Sopworth (St. Mary)

SOPWORTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Malmesbury, and in a detached portion of the hundred of Chippenham, Malmesbury and Kingswood, and N. divisions of Wilts, 7½ miles (W. by S.) from Malmesbury; containing 216 inhabitants. It is situated about a mile from the road between Bath and Oxford, and comprises 1000a. 2r. The soil rests upon oolite, the surface of which is loose and broken, and, being mixed in several parts with clay, forms a kind of subsoil frequently called stone-brash. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 10. 5., and in the gift of the Duke of Beaufort: the tithes have been commuted for £198; the glebe comprises 100 acres.