IF there's one thing the peaceful surroundings of Stroud are rarely known for it's gruesome, bloody murders.

However, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, our town was the scene of two sinister and much discussed killings.

As unbelievable as it may sound, the two crimes in question took place in the peaceful, picturesque villages of Bisley and Horsley, and captured the imagination of the nation as well as the local community.

The grisly tales are told in Gloucestershire Murders, a new book by Linda Stratmann, published by Stroud-based Sutton Publishing as part of its true crime series.

The first death was of elderly farmer James Wyndham, who was killed in the October of 1893 by his son Frederick in the grounds of Twissells Farm at Oakridge Lynch near Bisley.

Wyndham was a man with a history of violent behaviour and was known for his short temper.

His wife Jemima died in 1889 and he gradually began to lose the support of all his children due to his increasingly aggressive and eccentric nature.

James' relationship with the ill-named Virtue Mills, a woman with a reputation, did him no favours, mainly due to the fact that Mills had a previous husband.

This was deemed thoroughly unacceptable and particularly enraged James' son, Frederick.

James himself grew more aggressive and was known to have once attempted to kill his daughter Susan over a dispute involving money.

James' fate was sealed when he got into an argument with Frederick while out shooting.

A heated exchange resulted in Frederick shooting his father twice, once in the neck and once in the chest.

He was tried at Gloucester Assizes in November 1893 and showed no remorse for the murder - in fact he even swore to kill Virtue as well.

Wyndham was hung on December 21 the same year.

The second murder took place outside Horsley at the beginning of the 20th Century, and is rather less explicable.

For reasons unknown, a young man named William Williams killed his one and only friend John Dudley Scott.

Scott died at the hands of Williams on August 14, 1902 during a late night bike ride.

He shot Scott in the head before hiding the body in a neighbouring field.

Williams returned to Scott's house, the Priory in Horsley where he was staying, and then fled to London where, after confessing his crime to his brother, he took his own life with a revolver.

No one will ever know why Williams chose to kill his friend, but many theories have been adopted, such as Williams' unhealthy obsession with Scott's mother.

Linda Stratmann's book looks as deeply as it can into events that are shrouded by the passing of time and reports some fascinating details, bringing the grisly past alive.

Stroud's history may not be as clean as we all like to think, but here are stories it is safe to pour over and discuss, simply because enough time has passed and there is no one left alive to take offence.

Gloucestershire Murders by Linda Stratmann is published by Sutton Books and costs £12.99.