Bishops Cleeve A Brief History
Bishop's Cleeve is a village 3 miles north of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England and lies at the foot of Cleeve Hill - the highest point in the Cotswolds. Remains dating from the Iron Age and the Roman occupation have been found during recent redevelopment. The village currently has some 31 listed buildings, a few dating back to the 12th and 13th Centuries.
The earliest village on the site of Bishop's Cleeve existed in the 8th Century and was called Timbingctun. At that time there was a monastery, which is thought to have stood close to the site of the present church of St Michael's. In the late 8th Century, Offa, King of Mercia granted the surrounding land to the monastery. Later the village became known as Cliffe, referring to the cliff-like escarpment of Cleeve Hill. When, in the 9th Century, the monastery and its land were given to the Bishop of Worcester, the village became known as Bishop's Cleeve, although the monastery itself soon disappeared.
