THE ROMAN TIMES

The earliest history of Cheltenham dates back to the Roman times. Excavations at the St. James site prior to the construction of the Waitrose store revealed a number of linear ditches containing Romano-British pottery such as Severn Valley, Black Burnished and Samian wares dating from 2nd to mid-3rd century. The pottery indicates that there was probably a substantial Roman settlement in the immediate vicinity.

ANGLO-SAXON SETTLEMENT

Cheltenham as an Anglo-Saxon settlement was established at least 1,200 years ago, at a point where the road from Winchcombe to Gloucester ran close to a stream, now known as the river Chelt, along which several mills were established. The Saxon name of the settlement which means 'the village near a cliff', referencing the Cotswold scarp, probably gave the name to the river, rather than the other way round.

Cheltenham Hight Street, around 1740

Cheltenham was the site of a monastery as early as 803, when the Bishop of Worcester and the Bishop of Hereford were argueing about which of them was entitled to its revenues. The monastery was probably a very modest building a home to a group of clergymen who looked after a nearby church, but it didn't survive the Danish invasion in the 9th century, when the Danes sailed up the Bristol Channel and landed at Gloucester.

At the time of the Domesday Book (1086), where Cheltenham is refered to as Chinteneha, it was a small village with a population of less than 200. The manor belonged to the crown - it was granted to Henry de Bohun, earl of Hereford, late in the 12th century, but in 1199 it was exchanged for other lands with the king. It was granted to William de Longespe, earl of Salisbury, in 1219, but resumed on his death and granted in dower to Eleanor of Provence in 1243.

THE MIDDLE AGES

The town is first mentioned in 1223, when William de Longespe leased the benefit of the markets, fairs and hundred of Cheltenham to the men of the town. In 1226 Henry III had granted Cheltenham a market on each Thursday, and a fair on the vigil, feast and morrow of St James. For centuries stalls of the market were set out in the High Street. A reminder of those times is at the entrance to St. Mary's churchyard in the town centre, where a pair of brass markers, used by traders to measure lengths of cloth, was set into the pavement.

Cheltenham was mainly an agricultural community. Most of the people lived by farming. The local sandy soil was good for growing carrots, cabbages and turnips. Crops of oats and barley were joined by vineyards and the area became significant wine producer. Tobacco became a popular crop later on, until it was suppressed by the influence of the Virginian and West Indian merchants.

The Plough Inn

On some old maps the town's name is given as Cheltenham Street, because that's exactly how Cheltenham looked up to the end of the 18th century - a single street following the course of the present High Street, with lanes leading off. Besides St. Mary's church there were only a few stone buildings. The boys' grammar school established by Richard Pate (1516-1588) and built in 1578 stood in the Lower High Street. The Plough, the facade of which you can still recognise in the Regent Arcade shopping centre, was one of a few inns.

In 1628 the manor of Cheltenham was purchased outright from the Crown by John Dutton of Sherborne, Gloucestershire. It was to remain in the possession of this family for over two centuries, until sold to James Agg-Gardner. The town's population grew very slowly, and as late as 1700 it had no more than 1,500 inhabitants and 320 dwellings. Apart from St. Mary's church and the remains of the churchyard cross, hardly anything in Cheltenham survived from before the 18th century.