Chalford is a village in the
Frome Valley of the
Cotswolds in
Gloucestershire,
England. It is about 8 km upstream (4 miles east) of
Stroud. It gives its name to Chalford
parish, which covers the villages of Chalford, Chalford Hill, France Lynch, Bussage and Brownshill, spread over 2 mi² (5 km²) of the Cotswold countryside. At this point the valley is also called the
Golden Valley.
History
The remains, and known sites, of many
barrow indicate that the plateau area of Chalford Hill, France Lynch and
Bussage has been an area of continuous settlement for probably at least 4,000 years.
Stone Age flints have been found in the area as well as the remains of a
Roman Villa. Several of the place names in the area are also
Saxon or
Danish in origin.
The name Chalford may be derived from
Calf (Way)
Ford, or possibly from the Saxon
cealj or
Chalk and the Norman
Ford: both possibilities have the same meaning. There were two ancient crossings at Chalford apart from the
ford from which the village was named: Stoneford, recorded from the later 12th century, was the crossing-point of a track up Cowcombe hill on the line of the later
Cirencester turnpike and by 1413 another...
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