Nailsworth Information and History

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Nailsworth Information and History

It is believed that people lived in Nailsworth from the later part of the 12th century, the chief settlement growing around the meeting place of the valleys in the area.

By 1663 the settlement had grown and considered to be a hamlet, however it remained in two distinct groups of houses - Lower Nailsworth and Upper Nailsworth. The houses were probably built of rubble, timber or mud and sticks.

Nailsworth remained somewhat isolated as it was not on the main route to anywhere. The size of Nailsworth slowly grew and cloth manufacture was adopted in favour of farming and many mills were built.

By 1880 the population of Nailsworth would have been just over 2000 and modern conveniences like gas lighting had been installed in the streets.

Today, Nailsworth is a small but interesting Cotswold town with a multitude of attractive streets and alleyways on the slopes above the valley bottoms. Many of the old mill buildings have been converted to a variety of uses such as restaurants and offices. Egypt Mills illustrates this. Once a corn mill that was later used for dyeing it is now home to the Egypt Mill Hotel (Tel : 01453 833449) with its 10 rooms and good quality restaurant. It can also be used as a venue for Civil Weddings and conferences.