Kemerton, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Kemerton, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands near the Can-ant Brook, a small affluent of the Avon, amid hills commanding extensive views, adjacent to Worcestershire, 1½ mile E of Bredon station on the M.R., and 5 miles NE of Tewkesbury, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Tewkesbury. The parish comprises 1664 acres; population, 469. The two manors, with Kemerton Upper and Lower Courts, have descended from early Plantagenet times through the family of Clare, Musgrose, Mortimer, Fitz-Allan, Beauchamp, Neville, Ligon, Huys, and Parsons, to the 18th century, when they passed by marriage to the present possessors, the Hoptons of Canon-ffrome, Herefordshire. Excellent freestone is quarried. There are several mills, worked by water. A British camp, the most northern of a long line stretching along the crest of the Cotswolds from Clifton Down, is on the summit of Bredon Hill. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £320 with residence. Patron, St Bartholomew's Hospital, Gloucester. The church, excepting the tower, was rebuilt in 1847, is in the Decorated style, and consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with porch and tower. There are Wesleyan and Roman Catholic chapels.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Gloucestershire | |
Hundred | Tewkesbury | |
Poor Law union | Tewkesbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore & co. transcript of the Marriages at Kemerton 1575-1716 is available to browse online.
The parish register dates from the year 1572.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Nicholas (parish church)
The church of St. Nicholas, rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, in 1847, is a building of stone in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing a clock and 6 bells: the tower was restored in 1879, at a cost of £520: a few modern mural tablets, removed from the chancel at the time of the restoration of the church, are now in the north aisle: there are also two tablets in memory of members of the Holland family: the east window and nine others are filled with stained glass: an oak reredos, containing pictures, was added in 1912: there are sittings for 330 persons.
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel
Roman Catholic
St. Benet
The Roman Catholic church, dedicated to St. Benet, and erected in 1843, is a building of stone, consisting of chancel and nave: the east window is stained: the church affords about 130 sittings: attached is a residence for the priest.
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 Kemerton from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Kemerton are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:
- Gloucester Citizen
- Gloucester Journal
- Gloucestershire Chronicle
- Gloucestershire Echo
- Cheltenham Chronicle
- Cheltenham Looker-On
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.