Cam, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Cam, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire, on the Cam rivulet, under the Cotswolds, 1 mile N of Dursley, with a station on the Dursley branch of the M.R., and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Dursley. Acreage of parish, 3304; population, 1782. Excellent cheese is produced. Cloth manufacture is carried on in a large establishment, and there are three flour mills. A battle was fought here in the time of Edward the Elder between the Danes and the Saxons. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; value, £168 with residence. The church, dedicated to St George, was erected in the time of Edward III., has Decorated and Perpendicular features, and consists of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch, and an embattled western tower with pinnacles. The church at Lower Cam was erected in 1850, and an ecclesiastical district formed in 1888 called St Bartholomew's, with an endowment of £150. Patron of both livings, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. There are Congregational and Wesleyan chapels, an institute with reading and recreation rooms, and an endowed school for boys.
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 | Cam St. George | |
| Hundred | Berkeley | |
| Poor Law union | Dursley |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Cam 1569-1812, Gloucestershire is available to browse online.
The parish register of St. George dates from the year 1569.
The register of St. Bartholomew dates from the year 1844.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Bartholomew
The church of St. Bartholomew, erected in 1844, is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch and an open turret at the east end, containing one bell: there are 411 sittings.
St. George (parish church)
The church of St. George is an ancient building of stone in the Late Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of four bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, and containing a clock and 6 bells: the 6th bell was added and the whole rehung in 1901: the stained east window was given by the Misses Rhodes, and there is a memorial window to Thomas Morse esq.: a new organ was provided in 1888, at a cost ol £300: in 1899-1901, the church was restored, provided with heating apparatus and gas, and work done to the bells, at a cost of £750: in 1905 a new clock with Cambridge chimes was provided, at a cost of £1,000, the gift of Mrs. Eyre: there are sittings for 470 persons.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
The Congregational chapel at Upper Cam, founded in 1662, has an extensive burial ground.
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Cam from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Cam (St. George))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Cam 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.