Archway, Formerly To Farm Hill Park

882/12/80

STROUD PAGANHILL FARMHILL LANE (West side) ARCHWAY, FORMERLY TO FARM HILL PARK

(Formerly listed as: PAGANHILL , ARCHWAY, FORMERLY TO FARM HILL PARK)

01-MAY-1951

II* Archway, standing on west side of Farmhill Lane; formerly entrance to carriage drive of Farmhill Park (built c1784; demolished 1930s). Arch built 1834, or shortly afterwards. Limestone arch flanked by coupled Doric pilasters and crowned with entablature and dentil cornice. Between the arch and cornice on the east side, a rectangular plaque reads: 'Erected to commemorate the abolition / of slavery in the British colonies / The first of August A.D. MDCCCXXXIV.' In the same position on the west side, a plaque reads, 'Dedit deus libertatem detur deo gloria' ('God gave freedom. Glory be to God.') Beside the arch stands a contemporaneous small classical lodge (q.v.)

The arch's original wrought iron gates are now at Doddington Hall.

Restoration work was carried out on the arch in 1961-62, and again in 2001.

HISTORY: The Slavery Abolition Act, passed in 1833, came into force on 1 August 1834, making the ownership of slaves throughout the British colonies illegal.

The Anti-Slavery Arch was built for Henry Wyatt (1793-1847), who bought Farmhill Park in 1833, having been tenant since 1817. Wyatt had begun his life as a clothier, and became a prosperous businessman and magistrate with banking and brewing interests. He was a supporter of the Stroud Anti-Slavery Society, which put pressure on the newly-elected MP, W. H. Hyett, to vote for the abolition of slavery in Parliament.

Since the demolition of Farmhill Park in the 1930s, council housing has been built on the estate, and the arch now marks the approach to a comprehensive school (built 1961) named Archway School.

SOURCES: D. Verey and A. Brooks, The Buildings of England, Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds (1970, 1999); http://www.anti-slaveryarch.com/ accessed on 8 October 2007; 'The Anti-Slavery Arch', leaflet produced by Stroud Preservation Trust (2003)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The Anti-Slavery Arch is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * An extremely unusual monument in the form of a private triumphal arch, celebrating a public victory * The arch is of particular historic interest, having been erected to celebrate the passing the passing of the law emancipating slaves in 1834; it is Britain's oldest anti-slavery memorial. This building was upgraded from Grade II to II in in 2007, the bicentenary year of the 1807 Abolition Act. * Group value with a small classical lodge of the same date (Farmhill Lodge, listed Grade II)

Listing NGR: SO8379205764