Dudbridge

Coordinates: 51°44′N 2°14′W / 51.74°N 02.24°W / 51.74; -02.24

Dudbridge is a suburb on the southern edge of Stroud in Gloucestershire, England.

History

Dudbridge gains its name from the first bridge in the location, which spanned the River Frome. This made it an important crossing point for traffic heading south from the Cotswolds to the port of Bristol, which is reflected in the fact that it is the meeting point of four parishes: Stroud in which lies, plus Rodborough to its east, and Stonehouse and Kings Stanley to its south.

The fast flowing river made Dudbridge a natural location for early industry, with the eariest record of a mill dating from 1235. Later industries included dying, forging and metalwork.

Industry

The Redlers industrial estate is the site of the original Dudbridge Mills, located directly beside the River Frome. From the mid-18th century onwards it housed the three mills of Daniel Chance, who sold it to in the mid 18th century, owned three mills: one corn; one gig and a dyehouse with eight drying racks. In 1794, John Apperley in 1794, whose family for the next 140 years used the site for woll and cloth making. After the business collapsed in 1933, Redlers conveyors manufacturer industrial handling equipment on the site until the mid-1990s, when it became an industrial estate.