History
Periods Covered
Beginnings, Middle Ages, Reformation, Enlightenment, Victorian, Modern

Introduction
Picture, Dymock Main Street
Dymock is a village set in rural Gloucestershire, in the north-western edge of the diocese, against the border with Herefordshire. Until the 20th century, the majority of its people were chiefly associated with the land. Today there are still many people associated with farming and rural activities, but there are also new homes and people who work in other businesses outside the village. (Return to top)

Dymock hasn't always been a village. Archeological evidence shows that it was a place of some importance in Roman times and records suggest it was still a good-sized town in the Middle Ages. In those days 2,000 - 3,000 people was a fair-sized town, but it didn't have to be an urban place as a town usually is today, it could still be quite rural in character. (Return to top)
Pre-Christian Times
Picture, Map of Ancient Dymock
We don’t have much information about Dymock in those times but the people would probably have had tribal connections with those of Malvern Chase or the Forest of Dean. However, Neolithic settlements (3,000BC) are recorded at Linton and Haffield. Welch House Lane, a modern road to the east of the present village, is an ancient British track-way said to link those two points. (Return to top)

Rivers and streams were used for communication, transport and defence, so it’s not surprising that it's along the river Leadon that the earliest settlements are found. Evidence suggests that pre-Roman occupation was concentrated on the area of the present cricket ground and the field to its north-east. (Return to top)
Roman Times
Picture, Roman in Toga
Excavations and chance finds show that Dymock was a major Roman settlement situated where the church and village now stand. There appears to be no record of Roman remains being found before 1949 but since that date, quantities of pottery and dressed stone have been discovered. Over 30 sites have now been plotted containing: pottery, glass, coins, metal and bone objects, slag, oyster shells and bones. The extent of the finds cover an area bigger than the present village, which suggests a good-sized town existed. (Return to Top)

The excavated pottery is of a great variety, including samian, black, grey and brown burnished ware, and crude native pottery of the fourth century. The earliest dateable specimen is a small samian dish stamped to show it came from the wheel of Volus of La Graufesenque in south Gaul (France) in 35-55AD, it was found in the churchyard. (Return to Top)

The coins found also cover a large period, beginning with a denarius of Tiberius (14-37AD) and ending with a coin from the Constantine family in the fourth century. Selected samples are displayed in an exhibition case in church and others have been sent to museums including Gloucester and the Bodleian in Oxford. It's possible that some Christianity arrived in Dymock in Roman times but we have no knowledge about that either way. (Return to Top)