Sapperton (St. Kenelm)

SAPPERTON (St. Kenelm), a parish, in the union of Cirencester, hundred of Bisley, E. division of the county of Gloucester; comprising 3710 acres, and containing, with Frampton tything, 585 inhabitants, of whom 315 are in the tything of Sapperton, 5¼ miles (W. N. W.) from Cirencester. The railway between Gloucester and Swindon intersects the parish; and the Thames and Severn canal, in its course through the parish, is conducted by a tunnel, 4180 feet long, underneath Hagley wood. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £17; net income, £367; patron, Earl Bathurst. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1778. Two schools are supported by endowment. Sir Robert Atkins, lord chief baron of the exchequer in the reign of William III., was born at Sapperton in 1621, and died here in 1709.