Dowdeswell, Gloucestershire

Historical Description

Dowdeswell, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire, under the Cotswolds, 4¼ miles SE by E of Cheltenham, and 1½ mile W of Andoversford station on the G.W.R. The parish includes part of the village of Andoversford, which has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.) Acreage, 2413; population, 289. Dowdeswell Court is the seat of the Rogers family, who have had possession of the manor since the time of Henry VIII. A skirmish occurred here in the wars of Charles I., and some earthworks exist. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £300 with residence. The church is of the 16th century, cruciform, and has a tower and spire.

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 County	Gloucestershire
Ecclesiastical parish	Dowdeswell St. Michael
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 1575.

The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.

Churches

Church of England

St. Michael (parish church)

The church of St. Michael, built in 1577, is a cruciform edifice of stone, in the Late Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts, aisles, south porch and a tower with spire, containing 3 bells: there is a brass, with effigy of a priest in cope, c. 1520, and evangelistic symbols, and a monument, erected in 1900, to Maj.-Gen. George Brydges R.M.A. by his widow, sister of the then rector: there are 200 sittings.

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 Dowdeswell from the following:

Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Dowdeswell (St. Michael))

Land and Property

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

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:

Villages, Hamlets, &c

Andoversford

Visitations Heraldic

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