Bishopstone (Shrivenham), Wiltshire
Historical Description
Bishopstone, a parish in Wilts, on the verge of the county, 25 miles S of Shrivenham station on the G.W.R., and 6 E of Swindon. It has a post and money order office under Shrivenham (R.S.O.), which is the telegraph office. Acreage, 3519; population, 503. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £235 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. Parts of the church date back to the 12th century. It was restored in 1882-83, and again after a fire on Good Friday, 1891, which destroyed 8 bells and the old clock, &c. A Methodist chapel was built in 1886.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Wiltshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Bishopston St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Ramsbury | |
| Poor Law union | Highworth and Swindon |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The parish church of St Mary, to a great extent reconstructed in the 14th and 15th centuries, is an edifice of stone in the Norman and later styles, consisting of chancel, nave of five bays, aisles, north porch, and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 8 bells: the church was restored in 1882 and 1883, at a cost of £1,600, under the direction of the late Ewan Christian esq, architect: but on Good Friday evening, 1891, a disastrous fire broke out in the tower, consuming the belfry; the bells and clock have since been replaced by new, the whole restoration costing upwards of £2,600: in the vestry are preserved the remains of an ancient clock, made by a blacksmith of the village, which did service for 238 years: a new organ was provided in 1910: there are 240 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 Bishopstone (Shrivenham) from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bishopston (St. Mary))
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Wiltshire papers online: