Preston (Cirencester), Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Preston, a parish in Gloucestershire, on the river Churn, 1½ mile SE of Cirencester. Post town, Cirencester. Acreage, 2042; population, 191. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £230. The church is ancient, and retains sedilia, a piscina, hagioscopes, and tablets to the Master family. It was partially restored in 1862.
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 | Preston All Saints | |
| Hundred | Crowthorne and Minety | |
| Poor Law union | Cirencester |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1677.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
All Saints (parish church)
The church of All Saints is an ancient building of stone, principally in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, transept, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 4 bells: the chancel retains sedilia and piscina and hagioscopes: there are several tablets to the Master family, and two memorial windows, one of which is to a former vicar of the parish, who died in 1861: the church plate was chiefly presented by the Misses Master in 1690, and there is also a splendid chalice dated 1575: the nave was thoroughly restored and re-pewed in 1862: there are 100 sittings.
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 Preston (Cirencester) from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Preston (All Saints))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Preston (Cirencester) 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.