Description

PUCKLECHURCH

1096/4/206 WESTERLEIGH ROAD
15-AUG-85 (East side)
BALL MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABOUT
5 METRES WEST OF PORCH OF ANGLICAN CHU
RCH OF ST THOMAS À BECKET

(Formerly listed as:
WESTERLEIGH ROAD
BALL MONUMENT IN THE CHURCHYARD ABOUT
5 METRES WEST OF PORCH OF CHURCH OF ST
THOMAS OF CANTERBURY)

GV II
Chest tomb of 1817.

It is of sandstone and has a flat top with moulded edge, moulded plinth and plain quarter balusters. There are a double inscription panels to the north and south faces. The tomb commemorates Amy Ball.

HISTORY: Pucklechurch, which appears from the archaeological evidence to have Roman origins, was an important settlement from the later Anglo-Saxon period, when it became the administrative, military and judicial centre of the Hundred which bears its name. The settlement, once forming parts of the ancient Forest of Kingswood, may have been a royal burh in the later Saxon period. Certainly it was the site of Edmund, King of Wessex's hunting lodge; he was murdered in Pucklechurch in AD946, and his body taken to Glastonbury Abbey for burial. The manor of Pucklechurch was formally granted to Glastonbury Abbey in AD950, and was subsequently transferred to Bath Abbey in the C13. After the Dissolution in the C16, the village underwent a phase of rebuilding and gentrification, with a number of large houses erected in the C16, C17 and C18, indicating that the settlement was relatively wealthy in this period. A further phase of expansion and prosperity occurred from the mid-C19, when a number of collieries opened in the parish.

The parish church was founded in the Norman period, and was perhaps a royal foundation, but the current building dates largely from the C13; a north aisle and south porch were built in the C14, together with parts of the tower. A chantry, now the site of the Lady Chapel, was set up by William de Cheltenham in 1337. There were further alterations in the C17, coinciding with the increased prosperity of the settlement after the Dissolution, and there were two major phases of work in the C19.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Ball tomb is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as a good example of an early-C19 chest tomb; for its design and commemoration of a member of a local family
* Group value: for its relationship with the Grade I listed church of St Thomas à Becket, and with other listed tombs

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66477444

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)