| Dymock is a village in the Forest of Dean (district) of Gloucestershire, England about four miles south of Ledbury-on the southern slope of the Malvern Hills. Ledbury is an ancient borough, dating back to the Domesday Book, where it was recorded as Liedeberge, and returned members to Parliament in the reign of Edward I. The King Edward who held Dymock was King Edward the Confessor, King of Wessex, one of the last Saxon "Kings of the English." Ledbury probably takes its name from the River Leadon, on which it stands. Once home to the poetess Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who spent her childhood days at Hope End, and to poet laureate John Masefield. Until 1885, the Hereford to Gloucester canal which was opened in 1798, passed through the lower part of the town with wharves at Bye Street and at what is now the Ross Road near the Full Pitcher public house. The canal on closing was used as a route for the Ledbury to Gloucester railway. When that closed, as a result of the Beeching cuts, it became disused until it was converted to a nature trail. |  |
Dymock, Gloucestershire is known as the first Dymoke family ancestral home. Though the village's origins are unknown, pottery and coins has been excavated from the area has been dated as far back as 14 A.D. Dymock is about halfway between May Hill in the south and the Malvern Hills in the north. The area between May Hill and the Malvern Hills is known for its wild daffodils, which once grew in abundance in the meadows and woods. Dymock is also the origin of the Dymock Red, a cider apple, and Stinking Bishop cheese.
Dymock is built near the site of Macatonium, a lost Roman town that was possibly destroyed in the fourth century (500 AD). The early Saxons built the beginnings of the present day village on the outskirts of these ruins. There is a further gap during the Saxon period and the Middle Ages until we reach the point where Dymock is mentioned in the Domesday Book and at that time there were 68 males living in the village. Much has been recorded since that time. The local school is called Ann Cam. In the village of Dymock there are several interesting buildings which include cruck beam cottages; "The White House", which was the birthplace of John Kyrle-Man of Ross in 1637, Ann Cam School of 1825 and St. Mary's Church, a patch work history in brick and stone with Anglo-Norman origins. The homes of Robert Frost and Wilfred Wilson Gibson can still be seen there.
The spire of Dymock’s ancient Norman church of St Mary the Virgin. Saint Mary's Church is believed by many to pre-date the Norman Conquest. A priest, in Dymock, was mentioned in the Domesday Book and later references to religious leaders of Dymock occur in the records of Flaxley Abbey. In 1247 the Bishop of Hereford invested William of Tedington as the first vicar of Dymock. The last vicar left a few years ago and now Dymock is included within the Benefice of Redmarley.
The Church of St. Benedict was built on the south side of Scrivelsby Court park in Lincolnshire and contains several monuments to the DYMOKE family. Phillip MARMION, the fifth baron of this parish, died without male issue in 1292, leaving four daughters who inherited his estates. The youngest, Joan, inherited Scrivelsby. She later married Sir Thomas LUDLOW. Their heir and daughter Margaret married sir John DYMOKE, with whose descendants the manor of Scrivelsby remained. Henry DYMOKE performed the office of Champion of the English Crown at the coronation of George IV. William the Conqueror gave the manor of Scrivelsby to Robert MARMION. He and his heirs were to perform the office of Champion of the English Crown, the lord or his deputy were required to appear at the coronation of every monarch and issue a personal challenge to anyone who spoke against the new king or queen. Scrivelsby Court, the seate of the DYMOKE family since the reign of Richard II (circa 1380), stood on a hill within a 300-acre wooded park. Much of the building was destroyed in a fire in 1765. In 1842, the owner of all the property was Sir Henry DYMOKE, baronet and lord of the manor. The church was thoroughly restored in 1861. The spire was replaced in 1876.
Dymoke, the name of an English family holding the office of king's champion. The earliest record of the ceremony at the coronation of an English king dates from the accession of Richard II. On this occasion the champion was Sir John Dymoke (d. 1381), who held the manor of Scrivelsby, Lincolnshire, in right of his wife Margaret, granddaughter of Joan Ludlow, who was the daughter and co-heiress of Philip Marmion, last Baron Marmion. The Marmions claimed descent from the lords of Fontenay, hereditary champions of the dukes of Normandy, and held the castle of Tamworth, Leicestershire, and the manor of Scrivelsby. The right to the championship was disputed with the Dymoke family by Sir Baldwin de Freville, lord of Tamworth, who was descended from an elder daughter of Philip Marmion. The court of claims eventually decided in favor of the owners of Scrivelsby on the ground that Scrivelsby was held in grand serjeanty, that is, that its tenure was dependent on, rendering a special service, in this case the championship.
Sir Thomas Dymoke (1428?-1471) joined a Lancastrian rising in 1469, and, with his brother-in-law Richard, Lord Willoughby and Welles, was beheaded in 1471 by order of Edward IV after he had been induced to leave sanctuary on a promise of personal safety. The estates were restored to his son Sir Robert Dymoke (d. 1546), champion at the coronations of Richard III, Henry VII, and Henry VIII, who distinguished himself at the Siege of Tournai and became treasurer of the kingdom. The Siege of Tournai (1521) took place during the Italian War of 1521. An Imperial army besieged the city of Tournai, capturing it from the French in late November; it would remain a Habsburg possession until the independence of Belgium. His descendants acted as champions at successive coronations. Lewis Dymoke (d. 1820) put in an unsuccessful claim before the House of Lords for the barony of Marmion. His nephew Henry (1801-1865) was champion at the coronation of George IV. He was accompanied on that occasion by the Duke of Wellington and Lord Howard of Effingham. Henry Dymoke was created a baronet; he was succeeded by his brother John, rector of Scrivelsby (1804-1873), whose son Henry Lionel died without issue in 1875, when the baronetcy became extinct, the estate passing to a collateral branch of the family. The practice of awarding baronetcies was introduced by James I of England in 1611. The Baronetage of Scotland or Nova Scotia was erected on 28 May 1625, for the establishment of the plantation of Nova Scotia. There are three hereditary knighthoods in Ireland, one of which is now extinct. The revival of the Order can be dated to Sir Robert Cotton's discovery in the late 16th or early 17th century of William de la Pole's patent (issued in the 13th yeare of Edward III's reign), conferring upon him the dignity of a baronet in return for a sum of money. After the coronation of George IV the ceremony was allowed to lapse, but at the coronation of King Edward VII H. S. Dymoke bore the standard of England in Westminster Abbey.
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