Winterbourne, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Winterbourne, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands 2 miles E of Patchway and Stoke Gifford station on the South Wales branch of the G.W.R., and 6½ NNE of Bristol, with a post and money order office under Bristol; telegraph office, Frampton Cotterell. The parish includes Winterbourne and Hambrook tithings, and comprises 3030 acres; population of the civil parish, 3350; of the ecclesiastical, 1383. There is a parish council consisting of thirteen members. Winterbourne Down and Frenchay form separate ecclesiastical parishes. Part of the old manor house is incorporated in the buildings of the Court Farm. Hill House, Winterbourne Park, and Crossley House are chief residences. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £605 with residence. Patron, St John's College, Oxford. The church is mainly Early English, with pinnacled tower and fine spire, and was partly rebuilt in 1842, and again in 1876. It contains a finely carved reredos and some ancient monuments and brasses. There are Free Methodist and Wesleyan chapels, and alms-houses. See WINTERBOURNE DOWN and FRENCHAY.
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 | Winterbourne St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Langley and Swine head | |
| Poor Law union | Clifton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1600.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Michael (parish church)
The church of St. Michael is a building of stone, in the Early English and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel with aisle, nave of five bays, south porch, and a tower on the south side with pinnacles and spire, in the Early Decorated style and containing a clock and 6 bells: the chapel under the belfry was decorated with wall paintings in the 14th century, portions of which remain: the chancel aisle is the property of the lord of the manor, and was rebuilt in 1880 by the late W. Tanner esq. to whom the west window is a memorial; the window under the belfry, presented by him, commemorates his wife and daughter: the stained east window is a memorial to the Rev. John Walker Jones, for thirty years curate of this parish: there is a finely carved reredos: in the chapel are three effigies of knights in full armour, one of which, on a canopied tomb, represents Hugo de Sturden, commonly known as "Hickenstern," ob. c. 1380: there are others of females; and also the brass of a lady, c. 1370, the oldest extant in Gloucestershire; to Blanche, widow of Robert Bradstone, 1391-2: the canopy and marginal inscription are lost: the body of the church was rebuilt in 1842 and again in 1880; the chancel restored in 1856; the church was reseated in 1877, at a cost of £987: an organ chamber was built and a new organ provided in 1894, at a cost of £500: there are sittings for 350 persons.
St. Michael's church Mission Room
St. Michael's Church Mission room, erected in 1887 at a cost of £550, will seat 250 persons.
Methodist
United Methodist Chapel
Wesleyan Chapel
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Winterbourne from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Winterbourne (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Winterbourne 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.