South Cerney, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Cerney, South, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire, on the river Churn, adjacent to the Thames and Severn Canal, 4 miles SSE of Cirencester. There is a post and money order office under Cirencester; telegraph office, Cirencester. Acreage, 3062; population, 909. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelry of Cerney-Wick, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £227 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The church ranges from Norman to Decorated English, and was partly rebuilt in 1862. It is large, with an embattled central tower, and the chancel contains a piscina, sedilia, and aumbry. Edwards' College was founded in 1834 as an asylum for the widows and orphans of poor clergymen of the diocese.
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 | South Cerney All Hallows | |
Hundred | Crowthorne and Minety | |
Poor Law union | Cirencester |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1583.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
All Hallows (parish church)
The church of All Hallows is a spacious edifice, consisting of chancel, nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled central tower containing a clock, presented by Mrs. Edwards, and 6 bells: the building dates from the 12th century; the doorways and chancel arch being excellent specimens of Transition Norman work: the chancel is late Decorated, enriched throughout with the ball flower ornament, and retains sedilia and aumbry and an elaborately carved piscina: the south aisle was added in 1862, when the church was thoroughly restored, reseated with open pews, and almost entirely rebuilt: the organ was provided in 1883, at a cost of £160: the east window is a memorial to W. L. R. Sutton, and there are other memorial windows to members of the same family, and to Mrs. Edwards: on the west wall is a tablet inscribed to Walter Portlock, of this parish, who died in 1701, aged 100 years: there are sittings for 500 persons.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
The Congregational chapel, built in 1824, has 150 sittings.
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 South Cerney from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Cerney, South (All Hallows))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of South Cerney 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.