Down Ampney, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Ampney-Down, Down-Ampney, or Down-Amney, a parish in Gloucestershire, on Ampney brook, the Thames and Severn Canal, and Ermine Street, 2¼ miles NNE of Cricklade, and 6 ESE of Cirencester. It has a post office under Cricklade, which is the money order and telegraph office. Acreage, 2541; population, 304. The manor belonged at Domesday to Ralph du Todini, and passed to the Duchy of Lancaster, to the Villiers family, to Speaker Hungerford, to Secretary Craggs, and to the Eliots. A mansion built on it in the time of Henry VIII., by Sir Anthony Hungerford, still stands, but has been much altered by modern additions. The Earl of St Germans is lord of the manor and sole landowner. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £227. Patron, Christ Church College, Oxford. The church is Early English, built about the year 1260 by the Knights Templars, and was partly rebuilt about 1845, partly repaired in 1863. It consists of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south transept, south porch, and a massive embattled western tower, with pinnacles and a spire. In the south transept is a fine tomb, with effigies of Sir Nicholas de Villiers in mail and surcoat (1294) and his wife.
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 | Down Ampney All Saints | |
| Hundred | Crowthorne and Minety | |
| Poor Law union | Cirencester |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1603.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
All Saints (parish church)
The church of All Saints is an ancient and very interesting building of stone in the Early English and Later styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, north chapel, south transept, south porch, and a massive embattled western tower with pinnacles and spire containing a 5 bells: in the south transept, placed within an ornamented arch, is an altar tomb, with recumbent effigies of a knight in armour, representing Sir Nicholas de Villiers and a lady: in the north transept is a marble monument, richly gilt, with effigies in armour kneeling, to Sir Anthony Hungerford, kt. ob. 1653, and Sir John Hungerford kt, ob. 1637: in 1897 a carved reredos, rood, and other screens, choir stalls and pulpit were erected: the transept was rebuilt, by the 3rd Earl of St. Germans, G.C.B. who also largely contributed to the restoration of the church in 1863: the lych-gate was erected at the cost of Mrs. Paul Butler, late of Down Ampney House, in 1877: the church was reseated in 1897 by H. Martin Gibbs esq. of Down Ampney House, and now affords 250 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 Down Ampney from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ampney, Down (All Saints))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Down Ampney 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.