Prestbury, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Prestbury, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands under the Cotswolds, 1½ mile NE of Cheltenham, was once a market-town, suffered great devastation by fire hi the time of Henry VII., and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.) The parish contains also the hamlet of Noverton and part of Pittville, and extends to the other side of the hill, and contains the highest point of the Cotswold range. Acreage, 3054; population, 1430. There is a parish council consisting of nine members. The Cheltenham natural mineral waters were first discovered in this parish, in which the Pittville Spa now is. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £205 with residence. The church is ancient, and was restored in 1868; comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with embattled tower; and contains several mural tablets. It is a beautiful specimen of the 14th century, a small portion probably dating from the 10th. The church priory and vicarage were originally part of a Benedictine monastery. There are a Congregational chapel, a working-men's club and institute, and three almshouses.
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 | Prestbury St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Deerhurst | |
| Poor Law union | Cheltenham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Prestbury 1633-1837, Gloucestershire is available to browse online.
The register dates from the year 1633.
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 an ancient building of stone, principally in the Early English and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch, and an embattled western tower, containing a clock and 8 bells: all the windows are stained, and there are mural tablets in the church to William Baghot esq. d. 1725, and Ann (De la Bere), his wife, d. 1739; and to Christopher Capel, d. 1740, and Sarah, his wife, d. 1733: the church was restored in 1864, at a cost of over £3,000, under the direction of the late G. E. Street esq. R.A. and affords 350 sittings.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
The Congregational chapel, erected in 1860, has sittings for 200 persons.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Prestbury from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Prestbury (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Prestbury 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.