King

The Parish of King's Stanley is 3 miles west of Stroud and one mile east of Stonehouse, which is one mile east of Junction 13 of the M5 motorway. It lies to the south of the A419 which links Stroud and Stonehouse. The Parish consists of 3 villages: King's Stanley, Middleyard and Selsley. King's Stanley has the largest number of houses - approximately 588 Middleyard has about 255 and Selsley some 175. The latest population estimate is about 2600 and the electors number around 2017.

The Parish is pleasantly rural in spite of being close to the urban area of Stroud, our local Market Town. There are still a few working farms, cattle grazing and arable and cattle are still grazed upon Selsley Common, which contains 26.8 hectares of unimproved limestone grassland with a commanding view over the Severn Vale & local valleys. However the majority of people leave the villages to work in the nearby towns of the region.

Residents & visitors appreciate our Parish for its situation included within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It has dramatic views from and to the higher ground of the escarpment of Selsley Common and Penn and Stanley Woods at 600 feet. Selsley Common is 63 hectares in total & is classified as having 26.8 ha of unimproved limestone grassland & the SSSI area is 39.4 ha. It is an ideal recreation area for dogs, humans, horses, remote controlled plane fliers & hang-gliders. Local farmers and landowners still exercise their grazing rights over the Common but there is a conflict of use which hopefully finds a balance - at least we hope the Common will still be grazed which is the best way to manage it for the sake of its important flora. The common does not have a registered owner and under Section 9 of the Commons Registration Act 1965 it falls to Stroud District Council to look after it in conjunction with the Graziers whose rights are still protected. This means that SDC would, for instance, be the body to contact if you have any concerns to raise, such as illegal parking, overgrowth of scrub or trees. Resources are scarce (the public purse) to deal with as many issues as arise but as the Common is an important site ways must be found to care for it.

The original route of the Cotswold Way, now elevated to National Trail status, passes through the village, where walkers make use of the pubs, shops and B&B establishments, one such being Mrs M Rollins on 01453 823642. The new route now passes across Selsley Common for more extensive views over the Severn Vale but both routes are being equally promoted and signed.

Although only King's Stanley now has shops, the range is good and the Post Office still thrives (we hope) enabling many residents to shop for most, if not all their needs locally. The Post Office is an important port of call for many residents, including those from the adjacent Parish of Leonard Stanley, which no longer has one - and from much further afield too!

There are two pubs: the Kings Head in Kings Stanley and the Bell Inn Selsley. Both Serve food.

Each village has a church: King's Stanley's is St George's, of Norman origin it is situated at one end of the village close to the site of a Roman fort which has been excavated and well documented.

St George's King's Stanley Baptist Church Middleyard All Saints Church Selsley

There is a Baptist Church in Middleyard, a faith which has endured in the Parish since 1640! Selsley's All Saints Church is justly famous for its fabulous windows,

Selsley's Church, All Saints, is greatly admired and frequently visited for its beautiful stained glass windows designed by William Morris and his famous company of pre-Rhaphaelite artists. The Church stands prominently on the hillside. It was commissioned by Sir Samuel Marling, a local mill owner & member of an important local family, built in 1862 by G F Bodley & bears a distinct resemblance of a church Sir Samuel admired when visiting the former Austrian town of Marling in the Tyrol (now apparently Marlengo in Italy).

The Post Office now sports a conservatory extension which enables it to sell a range of gift items as well as more of the more usual products you might want.

Holley's shop, alas, is no more. It is up for sale and planning permission was granted for a house in its garden.

Selsley Common looking over the valley and onto Penn and Stanley Woods.

Well and truly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - AONB!

The Marling family seat was next to All Saints, at Stanley Park & there are various plaques inside the Church dedicated to members of the family. Occasionally there are special events where family archives can be inspected. The estate was broken up in the early 1950s and the main house is now converted into flats. the parkland lies to the south and can be viewed from the bypass. The family was generous in the locality & the Parish directly benefited from Sir William Marling, the last incumbent, who gave Marling Close in King's Stanley for parishioners' recreational use. The Scout HQ, recently rebuilt at Selsley, also benefits from the Marling spirit. Part of their domain includes the old forge.

Middleyard links King's Stanley to Selsley and its most notable building is again a religious one, the Baptist Church.

There are two school sites in King's Stanley - the Infants School site off Broad Street and the Junior School site in Church Street. The two former schools have amalgamated since September 2008 to form one school - the King's Stanley C of E Primary School. It will (hopefully) ultimately will be amalgamated onto one site.

There are over 50 listed buildings or structures in the Parish. Stanley Mills along the Ryeford Road is a Grade 1 listing. It was a cloth mill and its claim to fame is that it was the first fire-proof building in England. It is a red-brick structure with a tall chimney & part of the complex is a zed-shape. It was originally owned by the Marling family. It currently manufactures industrial carpets. It is usually open during the mills open sessions which are held occasionally. Its main roof has been replaced in recent years with support from English Heritage but much of the building remains under-used. In 1998 a row of old mill cottages was refurbished, with grant support, to the standards expected of listed buildings and the row now provides 6 homes. Several more buildings in the mill complex itself have also been renovated to provide living accommodation.

Stanley Mills

Stanley Mill from the Cotswold Way Selsley War Memorial

For more photos of listed buildings & structures in the Parish & elsewhere, look up imagesofengland.org.uk on the web or click on the link in our links section.

The Parish is a popular place to live, being well related to local towns and close to the M5. It still enjoys a peaceful atmosphere and a good social life. It has a Post Office, a Co-op, a hairdresser, an electrical shop, a general village store, a newsagents small range of local facilities. Even the Ebley bypass at the boundary of our Parish provides a scenic view of the Parish and does not cause too much noise. This comes at a price: relatively expensive housing, little of which could be described as "affordable". The possibility that the Parish will have to accept further housing development in the years to come has receded lately as other nearby areas have been defined as development areas. However it is never far from anyone's mind.

The Parish Council is concerned that the parish should not develop into a large urban-style community, nor should it coalesce any further with Leonard Stanley. There is still a strong sense of a rural way of life in the villages although they are quite close to the bypass, Stonehouse and Stroud. The Parish Council reflects the views of parishioners who wish to maintain that rural identity for the benefit of all parishioners now and in the future.

Number of persons on the electoral register DECEMBER 2006: 2017 JANUARY 2009: 1985

Precept 2007/8 £19,996.00 Precept 2008/9 £21,500.00 Precept 2009/10 £21,500.00

Since their formation in 1894 Parish Councils have worked continuously on behalf of their very own local community, often with few resources but much local co-operation. Councillors give their time freely to decide how best they can help their communities. Parish & Town Councils work in conjunction with their larger relatives the District and the County Council (here that is Stroud District and Gloucestershire County) & KSPC has recently signed up to the Charter produced by GCC.

Generally, smaller Parish Councils do not take on services or tasks that are carried out by the other authorities (mainly through lack of resources such as staff etc) but sometimes this is possible & our slightly larger Parish or Town Council relatives often have a Parish office & own other public premises & have numerous employees working on various local tasks.

The Parish Council owns two pieces of land, one on the junction of Elmlea Road used as amenity land, one behind St George's Avenue and St George's Close used as allotments (just 5 whole plots but some are currently shared so we have 8 tenants). KSPC owns 5 Bus shelters and about 6 seats at last count. KSPC owns and is responsible for the children's play equipment on a piece of land in Marling Close that is leased from the Marling Trust - the body which looks after all other aspects of that piece of land given to the parish by Sir William Marling. It also now leases from the Trust the land on which sits the MUGA - multi-use games area which the Parish Council owns and maintains.

The Parish Council last completed its 4 yearly cycle in May 2008 when elections were held. For a second 4 yearly cycle there were insufficient candidates standing - only four people put themselves forward for election. However, it did not take very long before the Council was back up to its full strength team of nine! with 5 co-options! Two of the previous Cllrs reconsidered their decision not to stand and 3 new Cllrs came forward - which was very pleasing.

Elections are run by the District Council and enquiries should be made directly to Stroud District Council on 766321, asking for the Electoral Services Office.

Parish Councils can do more things (often at very little cost), if they've a mind to, than you might suspect. A well-known adage amongst those who know is: "If you can, you can't and if you can't you can" . This refers to section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972 which permits Parish (and Town) Councils to spend money (limited to £5.84* x the number of persons on the electoral register per annum) on anything which it considers to be of benefit to its parishioners. Section 137 is the power used when there is something a Council wants to do when no other specific power or section of the act exists to do it. You cannot use it if another power exists, you can if one doesn't. It is under-used. (*subject to change by Central Government)

"The Parish Council (Power to Promote Well-being) (Prescribed Conditions) Order 2008, laid before Parliament on 9 December 2008, came into force on 31 December 2008. It sets out regulations which prescribe conditions to be met by a Parish (or Town) Council in order for it to be eligible under the act to exercise the power to promote well being under Section 2 of The Local Government Act 2000 and thereby able to exercise the power to promote well being under Section 2 of that Act." Some of the larger spending Parish & Town Councils in the country will welcome this as it will enable them to spend more money. This and probably many other Parish Councils will probably make do with the under-used "section 137" power!

As mentioned previously, the Parish is a very pleasant place to live and people do want to come to live in it. House prices are relatively high and little could be described as affordable. The Parish Council recently conducted a Housing Needs Survey to assess the level and type of need, in particular to see whether there was a need for affordable housing. Whilst the results did indicate certain wishes on the part of some respondents it did not indicate much of an urgent need atall. Some people wished to relocate to a smaller property, some to larger, some people would like to move back into the Parish - but there was no long list of young people wanting or waiting & failing to find a home in the Parish. Once people establish a home here they tend to stay and the Parish Council sees many applications for extensions and conservatories so this situation could well be changing .............

There are over 80 sections of public rights of way on the Definitive Public Rights of Way Map established by Gloucestershire County Council, the Authority responsible for roads and PROW. Each particular section is numbered and our code is MKS. You can now look at them on a new GCC website*. Many walks are possible and two leaflets were published by SDC some years ago (in a series of over 40 covering the whole District) covering our Parish: Number 11 called Selsley & the Stanleys is a 6 miler straying into Leonard Stanley and Number 12 is a 3.6 miler through Selsley & neighbouring Woodchester Parish. Copies are still available. Anyone with a favourite walk is invited to contact KSPC as we would love to make more available to encourage more people out walking in the countryside. We could write up your notes and put them on this website and into the local magazines to which KSPC is a contributor. Early in 2009, thanks to the generous efforts of one of our Parish Councillors, there is now a booklet of local walks. Called Walks for everyone in the Stanleys, it is available from Yew Tree Stores for £1.49. It can also be purchased in CD format and there are some pictures on the CD.

There are at least two parishioners keen on local history. Peter Griffin's particular sphere of interest is more King's Stanley centred whilst Elizabeth Gardiner concentrates on collecting old photographs of the Selsley area. There are occasional exhibitions.

There was for a time a small core of parishioners interested in promoting sustainability - to help improve the Parish for the future, save energy, reduce waste, save money, save the planet. It was eventually hoped to bulk purchase energy, ultimately from renewable sources, for members to purchase. The King's Stanley Initiative did sustain itself for a few years and it was a very good idea - but it evolved at a time when everyone's attention was diverted by de-regulation of electricity and everything else that followed. Ultimately people became more focussed on how to cut their own expenditure as our utility suppliers multiplied themselves and continue to lobby for our custom. The Movers moved on and there was even less to sustain it. Fortunately the wider world has become more aware of the need to save energy and waste less - but have we?

Recycling is a related issue and KSPC strongly supported a facility to be be installed in the Stroud District Council's Car Park in the centre of the village, rather to the annoyance of some. Good use is still made of the facility despite the introduction of kerbside collections of many recyclable materials. Compost bins are no longer available via Stroud District Council to sell locally but we were pleased to have sold 191 since May 1998!