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.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Gloucestershire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Bibury St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Bradley | |
| Poor Law union | Northleach |
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:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bibury (St. Mary))
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:
- 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
Villages, Hamlets, &c
AblingtonArlington
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.