011), pp.463, 522. "History", Todenham Parish Council. Retrieved 7 October 2019
In 804 the Benedictine monastery at Deerhurst, Deerhurst Priory, acquired Todenham manor from Ethelric, the son of Ethelmund. The priory, and therefore the manor of Todenham, then passed to king Edward the Confessor, who willed it to Westminster Abbey."Deerhurst", A History of the County of Gloucester vol. 8, ed. C R Elrington (London, 1968), pp.34–49. Retrieved 7 October 2019"Toddenham", A History of the County of Gloucester Volume 6, ed. C R Elrington (London, 1965), pp. 250-258. Retrieved 7 October 2019 Todenham in the Domesday Book is listed as being in the Deerhurst Hundred of Gloucestershire. The settlement contained 59 villagers, 54 smallholders (middle level of serf below a villager), and 51 slaves. There were ploughlands for 24.5 lord's plough teams and 28 men's plough teams. Resources were of meadow, a woodland of 0.5 leagues, and four mills. Three of the mills may have been included as part of the wider Deerhurst manor. Major lordship in 1066 was held by Westminster Abbey, which retained it in 1086 after the Norman conquest, while becoming Tenant-in-chief to king William I.
In the second half of the 19th century, and up to the First World War, Todenham was in the Eastern division of Gloucestershire, the upper division of the Hundred of Westminster, the petty sessional division of Moreton-in-Marsh, and the Union—poor relief provision set up under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834—and county court district of Shipston-on-Stour. It had a railway station on the line of the Oxford and Worcester section of the Great Western Railway.Post Office Directory of Gloucestershire, Bath & Bristol (1856) pp.377, 378Kelly's Directory of Gloucestershire (1897) pp.336, 337A Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis (London, 1845), vol. IV, p.366
The ecclesiastical parish was in the rural deanery of Campden and the archdeaconry of Cirencester, in the Diocese of Gloucester. The parish church was described as of Decorated style, containing a chancel with chantry chapel on north side, a nave of three bays, a south chapel within the nave, a north aisle, a south porch, and a tower with six bells and a clock. Recorded were stone sedilia with canopies and a piscina, and remains of stairs to a former rood loft. The chancel chantry chapel was the family pew of the Pole family. Nave south chapel, with canopied piscina and credence, contains a monument to Lady Louisa Pole (died 6 August 1852). The decorated-style chancel east window included a stained glass memorial (erected 1879) to Rev Gilbert Malcolm, parish rector from 1812. The chancel has an inscribed brass memorial to William Moulton (died 1614). The church was restored in 1879 for £600 [Kelly's 1897] or £2,000 [Kelly's 1914]. There was seating for 150.Kelly's Directory of Gloucestershire (1914) p.854
The church register dates to 1721, and includes a list of former rectors going back farther. A significant rector was Thomas Merkes (1397–1403), 'abbot of Westminster' [Kelly's], then Bishop of Carlisle (1397–1400), who was 'degraded' by Henry IV for his support of Richard II. The parish living was a rectory which included of glebe—an area of land used to support a parish priest—and a residence, under the patronage of the Bishop of Gloucester. The parish priest in 1882 was also vicar of Lower Lemington, but not in residence at Todenham.
Todenham manor had belonged in 1542 to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, then in 1545 to the Petre family of Essex after it was given to William Petre, the Tudor Secretary of State. It was retained by the Petre family until 1783, when it was sold to the Pole family who originated in Derbyshire, and who are descended from Cardinal Reginald Pole (1500–1558), the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, and son to Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. Lordship of the manor resided with this branch of the Poles until 1951. The Pole family seat was Todenham House in the village, in 1856 occupied by Sir Peter Van Notten-Pole, 3rd Baronet (1801–1887), and in 1897 by Sir Cecil Pery Van Notten-Pole, 4th Baronet (1863–1948) JP.
There was a new National School, built in 1874 for 100 children, with an 1897 average attendance 23 boys and 27 girls including infants. At the beginning of the 20th century this was now a Public Elementary School (Education Act 1902), with an average attendance of 50. There had been no parish school in the late 17th century, but an endowment of £20 in 1704 was given for the education of poor children, these to be selected by the rector and churchwardens. A previous National school, which was subscription, fee and rector financed, existed from the early to mid-19th century in a rented building.
Parish area in the 19th century was , with soil of clay and gravel over a subsoil of clay and oolite limestone. Parish population in 1851 was 462; in 1891, 349; and in 1911, 262.
Directory listing of trades and occupations in 1856 included Mount Sorrel, Woodhills and Lower Cerrington farms. In all there were nine farmers, a shoemaker, a plasterer & slater, a wheelwright, a blacksmith, a beer retailer, a mason, a butcher, two shopkeepers one of whom was the postmaster, and four carpenters, three of whom were in the same family. There was also the licensee of the Farriers' Arms, and an agent for Sir Peter Pole. Although there was a post office, the nearest money-order office was at Moreton-in-Marsh.Bristol Post Office Directory & Gazetteer (1859) p.488
By 1897 the post office is listed as a Post, Telegraph & Express Delivery Office, with letters posted and received through Moreton-in-Marsh. Two carriers—transporters of trade goods, with sometimes people, between different settlements—operated between Todenham and Shipston-on-Stour on Saturdays. Parish traders and occupations then listed included 14 farmers, one of whom was also one of the carriers, a miller to Sir Cecil Pery Van Notten-Pole who also employed an agent, a blacksmith, a decorator, a carpenter, two shopkeepers, and the licensee of the Farriers' Arms. Businesses included a firm of wheelwrights & carpenters, and the Todenham Brick & Tile Works. There was a secretary to the Cirencester Working Men's Conservative Association Benefit Society. The clerk to the parish council was also the assistant overseer. The registrar of births, deaths and marriages for the sub-district of Shipston-on-Stour was also a relieving & vaccination officer, and the collector to the guardians of Shipston-on-Stour union. In 1914 occupations remained much as previously, but with three fewer farmers listed and only one shopkeeper. A wheelwright is listed, not as part of a company, as is a cow keeper and a steam plough owner. The post office also now served as the local Telephone Call Office.
Governance From 1894 to 1935 Todenham was part of Campden Rural District after which, in 1974, part of North Cotswold Rural District, which was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972. Today lowest level administration is through Todenham Parish Council with seven elected councillors, whose remit includes overseeing the maintenance of bus shelters, grass verges, and notice boards, and planning application consultation.Todenham Parish Council. Retrieved 9 October 2019The Parish Council. Retrieved 9 October 2019 The next higher tier of government is Cotswold District Council, above this, Gloucestershire County Council.
Todenham is represented in the UK Parliament House of Commons as part of the North Cotswolds constituency, its sitting MP being Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown of the Conservative Party. Prior to Brexit in 2020, representation in the European Parliament was through the South West England constituency.
Geography and community Todenham civil parish approximates an oval in shape and is orientated north-east to south-west, approximately east to west at its widest, and north-east to south-west, and at the extreme north-east corner of Gloucestershire. It is bordered by the Warwickshire parishes of Stretton-on-Fosse and Tidmington (the boundaries formed by Knee Brook, a tributary of the River Stour), Burmington at the north, and Little Wolford and Great Wolford at the south-east. The River Stour at the north-east forms the parish boundary with Burmington. Adjacent Gloucestershire parishes are and Blockley (north-west) and Batsford (west) with borders defined by the streams Wolford Brook and Lemington Brook which run into Knee brook, and Moreton-in-Marsh at the south-west. The county town and city of Gloucester is to the south-west. Closest towns to Todenham village are Moreton-in-Marsh 3 miles to the south-west, and Shipston-on-Stour 3 miles to the north-east.Extracted from "Todenham", Grid Reference FinderExtracted from "Todenham", GetOutside, Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 6 October 2019Extracted from "Todenham", civil parish boundary, Google Maps. Retrieved 6 October 2019
The parish is entirely rural, of farms, fields, coppice woodland, lakes, dispersed businesses and residential properties, the only nucleated settlement being the village of Todenham. At the south-west of the parish, and next to the hamlet of Lower Lemington in Batsford, is a complex of commercial fishing lakes. Within the village is a village hall, The Farriers Arms public house next to St Thomas a Becket Church, a car hire company, and two bed & breakfast establishments; in the wider parish is a garden centre, at the east, and to the west of the village, an oriental craft products supplier. The principal road is Todenham Road which runs through the village, where it is called Main Street, and the whole length of the centre of the parish from the A3400 road at the north-east to Moreton-in-Marsh at the south-west. Two minor roads at the centre of the parish meet Todenham Road and lead to Great Wolford at the south-east and to the A429 (Fosse Way) at the north-west. The nearest railway station is at Moreton-in-Marsh on the Cotswold Line of the Great Western Railway. Bus services connect Todenham to Shipston-on-Stour, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stretton-on-Fosse, Burmington, Great and Little Wolford, Bourton-on-the-Hill, and Chipping Norton."Todenham", Bus Times. Retrieved 6 October 2019
Landmarks Within Todenham is one Grade I, and 21 Grade II listed buildings and structures."Listed Buildings in Todenham, Cotswold, Gloucestershire", British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 6 October 2019