CHURCHES.
The church at Churcham was
recorded from 1100 when the Bishop of Hereford
gave Gloucester Abbey leave to appropriate it; a
chapel of ease at Bulley then belonged to it (fn. 51) and
Bulley has remained a chapelry to Churcham. A
vicar's portion had been assigned by the early 13th
century (fn. 52) and the living has remained a vicarage.
The advowson and the rectory of the church were
retained by Gloucester Abbey until the Dissolution
and granted in 1541 to the Dean and Chapter of
Gloucester (fn. 53) who remained patrons in 1970. In 1544
William Walter presented to the vicarage by virtue
of a grant from the abbey; (fn. 54) John Veel presented in
1545 and John Brown and Hester Webb in 1598
under grants from the dean and chapter (fn. 55) who
otherwise, apart from their dispossession during the
Interregnum, have retained the patronage in hand.
In the late 12th or early 13th century, when
Gloucester Abbey granted the vicarage for life to
Nicholas the chaplain, the vicar's portion included
little more than the offerings in money at the altar;
the remainder of the profits, including all the greater
and lesser tithes, a payment of one mark from Bulley
chapel, and all offerings of food at the altar, were
reserved to the abbey as rector. The vicar's small
share reflected the fact that he and his deacon were
then being supported at the abbey's cost at its
manor-house near the church and his horse given
fodder and stabling there. (fn. 56) Some years before 1280,
however, Andrew, Vicar of Churcham, agreed to
give up the right of maintenance in return for a
greater share of the profits of the church; subsequently Andrew and his successor lived at Bulley
and since, in order to retain the full amount of the
profits, they did not appoint deacons, the church at
Churcham went unserved. As a result in 1280 the
bishop ordered Gloucester Abbey either to resume
supporting the vicar and deacon at the manor-house
and take back the extra portion assigned, or else to
give him a site near the church and timber for
building a vicarage house. (fn. 57) The abbey evidently
adopted the latter course and a later undated
medieval statement of the assets of the vicarage
included a site of ½ a. for a house; (fn. 58) the vicar then
received the corn tithes of three parts of a yardland,
all the hay tithes, various offerings, and all the small
tithes of Churcham and Bulley, specified as those of
wool, flax, calves, lambs, piglets, geese, ducks,
chickens, milk, cheese, and eggs. (fn. 59) In 1681 the vicar
was receiving in addition tithes of wood, hemp,
turnips, honey, turkeys, apples, and pears. A
composition of 18d. for the yardland was then being
paid for the hay tithes and 1d. a cow for milk, and
there were also payments for agistments, but all
other produce was tithable in kind; detailed customs
regulated the tithing of animals, the basic rule being
that if there were fewer than seven to be tithed the
vicar received their tithe value in cash, estimated at
½d. for a lamb and a pig and 1d. for a calf, while if
there were seven the vicar took the tithe animal and
repaid the owner the tithe value of each wanting
from ten. The vicar also received Easter offerings of
6d. for a man-servant and 4d. for a maid-servant and
a payment of 1d. for each garden. From 1663 he was
also receiving the rectorial corn tithes arising from
Highnam, Linton, and Over, which were leased to
him by the dean and chapter to augment his income; (fn. 60) before 1807 the dean and chapter granted
those tithes to the vicar in fee. (fn. 61) No tithes were paid
at all, however, from Gloucester Abbey's former
demesne land in Highnam manor, mainly consisting
of the grounds of Highnam Court and the woods
and park. (fn. 62) In the 1790s an annual sum of £157 10s.
was being paid to the vicar for the tithes of the
tithable part of the Highnam manor estate by the
Guises who presumably adjusted their tenants' rents
accordingly. (fn. 63) At the inclosure of the Churcham half
of the parish in 1803 the vicar was awarded 95 a. for
his tithes there, (fn. 64) and the tithes of Highnam, Linton,
and Over were commuted for a cornrent of £240 1s.
in 1843. (fn. 65)
The vicarage included no glebe land, apart from
the vicarage house and orchard, before the award of
1803, (fn. 66) although c. 1267 the vicar held 8 a. by the
service of providing a cresset (oil-lamp) to burn in
the church every night; (fn. 67) he had presumably held it
at the time of the grant to Nicholas the chaplain, for
Nicholas was required to perform the same service
and also provide wax-candles for the use of the
monks when they visited the manor and for the
abbey's bailiff. (fn. 68) The land was evidently represented
by that described as 4 a. in the tenure of the vicar
which was granted with other lamp-land in the
county to William Sawle and William Brydges in
1549; (fn. 69) in 1550 the vicar Thomas Kingswood, who
claimed that the land was glebe, was attempting to
regain it from their assignee. (fn. 70) Before 1807 the Dean
and Chapter of Gloucester annexed 6 a. to the
vicarage to be held on lease at a rent of £3. (fn. 71) The
vicarage retained 16 a. of glebe in 1970. (fn. 72) The
vicarage house, standing on the west side of the lane
leading to the church presumably on the site given
after 1280, had four hearths in 1672 (fn. 73) and in 1681
was described as a building of about four bays with
an outhouse of about three bays; (fn. 74) fairly extensive
repairs were carried out on it in 1725. (fn. 75) In 1825 the
vicar claimed that the house was unfit for residence (fn. 76)
and it was largely rebuilt in the mid 19th century as a
two-story house of brick with Tudor-style windows
and gables with decorative barge-boards. A part of
the old house, adjoining the new house on the north,
was retained at the rebuilding, but most of the older
range was removed during modernization of the
house c. 1962. (fn. 77)
In 1291 the vicar's portion in the church was
valued at £5 6s. 8d. and the rector's at £20. (fn. 78) By
the time of the undated medieval survey of the
vicarage its value had risen to £11 6s. 10d. (fn. 79) and it
was valued at £20 4s. 5½d. in 1535. (fn. 80) Its value had
increased only to £30 by 1649, (fn. 81) and in 1651 the
trustees for the maintenance of ministers ordered
that the vicar should receive annual augmentations
worth £40. (fn. 82) The vicarage was valued at £80 in
1750, (fn. 83) at c. £120 in 1786, (fn. 84) and £389 in 1856. (fn. 85)
Few 14th- and 15th-century vicars appear to have
held the living for more than a few years; between
1391 and 1438 there were at least 13 vicars. (fn. 86) Roger
Olbroke, the vicar in 1554, was keeping a mistress. (fn. 87)
Thomas Kingswood, presented in 1545, was a
former monk of Gloucester Abbey (fn. 88) and was
presumably the prebendary of the cathedral who
later held the lease of Churcham manor. (fn. 89) In 1551
the vicar Robert Johnson was found satisfactory in
doctrine. (fn. 90) Francis Gough (1562-98) (fn. 91) was found to
understand Latin and have a good knowledge of
religion in 1576, (fn. 92) but in 1584 he was said to be
neither a graduate nor a preacher. (fn. 93) William Loe,
presented in 1598, was the author of a number of
theological works. (fn. 94) The clergy of the period of the
Interregnum were Francis Hathway, instituted in
1633, (fn. 95) who departed to another living c. 1649, (fn. 96) and
John Johnson, who held the living in 1650 when he
was described as a preaching minister, (fn. 97) and,
subscribing to the Act of Uniformity at the Restoration, (fn. 98) remained vicar until c. 1672. (fn. 99) Abraham
Gregory, instituted in 1673, petitioned to hold the
living with St. Mary de Crypt, Gloucester, in 1675,
and Robert Cooke, vicar from 1690, was also
presented to Castle Eaton (Wilts.) in 1695. Thomas
Parker (1786-1801) (fn. 1) was also Rector of Saintbury. (fn. 2)
Townsend Selwyn (1824-37) had leave of absence
throughout his incumbency. (fn. 3) His successor George
Hall remained vicar until 1895. (fn. 4)
At Highnam a chapel of ease to Churcham church
was recorded between 1356 and 1544; (fn. 5) it may have
been the chapel which stood just to the south-east of
Highnam Court, but that was only one among several
chapels on Highnam manor during the period. The
chapel at Highnam Court was recorded in 1607
when it was said to have stood there from time
immemorial, (fn. 6) and it was probably the chapel built
at Highnam before 1337 by the Abbots of Gloucester. (fn. 7) It may also have been the chapel dedicated to
the Holy Cross which was leased with Highnam
Court to John Arnold in 1516; the lease reserved all
the offerings and emoluments to Gloucester Abbey
and stipulated free access to the chapel for its warden
and for travellers. (fn. 8) By 1607 the chapel at Highnam
Court was being used merely by the Cooke family (fn. 9)
and it remained their private chapel, several of the
family being buried there; (fn. 10) the Cookes may have
rebuilt it before the early 18th century when it had
a small spire. (fn. 11) It was demolished in 1807, (fn. 12) perhaps
because, as was said a few years earlier, it stood too
much in front of the house. (fn. 13) Two Mile House, at
the junction of Two Mile Lane and the GloucesterRoss road was also apparently a medieval chapel. It
incorporates a small building, orientated east and
west, which was originally single-storied and of two
bays. It is built of rubble with stone quoins and a
chamfered plinth; a small stone niche is set externally in the south wall and in the north wall there
is a two-light square-headed window with a hoodmould. Internally the building retains a wagon roof
of timber which springs from an embattled stone
cornice at wall-plate level. The building had been
adapted as a dwelling-house by 1607, (fn. 14) and in the
early 19th century a brick extension was made on
the west. A village cross formerly stood near-by. (fn. 15)
The position of Two Mile House, as well as the
niche in the south wall, is consistent with its having
been a roadside shrine and the reference to travellers
in the lease of 1516 suggests the possibility that it
and not the building at Highnam Court was the
chapel then referred to.
In 1330 Queen Isabella had licence to rebuild a
church in Churcham parish; (fn. 16) it may have stood at
Over where she owned lands until 1344 (fn. 17) and was
possibly the chapel of St. George, described as
being in the manor of Vineyard in the parish of
Churcham, where an ordination was performed in
1480. (fn. 18) There was also a chantry chapel in Churcham
church in 1336. (fn. 19) Stephen the chaplain of Longney
who held ½ yardland from Churcham manor c.
1267 (fn. 20) and John Birdwood, chaplain, who died in
1389 holding a messuage and ½ yardland and a
messuage and a fardel from the manor (fn. 21) probably
served the chantry. A church house was held by the
parish from the lords of Churcham at a nominal rent
in 1649. (fn. 22) An iron mission room was built at the
Birdwood cross-roads c. 1900 (fn. 23) and remained in
regular use in 1970.
The ancient parish church of ST. ANDREW
(fn. 24)
comprises aisleless nave, chancel, south porch, and
west tower. Both tower and nave are basically the
original Norman structures, but the church owes
many of its features to 19th-century restorations,
notably the unusual roof of the tower which was
added after the church had been damaged by fire in
1875.
The tower is without buttresses and has several
small single-light windows, the lower ones roundheaded and those in the upper stage slightly pointed.
The tower carried a spire in 1563, (fn. 25) which may have
dated, like the upper tower windows, from the 13th
century; in the mid 19th century it was a broach
spire of moderate height covered with shingles. (fn. 26) A
single Norman light has survived in the north wall
of the nave, and the semicircular arch of the south
doorway retains 12th- or early-13th-century mouldings, although the shafts have been restored. The
north doorway is Norman in style but has evidently
been renewed. The nave also has a restored twolight 14th-century window in each wall and one of
the 15th or early 16th century in the south wall, and
in the west end of the south wall is a small triangular
piscina. The Norman chancel arch survives; it is
semicircular and of two moulded orders resting on
plain shafts with cushion capitals. The chancel was
largely rebuilt in the 19th century but some features
of the earlier structure were retained and suggest
that it dated from the 13th century; the dedication
of an altar at the church by the bishop in 1283 may
have been connected with a rebuilding of the
chancel. (fn. 27) From the earlier chancel there survive a
single cusped lancet in the north wall and an internal
roll-moulded string-course on the south side; (fn. 28) a
similar string-course runs round the whole church
but it was added in the nave, and possibly also on
the other walls of the chancel, only after the fire of
1875. (fn. 29) A two-light 14th-century window in the
south wall of the chancel was restored or renewed at
the rebuilding. (fn. 30) The sanctuary is lined with oakpanelling of 16th-century design. The south porch
of the church has been partly renewed but retains
an early wagon roof with moulded ribs and bosses,
perhaps dating from the 14th century.
A brief for the repair of the spire was circulated in
1729 after it had been struck by lightning; (fn. 31) it was
re-shingled in 1793-4. (fn. 32) The whole of the church
was repaired c. 1780 (fn. 33) and it was ceiled and re-tiled
in 1802-3. (fn. 34) A gallery, evidently for the use of the
occupants of Highnam Court, was inserted in 1818
or 1819, (fn. 35) and in 1847 new pews were provided, (fn. 36)
presumably replacing the low, open benches which
c. 1780 were thought to have survived from medieval
times. (fn. 37) In 1859 the chancel was largely rebuilt and
a schoolroom erected adjoining it. The schoolroom
was demolished in 1867-8 when a thorough restoration of the nave was carried out. (fn. 38) In 1875 a fire,
which started in the tower, destroyed or severely
damaged the spire, the nave roof, and many of the
fittings. (fn. 39) During the subsequent restoration, completed under Waller & Son in 1878, (fn. 40) the tower was
given its distinctive helm spire, a foursided pyramidal roof so placed that the ridges are central on
the tower walls, the walls rising in gables to meet
them. (fn. 41) The damaged nave roof, which apparently
dated only from the restoration of 1867-8, (fn. 42) was
replaced, and the tower arch, in a simplified Norman
style, may also have been renewed.
The 15th-century octagonal font of the church
was replaced by a copy in 1884; part of the original
pedestal was kept in the church in 1970 and its
mutilated bowl was in the churchyard. (fn. 43) There was
formerly a brass to John Arnold (d. 1545), the lord
of Highnam, and his wife in the north of the chancel,
perhaps set in the altar-tomb recorded there in
1850; (fn. 44) both tomb and brass have been removed,
presumably at the rebuilding of the chancel. A wall
tablet to Edward Oldisworth (d. 1570) and his wife
was formerly also in the north wall of the chancel; (fn. 45)
it survives in the tower, although severely damaged
by the fire of 1875 which also damaged irreparably
several other wall tablets. A stained glass east
window by Hardman was presented to the church in
1868. (fn. 46) A small relief figure carved in stone was
discovered in the churchyard in the 19th century
and set above the north doorway of the church; it
has been thought to be a medieval representation of
St. Andrew but it has also been suggested that it
dates from the Romano-British period. (fn. 47) There is a
much-weathered sepulchral slab in the churchyard.
In 1280 the bishop required Gloucester Abbey to
provide a chalice for the church. (fn. 48) In 1681 the plate
comprised two silver cups and covers and a pewter
flagon. (fn. 49) The church retains, among other plate, an
Elizabethan chalice and a paten of 1716, the latter
given in the late 19th century. (fn. 50) In 1668 Abraham
Rudhall cast five bells for the church and a sixth
was added in 1688; (fn. 51) individual bells were recast by
the Rudhalls in 1707, 1743, 1771, and 1790, and by
Taylor & Co. in 1871. The bells were partly melted
in the fire of 1875 and the whole peal was subsequently recast. (fn. 52) The registers begin in 1541, and
are virtually complete. (fn. 53)
The church of the HOLY INNOCENTS at
Highnam, built and endowed by Thomas Gambier
Parry, was begun in 1849 and completed and consecrated in 1851, when it was assigned the hamlets of
Highnam, Linton, and Over as its ecclesiastical
district. The living was made a perpetual curacy to
which the Gambier Parrys nominated; in 1856 it
was worth £120. (fn. 54) A glebe house, of stone in the
Gothic style, was completed in 1852. (fn. 55) In 1922 the
benefice was united with the rectory of Lassington, (fn. 56)
and the rectory of Rudford was added to the united
benefice in 1955. The alternate patrons of the
united benefice in 1970 were Mr. Fenton and the
Dean and Chapter of Gloucester. (fn. 57)
The church is on a lavish scale and richly
furnished and ornamented. It was designed by
Henry Woodyer whose plans are said to have been
much influenced by the wishes of the founder. (fn. 58)
Built of stone in the Decorated style, it comprises a
lofty aisled and clerestoried nave of five bays, a
chancel flanked on the north by an organ chamber
and vestry and on the south by a Lady Chapel, a
south porch, and a west tower carrying a tall broach
spire. The polychromatic decoration of the interior
includes frescoes executed by Thomas Gambier
Parry using a process he had himself invented; the
most notable are the Last Judgement over the
chancel arch executed c. 1860 and the Triumphal
Entry in the north aisle which is of a later date,
being completed by 1880. (fn. 59) The glass of the south
aisle windows is by Hardman and that of the north
aisle by Wailes. The fittings include coronas and
lamps by Hardman (fn. 60) and ornate ironwork grilles
concealing the hot-water radiators. The Lady
Chapel contains a bust of Annamaria Isabella (d.
1848), the first wife of Thomas Gambier Parry, and
brasses to other members of the family. A set of
plate, dated 1850, was made by Keith, (fn. 61) and three
bells of the same date were provided by C. & G.
Mears of London. (fn. 62)