Horsley, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Horsley, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands on the side of the Cotswolds, 1½ mile SW of Nailsworth, and 5 miles S of Stroud, was once a market-town, consists chiefly of old houses, irregularly built, and has a post office under Stroud; money order and telegraph office, Nailsworth. The parish includes also the hamlets of Chaven-age, Barton End, Down End, Rockness, and Nupp End. Acreage, 3268; population, 1136. A Tudor manor house, with chapel attached, is at Chavenage. An ancient priory, a cell to St Martin du Tours, stood near the church, passed to Bruton Abbey, and is now represented by only a gateway. The living is a vicarage, united with Chavenage, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £193 with residenee. Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The church is Perpendicular, and consists of nave, transepts, and chancel, with a tower containing six bells. There is a Wesleyan chape
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 | Horsley St. Martin | |
| Hundred | Longtree | |
| Poor Law union | Stroud |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Horsley 1591-1811, Gloucestershire is available to browse online.
The parish register dates from the year 1587.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Martin (parish church)
The church of St. Martin, built on the site of an earlier church, is an edifice of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts and a tower of the 14th century, containing a clock and 6 bells: there is one stained window: the church was restored in 1887, at a cost of £642, and affords sittings for 450 persons.
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel
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 Horsley from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Horsley (St. Martin))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Horsley 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
Barton EndVisitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.