Sherston Magna, Wiltshire
Historical Description
Sherston Magna, a village and a parish in Wilts. The village stands on the river Avon, 5¼ miles WSW of Malmesbury station on the G.W.R. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Malmesbury. Acreage of the civil parish, 3758; population, 1349; of the ecclesiastical, 1524. It was known to the Saxons as Sceorstan, witnessed an obstinate battle in 1016 between Edmund Ironside and Canute, and was long a place of considerable consequence. Roman coins have been found; a deep well, supposed to have been of Roman origin, is behind the village, and an entrenched camp, probably Saxon, is a little to the NE. The living is a vicarage, united with Sherston Parva, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £220 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester. The church is Norman and cruciform, and has a central tower. It has been beautifully restored chiefly through the exertions of the Cresswell family. The Norman arches date from 1135. There are Congregational, Baptist, and Primitive Methodist chapels.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Wiltshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Sherston Magna Holy Cross | |
Hundred | Chippenham | |
Poor Law union | Malmesbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Sherston Magna 1653-1812, Wiltshire is available to browse online.
Findmypast, in association with the Wiltshire Record Office, have the following parish records online for Sherston Magna:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1601-1864 | 1601-1864 | 1838-1864 |
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Sherston Magna from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Sherston Magna (Holy Cross))
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Wiltshire papers online: