Perhaps best known for being the home of the very first Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust site, the village of Slimbridge has many more delights to be discovered
Slimbridge Estate: Owned by the Ernest Cook Trust.
Canal: The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal runs through the village, and under Patch Bridge, where the road leads to the Wildfowl Trust.
Football: “The Swans” or “The Bridge” play their home matches at their ground located in Wisloe Road, Cambridge. The ground was renamed Thornhill Park in memory of former chairman Evi Thornhill, who donated the field in his will when he died in 1960.
Twinning: Twinned with the 14 communes of the former canton of Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre (Normandy, France), the most populated of which is Lieurey.
Heslinbruge: An early name for Slimbridge, which was often used by the Vikings when they built a stone pass.
Church: The village church of St John the Evangelist dates from the early 13th century and is a Grade I-listed building.
Bishops: Slimbridge has provided three bishops for London, Carlisle and Exeter, one of whom, Bishop Oglethorpe, crowned Elizabeth I. Two corbels of Elizabeth and Oglethorpe are on the east wall of the chancel, one set original and one set Victorian replacements.
Famous sons: The parish has many links to William Tyndale and Edward Jenner.
Munitions: Slimridge had a munitions store, containing gunpowder and cordite, built in 1924, not far from the Black Shed Café. The railway ran from Gossington to the Black Shed, and 9,000 tons of propellant was burnt in 1924 when it was dismantled.
Aircraft: In 1916 there was an aircraft crash near the former White Lion pub.
WWT: WWT Slimbridge is a wetland reserve. It was the first Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust site to be opened, on November 10, 1946, due to the vision of Sir Peter Scott.
Troytown: The name for a medieval maze or labyrinth made with turf mounds. A sign points down Longaston Lane, where there is a property called “Troytown Cottage”. Three of the eight surviving turf mazes in England have “Troy” names; possibly referring to the labyrinthine defences of the city of Troy.
R S Phillips: The trademark of banding on the brick primary school.
Fish: Medieval stew pond at Gossington Hall.
Cat and Dog: The Cotswolds Dogs & Cats Home.
For more of Katie B Morgan’s maps and illustrations, follow @katies_maps on Instagram, or email her directly at thedecorativepainter@gmail.com
