Bourton, Berkshire
Historical Description
Bourton, a township and a parish in Berks, on the Wilts and Berks Canal, about 1 mile SW of Shrivenham station on the G.W.R., and 7 miles SW of Faringdon. Post town, Shrivenham (R.S.O.), which is the money order and telegraph office. Acreage of township, 1260; population, 260. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; gross value, £96, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor. The church, built in 1861, is an edifice of stone in the Decorated style. There is a Baptist chapel and there are six almshouses. Bourton House is a chief residence.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Berkshire | |
| Civil parish | Shrivenham | |
| Hundred | Shrivenham | |
| Poor Law union | Farringdon |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1860.
Churches
Church of England
St. James (parish church)
The church of St. James, built by public subscription on a site given by Thomas Tucker esq. who also contributed £500 to its erection, is an edifice of stone in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a western bell-gable containing 2 bells: the organ, presented by the first vicar, was opened May 22nd, 1881: in 1907 a vestry was built on the north aide, and heating apparatus provided, at a cost of about £300: the church was restored in 1873, and affords 140 sittings: a churchyard, the gift of Mr. J. T. Painton Smith, was provided in 1897.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Bourton was in Faringdon Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Wantage Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Bourton from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Berkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Bourton 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 Berkshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitations of Berkshire 1532, 1566, and 1665-6 is available online.