Henbury, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Henbury, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands on the SW verge of the county, near the Fosse Way and the estuary of the Severn, 4 miles NW of Bristol, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Bristol. The parish contains also the tithings of Kings Weston, Lawrence Weston, Stowick, Compton, Charlton, Aust, and Redwick and Northwick. Acreage, 8552; population of the civil parish, 2026; of the ecclesiastical, 2182. Blaise Castle is the seat of the Harford family, and contains a fine collection of pictures of the old masters. In the grounds are the remains of an old chapel dedicated to St Blaisus, the patron saint of wool-combers. Ten model cottages for the aged domestics of the Harford family were erected in 1810. Henbury Court is another chief residence. Henbury Hill, on which Blaise Castle stands, had a double ditched Roman camp, has yielded many Roman coins and other relics, and commands an exceedingly varied and beautiful view. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelries of Ansi, Hallen, and Northwick, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £370 with residence. The church is Early English, was restored in 1878, and consists of a nave of eight bays and aisles of the 12th century, a chancel and S chapel of the 13th century, and the N chapel of the early part of the 19th century. There is a fine square tower with clock and six bells. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels, and a meeting-house for the Society of Friends.
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 | Henbury St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Henbury | |
| Poor Law union | Clifton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Henbury 1544-1812, Gloucestershire is available to browse online.
The Phillimore transcript of Henbury Transcripts 1669-1794, Gloucestershire is available to browse online.
The parish register dates from the year 1538.
The parish registers for the Diocese of Bristol are available online at Ancestry, in association with Bristol Archives.
Churches
Church of England
dedication unknown, Hallen
The church at Hallen, erected in 1853, is a building of stone, in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, and a turret containing one bell: there are 150 sittings.
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary is an ancient building of stone chiefly in the Early English style, with Decorated and Perpendicular insertions, and consists of chancel, nave of eight bays, aisles, north porch and a low western tower containing a clock and 8 bells; the nave dates from the reign of King Stephen (1135-54): on the south side is a small chapel built in the reign of Henry III. (1216-72): there are thirteen memorial windows, various mural tablets to the Southwell and Sampson families, and one to Edward Capell, ob. 1681: the pulpit is of stone richly carved, and was presented by the family of the late vicar: the church was repaired and enlarged in 1833, and completely restored in 1878, at a cost of £6,000, and has 600 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel, Hallen
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel, Brentry
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 Henbury from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Henbury (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Henbury 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
Aust, or Aust OliveCharlton (Henbury)
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.