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Deerhurst, Gloucestershire

Historical Description

Deerhurst, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands on the river Severn, at the boundary with Worcestershire, 3 miles SW of Tewkesbury. It gives the title of Viscount to the Earl of Coventry. The parish includes also the hamlets of Deerhurst-Walton and Apperley, and has a post office under Tewkesbury; money order and telegraph office, Tewkesbury. Acreage, 3138; population, 712. The monastery of Deerhurst, with which the parish church was connected, is known to have existed for full 800 years, down to the period of the general suppression of monastic institutions. In the year 804 Ethelric, Earl of a district of Mercia, bestowed valuable estates upon it; but the monks already possessed landed property equal in extent to about twelve modern parishes. Edward the Confessor gave half of the estates to St Peter's, Westminster, and the other half, with the monastery, to the house of St Denis, near Paris; thus it became an alien priory. Edward IV. gave it as a cell to Tewkesbury Abbey. A large part of the domestic buildings of the priory, dating from the 14th century, remains standing, and has been turned into a farmhouse. Whilst the domestic buildings suffered severely at the hands of the destroyer, the church (one of the most interesting in England) seems to have escaped with much less injury, and in some of its main features probably presents us with an example of Saxon work of the 8th century. The celebrated Odda Stone (preserved at Oxford), which was supposed to be connected with the church and to supply its date (1056), is now, with good reason, connected with the Saxon chapel (brought to light in 1885) which stands about 80 yards from the churchyard. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; value, £312 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The tower, which is four storeys high, is a good example of Anglo-Saxon architecture with Norman additions. Additions have been made to the church at various dates, and it was restored in 1861, and contains two brasses, one of them a fine canopied brass of Chief-Baron Cassey. There is a Wesleyan chapel at Apperley.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyGloucestershire 
Ecclesiastical parishDeerhurst Holy Trinity 
HundredDeerhurst 
Poor Law unionTewkesbury 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

The register dates from the year 1558.

The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.


Churches

Church of England

St. Mary (parish church)

The church of St. Mary, formerly belonging to the priory, is an edifice of great antiquity and singular character, dating probably from the 8th century, and originally consisting of a choir (20 by 21 feet) with presbytery and aisles, clerestoried nave of four bays (38 by 21 feet) and a western tower, the entire length being 105 feet: the presbytery, with the exception of the foundations and one of the side walls, has disappeared, as well as one half of each choir aisle, but otherwise the church preserves substantially its ancient features: the tower, the upper stage of which is of later date than the general fabric, is 70 feet in height, and contains a clock and 6 bells: in its eastern wall is a double window with triangular headings looking into the nave, and the lower stage forms a porch, with chambers above it: the south aisle of the nave was added in the 12th century and the north aisle later: most of the windows are Decorated, but some are of Perpendicular date: the font, carved with ornamental work not later, it is believed, than the 9th century, is very curious and interesting: the existing arrangements of the chancel are peculiar and probably of Puritan origin: in the church is a brass with effigy to John Cassy, appointed chief baron of the Exchequer 12 May, 1389, ob. 1400; his family held the manor of Wightfield in this parish from the reign of Edw. III. to the end of that of Queen Elizabeth; on the brass occur the royal arms of England, indicative of his holding office under the Crown.


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 Deerhurst from the following:


Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.


Maps

Online maps of Deerhurst are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:


Villages, Hamlets, &c

Apperley

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.

DistrictTewkesbury
CountyGloucestershire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtGL19
Post TownGloucester

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