Draycot Cerne, Wiltshire
Historical Description
Draycot-Cerne, a parish in Wilts, near the river Avon, and 3½ miles NNE of Chippenham station on the G.W.K. Post town, Chippenham; money order and telegraph office, Sutton Bengcr. Acreage, 1015; population, 147. All the property, with Draycot-Cerne House, belonged formerly to the Cernes and the Longs, and belongs now to Earl Cowley. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; value, £238 with residence. Patron, Earl Cowley. The church is ancient, has a tower, contains a brass to Sir Edward Cerne of 1380, and monuments of the Longs, and is very good.
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 | Draycot-Cerne St. Peter | |
Hundred | Malmesbury | |
Poor Law union | Chippenham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Cemeteries
The cemetery of about a quarter of an acre, was formed by the 2nd Earl Cowley, and has one mortuary chapel.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1690.
Findmypast, in association with the Wiltshire Record Office, have the following parish records online for Draycot Cerne:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1578-1917 | 1754-1786 | 1604-1933 | 1605-1971 |
Churches
Church of England
St. James (parish church)
The church of St. James is an ancient edifice of stone, chiefly in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, north porch, and a Perpendicular western tower, containing one large bell and a clock with chimes, presented by the 2nd Marquess of Salisbury (d. 1868): the chancel is conjectured to have been the original church, and retains the tomb of the supposed founder: there is a fine brass to Sir Edward Cerne and memorials to the Long family: the font is Decorated, and there are some good stained windows: the church affords about 110 sittings.
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 Draycot Cerne from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Draycot-Cerne (St. Peter))
Maps
Online maps of Draycot Cerne 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 Wiltshire papers online: