Sodbury, Old (St. John the Baptist)

SODBURY, OLD (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Chipping-Sodbury, Lower division of the hundred of Grumbald's-Ash, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 1¾ mile (E.) from Chipping-Sodbury; containing 871 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3617 acres, of which 312 are common or waste; the substratum contains stone of the soft oolite formation, which is quarried for building. The road from Bristol to Chippenham passes through the village, and meets the Bath and Cheltenham road at the Cross Hands inn here, where is a post-office. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14. 8. l½.; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The great tithes have been commuted for £233. 8., and the vicarial for £512.10.; there is a glebe-house, with about half an acre of garden-ground. The church is an ancient structure, containing some interesting details of Norman architecture. Some time since, an interesting specimen of ancient art, a beautifully executed head of Minerva, cut in agate, was dug out of the ground near the Cross Hands: it bears a Greek inscription signifying that it was a present from one friend to another.