| What: | Historic building |
| Where: | GL5 3LR Located on Walkley Hill |
| Then: | Built by successful Dudbridge clothier, Alfred Apperly. This was the last gentry house built in the parish. |
| Now: | Chartered accountants, Randall & Payne were here in the mid 20th century. The bearing company Omnitrack now owns the building. |
Sir Alfred Apperly, a successful Dudbridge clothier, bought a house called The Hawthornes in 1872. In 1888, he employed Alfred Bucknall of Clifton (brother of the more famous Benjamin Bucknall) to replace The Hawthornes with a new house, which became known as Rodborough Court. In 1899, the house was extended to the north-east and increased in height by P.R. Morley-Horder.
Sir Alfred also laid out gardens, some of which were reached by a bridge across the public road. The gardens were much admired locally, and were used for various village events, including those associated with the Tabernacle. Because of the relatively cramped site, the stables, kitchen gardens and orchards were built on the opposite side of Walkley Hill. >After Sir Alfred's death in 1913 the house was occupied by his widow. She sold it, with Stringers Farm, in 1923, but continued to occupy part of the house. In the mid 20th century, the Court was sub-divided into flats, and later adapted as offices for Randall & Payne, a local firm of chartered accountants (who left in 2013).>The garden areas were sold off after the Second World War, and a detached house was built on the site of main garden west of the house in the 1950s. All the land on the south side of Walkley Hill, where the kitchen gardens had stood, was also built over at this time.
From January 2016, this website is managed by Stroud Local
History Society
Revised 2018 EMW
