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Bibury, Gloucestershire

Historical Description

Bibury, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands on the river Coln, near Icknield Street, 5¼miles S of Northleach, and 7 NE of Cirencester station on the G.W.R., and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Fairford (S.O.) The parish includes also the tithings of Ablington and Arlington, and the chapelry of Winson. Acreage, 5198; population of the civil parish, 695; of the ecclesiastical with Winson, 829. Bibury Court was built by Sir Thomas Sackville in 1623, and passed by marriage to the Warneford, and subsequently to the Cresswell family. It is now the property of Lord Sherborne. It is an interesting house built by Inigo Jones in his first style. A very interesting old manor-house, built in 1590, is at Ablington, and is still in the possession of the descendants of the original builder. The living is a vicarage, with the chapelry of Winson annexed, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £773 with residence. Patron, Lord Sherborne. The church belonged to the Abbey of Osney, and shows features of Norman, Early English, and Perpendicular work. It has a fine embattled tower, a spacious chancel and nave, and a good carved roof. The church has been carefully restored, and is in very good condition. There are four almshouses.

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 parishBibury St. Mary 
HundredBradley 
Poor Law unionNorthleach 

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


Church Records

The register dates from the year 1551.

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 is an ancient structure in the Norman, Early English and later styles, with some remains of presumed Saxon work, consisting of a long and narrow chancel, embattled nave of seven bays with clerestory, aisles, south porch and an embattled tower, containing a clock and 6 bells: the roof is of oak, and exhibits some fine carving of the time of Henry VII.: the north and south doorways are Norman: the stained east window was erected in commemoration of Elizabeth (Howard), wife of James Henry (Dutton), third Lord Sherborne; she died in 1815: the interior of this church was thoroughly repaired in 1855, and fitted with low open seats, and in 1896 was again restored at a cost of £1,750, and now affords 500 sittings.

Bibury had formerly a peculiar jurisdiction, including Bibury, Winson, Barnsley and Aldsworth.


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 Bibury from the following:


Land and Property

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


Maps

Online maps of Bibury 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

Ablington
Arlington

Visitations Heraldic

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

DistrictCotswold
CountyGloucestershire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtGL7