Pucklechurch
	Twinning Association

Pucklechurch

 

The village of Pucklechurch is situated on the edge of the Cotswold’s in the county of South Gloucestershire.  The Parish of Pucklechurch lies in the Hundred of Pucklechurch, within easy reach of the cities of Bath and Bristol. The hundred once formed part of the ancient Forest of Kingswood.
 

The history of Pucklechurch or Pulcrecerce as it is called in the Doomsday book goes back to 946AD.  Pucklechurch is famous for its association with King Edmund, Alfred the Greats' grandson, who was murdered in Pucklechurch in 946AD by an outlaw on the spot near the Star Inn.
 

The church of St Thomas a Becket in the centre of the village was built in the first half of the 13th century in commemoration of St. Thomas of Canterbury who was murdered in his cathedral in 1170. The church construction began fifty years following his murder and was dedicated to St Thomas upon its completion.
 

By 1718 the village was endowed with a school for the education of 10 poor boys and 10 poor girls of the Parish, this being due to the charity of the Vicar the Revd. Henry Berrow, who was the first of several benefactors of Pucklechurch.
 

A hundred years later by 1848, great social changes came to the Parish with the founding of the colliery at Parkfield by Handel Cossham. This brought much employment and the building of houses. To accommodate the influx of Children to the village school, a new school building for Infant children was built on Parkfield Road in 1895.
 

The Dennis (Denys or Dennys) family are notable in the history of the village, initially settling in Dyrham and Syston, and it was a Dennis who enclosed Dyrham Park in the reign of Henry XIII and earlier built Syston Court. Property in particular associated with the Dennis family in Pucklechurch are Dodds Farm, formerly a Dower house of Syston Court and since 1906 re-named Dennisworth Farm, and Moat Farm (Old Hall or Great House).
 

In 1894 the first Parish Council was elected thus breaking from the old feudal tradition of administration by the Churchwardens.
 

Pucklechurch has continued to grow with the development of the trading estate and properties within the village.
 
 
 
 

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