Rodborough, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Rodborough, a large and scattered village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands near Stroud river, three-quarters of a mile SSW of Stroud. It has a post office under Stroud; money order and telegraph office, Stroud. The parish comprises 1317 acres; population of the civil parish, 2955; of the ecclesiastical, 2554. There are several good residences, and some woollen-cloth mills and dyeworks. Rodborough Hill commands an extensive and very fine view, and has remains of a Roman camp. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £280 with residence. The church, excepting the tower (which is 500 years old), was rebuilt in 1842, and is in a florid Later English style. A lectureship is attached to the church, and is in the gift of Brasenose College, Oxford. Portions of the parish are included in the ecclesiastical parishes of Brimscombe and Amberley. There are Congregational and Primitive Methodist chapels.
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 | Rodborough Holy Trinity | |
| Hundred | Longtree | |
| Poor Law union | Stroud |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1692.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary Magdalen (parish church)
The church of St. Mary Magdalen, anciently called "Holy Trinity," rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, in 1842, is a building of stone, chiefly in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, and consists of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, south and west porches and an embattled western tower of Norman date, with pinnacles, and containing a clock and one bell: the Jacobean pulpit and sanctuary chairs were the gift of Jasper Estcourte esq. ob. 1624, and bear his arms: in 1895-6 the church was restored, a chancel, south aisle, vestry and organ chamber built, and the whole re-seated under the direction of Mr. Arthur S. Cooke, of Pagan Hill, Stroud, at a cost of £2,200: the church was at one time a chantry of the priory of Minchinhampton: there are about 550 sittings.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
The Congregational chapel, founded in 1745, has sittings for 700 persons.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist 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 Rodborough from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Rodborough (Holy Trinity))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Rodborough 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.