Village has been centre for the rich and famous (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Village has been centre for the rich and famous

WHAT have Gustav Holst, aviator Amy Johnson, Lt Col James Carne VC, poet FW Harvey, composer Ivor Gurney, George Orwell and Noel Coward got in common?

All have either lived in or stayed in Cranham, near Stroud.

A new illustrated history of this picturesque Cotswold village reveals a catalogue of the famous and the not so famous who have lived there.

The book, rich with anecdotes, reveals the area's tempestuous past when it was dominated in turn by the Romans and the Belgian Hwicce tribe.

Then the invading Vikings caused trouble to the Hwicce by using the Severn to make raids into the heart of their territory.

Records from the same period identify a beech tree at Prinknash Corner as a place of execution.

Cranham residents have, from earliest times, worked the land and tended their cattle. But William the Conqueror passed through on his way to Gloucester, Henry VIII hunted in Cranham Woods and in 1778 King George III stopped with his family for a dish of wild strawberries, much to the amazement of a peasant woman who was rewarded with a golden guinea.

Janet Whitton and Kate Searle, with the help of other members of the Cranham History Society, have spent four years researching and writing this 320 page History of Cranham which has 180 illustrations and costs £15.

The book was launched on Saturday, May 21 and copies will be on sale in Cranham Village Hall on Sunday, May 29 from 2-4pm.

The History of Cranham is also available from local book shops and from Jan Whitton on 01452 812417.