Dymock (St. Mary)
DYMOCK (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Newent, hundred of Botloe, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 4 miles (S. by W.) from Ledbury; containing 1776 inhabitants. This place, which is supposed to derive its name from the Saxon dim, dark, and ac, oak, was formerly of a little importance, and had in the reign of Henry III. the privilege of a market and three fairs, all long since disused. The parish is situated on the road from Ledbury to Newent and Gloucester, and comprises by recent survey about 7000 acres: the scenery is agreeably diversified, and several parts afford fine views of the Malvern and Cotswold hills; the soil in some places is loamy, and in others sandy. Apples and pears are abundant, and a considerable quantity of cider and perry is made. The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire canal, and the river Leden, pass through the parish. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 13. 9.; net income, £104; patron, A. Thompson, Esq. The church is a cruciform structure, supposed to have been built from the remains of an extensive religious establishment, ruins of which have been found in the vicinity; it has a nave of large dimensions, and there are Norman windows in some parts of the edifice. Schools for 50 boys and 50 girls, with residences for the master and mistress, were built in 1825, at a cost of £1200, part of a grant made by the court of chancery out of the property of Mrs. Ann Cam; the remainder, a little more than £3000, is invested in securities, and the interest applied to the purposes of the charity. Twenty persons are annually clothed from a bequest by Mr. Wintour. A moated building, still called the Castle Farm, standing on the border of the parish, and near an elevation called "Castle Tump," forms the remains of the old castle, said to have been garrisoned by Sir John Wintour, for Charles I. John Kyrle, the Man of Ross, immortalized by the pen of Pope, was born at the White House, in the parish.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.