Todenham, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Todenham, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village is 4 miles NE of Moreton-in-the-Marsh, and 4 S of Shipston-on-Stour. It has a post office under Moreton-in-the-Marsh; money order and telegraph office, Moreton-in-the Marsh. The parish comprises 2481 acres; population, 349. There is a parish council consisting of five members. The manor belonged to Tewkesbury Abbey, and passed to the Petre family and subsequently to the Pole family. Todenham House is the chief residence. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £463 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol The church is ancient, chiefly Decorated, with some fragmente of Norman and Early English work, and consists of chancel, nave, N aisle, two chantry chapels, and a tower with spire. It contains some stone sedilia with canopies and the stairs to the rood-loft.
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 | Toddenham St. Thomas à Becket | |
| Hundred | Westminster | |
| Poor Law union | Shipston-upon-Stour |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore & co. transcript of the Marriages at Todenham 1721-1812 is available to browse online.
The register dates from the year 1721, and includes a list of former rectors from a very early period, amongst whom was Thomas Merkes, abbot of Westminster, and afterwards bishop of Carlisle (1397-1403), degraded by Henry IV. for some declaration in favour of Richard II.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Thomas à Becket (parish church)
The church of St. Thomas à Becket is a building in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, with chantry chapel, nave of three bays, with south chapel, north aisle, south porch and a western tower, with pinnacles and spire, containing a clock and 6 bells: the chancel retains some stone sedilia with canopies, and a piscina: portions of the stairs to the former rood loft also remain: the chantry chapel on the north side of the chancel is now used as the family pew of the Pole family: the chapel on the south side of the nave contains a canopied piscina and credence and a monument to Lady Louisa Pole, who died August 6th, 1852: the Decorated east window was filled with stained glass in 1879 as a memorial to the Rev. Gilbert Malcolm, rector of the parish from 1812; in the chancel is an inscribed brass to William Moulton, ob. 1614: the church was restored in 1879 at a cost of a bout £2,000, and affords sittings for 150 persons.
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 Todenham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Toddenham (St. Thomas à Becket))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Todenham 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.