Deerhurst Walton & Walton Hill

The hamlets of Deerhurst Walton and Walton Hill lie to the east of Deerhurst parish.  The houses which make up Walton Hill lie along the road which leads north-west from Walton Farm, from which there are good views towards the River Severn. 

 Deerhurst Walton lies on lower lying ground just to the west of the A38. 

The Deerhurst Dragon
Legend has it that, a long time ago, a dragon ravaged the area.  According to the 17th Century Gloucestershire historian Robert Atkyns the King issued a decree to the effect that whoever could rid the land of this menace would receive a grant of land -  the estate of Walton Hill.    A labourer called John Smith  is said to have fed milk to the dragon to make it sleepy then he crept up on the beast and decapitated it with one blow of his axe.  Smith was given lands at Walton Hill in return for this great feat of courage. 

Dragon carving from inside Deerhurst Church

Houses at Walton Hill

In the 14th Century the population of Deerhurst Walton was probably as big as, or bigger then, Deerhurst itself, although it was likely to have been in scattered farms rather than a village.    Walton Farm and Walton Hill Farm date back to the 17th Century or earlier and the manor of Notcliffe dates back to at least the 16th Century.  Notcliffe House itself was built mainly at the end of the 18th Century. 

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