Icomb, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Iccomb or Icomb, a parish in Gloucestershire, on the verge of the county, 2 miles SE of Stow-on-the-Wold. It has a post office under Stow-on-the-Wold (S.O.); money order and telegraph office, Stow-on-the-Wold, and comprises the hamlets of Iccomb and Church Iccomb-the latter formerly in Worcestershire. Area, 1184 acres; population, 135. King Offa gave Iccomb to the prior and monks of Worcester. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are now lords of the manor of Church Iccomb. Iccomb Place, the old manor house, was the residence of the BIacket family in the 15th century, and is an object of great interest to antiquaries for the remarkable illustration it affords of the domestic buildings of that period. On Iccomb Hill there are earthworks. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £100 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The church was built chiefly about 1220, is a very perfect example of Early English architecture, and was carefully restored in 1870. It contains the tomb of Sir John BIacket, who fought at Agin-court, and monuments to the Cope family.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Icombe 1563-1812, Gloucestershire is available to browse online.
The register of baptisms dates from the year 1545; marriages, 1563; burials, 1602.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary is a building of stone, chiefly in the Early English style, and consisting oi chancel, nave, south porch and a western tower containing 8 tubular bells: the chancel retains a piscina, and attached to the nave is a south chapel, built in the 15th century as a burial place for the Blaket family, and retaining a piscina: beneath the south window is a recumbent marble effigy of Sir John Blaket knt. said to have fought at the battle of Agincourt, October 25, 1415, representative in Parliament for Leicestershire 1407-10 and 1413-14, and a resident at Icomb Manor House, who died in the year 1431: in front of the tomb, under Pointed arcades, are several sculptured figures of the Eternal Father and Crucified Son appearing in conventional style in the centre; there is also a monument to William Cope esq. and his wife, the Lady Elizabeth Cope (née Fane), circ. 1691, widow of his kinsman, Sir John Cope bart. of Hanwell, Oxon: the interior of the church was thoroughly restored in 1870 under the directions of Mr. Hopkins, architect, of Worcester: the church has recently undergone extensive alterations: there are sittings for 120 persons.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Icomb 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.