Murder, Myth and Mayhem

The story goes that Joram Cox, a cobbler, was both double-jointed and visually ugly - indeed he was invoked by mothers to frighten their wayward children into obedience. When Cox died he was interred in Oakridge chapelyard, but a pair of rascals…

Many attempts were made to enclose the common, the first being in 1733, which failed, as did other efforts. However, in 1866 the squire's young son, John Dorington, was determined to succeed. He called meetings and circulated pamphlets…

In 1832 when the farm was occupied by H W Hancox, then aged 23 it was the scene of an infamous and violent crime. Tunley Farm was very isolated, surrounded by trees. Eli Gardiner, an old thatcher of Oakridge whose father had been a farm labourer…

In 1896 a plan of the Stroud joint hospital board to house smallpox cases in the old parish pest-house at Oakridge angered local people who rioted and burned down the building! Pest Houses were hospitals/hostels used for persons afflicted with…

James Wyndham, shot dead by his son Frederick, buried 24 Oct 1893, Oakridge.Excerpts from the Gloucester Chronicle 1893Execution of Frederick Wyndham aged 45 years - Hanged by John Billington & William Warbrick H.M. Prision Gloucester Thursday…