Gorsley, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Gorsley, a village and an ecclesiastical parish in Newent parish, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, 2 miles SW of Newent. Post town, Newent. There is a quarry of red sandstone. The ecclesiastical parish includes the village of Clifford's Mesne. Population, 533. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £200 with residence. Patrons, the Rector of Newent and the Vicar of Linton. The church at Gorsley was built in 1872 as a school church, and enlarged in 1877. There is also a church at Clifford's Mesne built in 1882. During the middle ages, there was a small monastic church dedicated to St Hillary. It was demolished in 1719. The parish church of St Peter was consecrated in 1882. The chapel of ease (Christ Church) was consecrated in 1893.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1882.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
Christ Church
Christ Church, a chapel of ease to the parish church of St. Peter, erected in 1892-3, at a cost of about £1,500, and consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the diocese in July, 1893, is a cruciform edifice of local stone, with Bath stone dressings, in the Early English style, from designs by Messrs. Rollinson, architects, of Chesterfield, and consists of chancel, nave, transepts, organ chamber and a western turret containing one bell: the stained east window is a memorial to Mrs. Onslow, late of Stardens, Newent: the carved oak pulpit screen was the work and gift of Miss Emma Onslow, of Great Malvern, sister of Captain Onslow, of Newent: there are 300 sittings.
Gorsley School church
The school church, opened August 14, 1872, is a building of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of small chancel, added in 1877, nave and a belfry on the south side containing one bell, but it is now used only for school and other parochial purposes.
St. Hillary
The small monastic church, dedicated to St Hillary, dating from the Middle Ages, was demolished in 1719.
St. Peter, Clifford's Mesne
St. Peter's, Clifford's Mesne, built in 1882, at a cost of £1,100, is an edifice of stone, in a plain style, consisting of chancel and nave and a central belfry containing one bell: there are 100 sittings.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Gorsley 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.