Blockley (St. Peter and St. Paul)

BLOCKLEY (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Shipston, Upper division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Blockley and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 3¼ miles (N. W. by W.) from Moreton; surrounded by Gloucestershire and a small portion of Warwickshire; comprising the townships of Blockley, and the hamlets of Aston Magna, Dorne, Ditchford, Draycot, and Paxford; and containing 2136 inhabitants, of whom 1412 are in the township of Blockley. It consists of 7571 acres, of which 3190 are arable, 4035 meadow and pasture, and 341 wood; the soil is rich and fertile. The surface is irregular and undulated, and the scenery produced by its shady groves, fruitful vales, and sloping hills, is very pleasing: the land is in good cultivation. There are several silk-mills, worked by small streams which rise in Dovedale, a short distance hence. Fairs are held on the Tuesday next after Easter-week, for cattle, and Oct. 10th, for hiring servants; a manorial court is occasionally held under the Bishop of Worcester, who is lord of the manor, and the petty-sessions for the division are held here. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £54; net income, £762; patron and appropriator, the Bishop: the tithes were commuted for land in 1772. The church is partly Norman, and partly in the early English style; the interior is spacious, and consists of a nave, chancel, and north aisle, with a small gallery at the west end, and is appropriately decorated: the tower was rebuilt in 1725, at the expense of the inhabitants. At Aston is a separate incumbency. There is a place of worship for Baptists. Premises for a school upon the national plan, were built some years since by Lord Northwick; the endowment, arising from various sums bequeathed by the ancestors of his lordship, amounts to £12. 14. per annum. In a charter of King Burhred, dated 855, mention is made of a monastery which then existed, and which was subsequently annexed to the bishopric of Worcester: the bishops had a palace here. The Roman Fosse-way passed between this village and Moreton, and urns and other Roman remains have been found on Moor Hill. There are several chalybeate springs.