Oldbury on Severn, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Oldbury-upon-Severn, a parish in Gloucestershire, on the Severn, 3 miles WNW of Thornbury railway station. It contains the hamlets of Cowhill and Shepherdine, and has a post and money order office under Thornbury (R.S.O.); telegraph office, Thornbury. Since the last census the ecclesiastical parish of Oldbury has been made a civil parish, and has a parish council consisting of seven members. Oldbury House and Shepherdine House are the chief residences. There are two Roman camps. The ecclesiastical parish was constituted in 1863. Population, 672. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £192 with residence. Patron, Christ Church, Oxford. The church is an old stone building in the Early English style, and was restored in 1886. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Gloucestershire | |
| Civil parish | Thornbury | |
| Hundred | Thornbury | |
| Poor Law union | Thornbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Oldbury-on-Severn 1538-1733, Gloucestershire is available to browse online.
The separate register, dating only from 1700, was destroyed in the fire of 1898; all earlier entries relating to this place are included in the registers of Thornbury.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Arild (parish church)
The church of St. Arild occupies the site of a Roman camp and is an ancient building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, porches and a tower at the east end of the south aisle, with pierced parapet and tall pinnacles, containing one bell: there was originally a spire, but this was blown down in 1702: in 1885-6 the church was thoroughly restored and the south aisle and porch rebuilt, at a cost of £1,700: in 1898 the church was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt in 1899 and opened Sep. 13th in that year: it now affords 200 sittings.
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 Oldbury on Severn from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Oldbury-upon-Severn)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Oldbury on Severn 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.