CHURCHES.
There was probably a church at
Bisley in pre-Conquest times and 2 priests were
recorded there in 1086. (fn. 85) One of the priests may
have served a chapel of ease at one of the other
settlements of the large manor of Bisley, possibly at
Stroud or at Paganhill. (fn. 86) The large parish served by
Bisley church originally included the whole of
Stroud; the church built at Stroud was given rights
in 1304 but it remained a chapel to Bisley until the
early 18th century, and even afterwards Stroud
remained tithable to the Bisley tithe-owners. (fn. 87)
It seems unlikely that the two priests in 1086 were
the precursors of the two portioners who later
shared the profits of Bisley church, for that arrangement appears to have resulted from divisions in the
overlordship and lordship-in-fee of the manor in
the 12th or early 13th century. The two portions in
the rectory, one known as the first portion comprising two thirds of the profits, (fn. 88) and the other known
as the second portion comprising one third of the
profits, (fn. 89) were recorded from the early 13th
century. (fn. 90) By 1291 a vicarage had been created out
of the profits of the first portioner and in his gift,
receiving a new endowment of land and tithes in
1360. (fn. 91) The portioners were still required to be
resident and presumably also to take some part in
serving the cure in 1314 when both had temporary
leave of absence (fn. 92) and it is likely that the size of the
parish to be served was one reason for the continuance of an arrangement that gave it 3 incumbent
clergymen. The duties of the portioners may have
ceased, however, at the new endowment of the
vicarage in 1360; the first portion, at least, was a
sinecure in 1383. (fn. 93)
The advowson of the first portion of the rectory
was evidently in the possession of the Mortimers
by 1254 when their kinsman Hugh Mortimer was
portioner, (fn. 94) and it later descended with their right
in Bisley manor. In 1331 the Crown, as holder of
Roger Mortimer's forfeited lands, and Gerard de
Alspathe, Roger's assignee, presented rival candidates, the Crown's presentation succeeding, (fn. 95) and
the Crown presented to the portion on at least 3
other occasions in the 14th century because of the
minority of Mortimer heirs. (fn. 96) A share in the
advowson of the second portion belonged to Richard
of Bisley in 1274 (fn. 97) and in the 14th century his heirs
and the earls of Hereford presented alternately; in
1361 the earl also had the turn of the Bisley family
because of a minority. (fn. 98) The earls' right was
assigned to Mary, daughter of Humphrey de
Bohun, and her husband Henry of Lancaster. (fn. 99) The
right of the Bisley family was acquired with their
share of the manor by the duke of York, patron of
the first portion, in 1434. (fn. 1) The duke had presumably
also acquired the other share of the advowson of the
second portion by 1445 when he granted the two
advowsons to Stoke College (fn. 2) which appropriated
the two portions in 1480. An annual pension of
26s. 8d. to Worcester cathedral was charged on the
profits of the portions at the appropriation (fn. 3) but the
college was paying only 10s. to the cathedral in
1535. (fn. 4)
The advowson of the vicarage, which was
exercised by the first portioner, (fn. 5) passed with the
portions of the rectory to Stoke College. (fn. 6) Although
it was said to have been included in the lease of the
rectory made by the college in 1537, (fn. 7) it was
exercised by the Crown in 1553. It continued to be
exercised by the Crown until the early 19th century
from which time it was exercised by the Lord
Chancellor. (fn. 8)
In 1322 the first portion of the rectory was said to
be worth 38½ marks and the second 28 marks; (fn. 9) that
the sums bore little relation to the supposed two
thirds and one-third shares was possibly due in part
to the exclusion of the vicar's share from the first
portion. In 1480, however, by which date a considerable fall in value had occurred, the portions
were valued in the proportions ascribed to them at
£20 and £10, (fn. 10) and the united rectory was being
farmed at £30 in 1535. (fn. 11) The later history of the
rectory estate is given above. (fn. 12)
The vicar's share of the profits of the first portion
was valued at £6 13s. 4d. in 1291. (fn. 13) At the new
ordination of the vicarage in 1360 the first portioner
released to the vicar all the small tithes, including
those from flax, hemp, honey, apples, pears, gristand fulling-mills, fisheries, and commerce, and all
the corn and hay tithes from the glebe land belonging to the portion. (fn. 14) In 1689 the vicar was said to
be entitled to all the tithes of the rectory lands and
the small tithes of the remainder of the parish; he
also had the tithe hay of meadows called Stean
Meads and a fifteenth of the impropriator's tithe
corn, but under an agreement made in the mid 17th
century those tithes and the vicar's tithes of wool
and lambs were taken by the impropriator who paid
the vicar a rent of £45 a year for them. In 1689
the vicar was receiving cash payments for saddleand pack-horses, milch-cows, mill-wheels, hens and
cocks, and gardens. His other tithes were then said
to include those of woods of under 16 years
growth, (fn. 15) although attempts by the vicar John
Sedgwick in the 1630s to enforce payment of tithe
wood by Thomas Master, lord of the manor, and
Walter Master, owner of the Hillhouse estate, had
apparently proved unsuccessful. (fn. 16) At the tithe
commutation in 1842 the vicar was found to be
entitled to all the tithes of the rectory lands, and all
the small tithes and a tenth of the great tithes of the
remainder of the parish, the tenth presumably
representing the share in the hay and corn tithes
mentioned in the 17th century. The vicar was
awarded a corn-rent of £750 for his tithes. (fn. 17) In
1612 he owned 16 a. of land and 8 tenements; (fn. 18)
c. 15 a. of glebe remained in 1856. (fn. 19)
The vicarage was valued at £18 16s. 4d. in 1535, (fn. 20)
£50 in 1650, (fn. 21) and £120 in 1750. (fn. 22) By 1798 its value
had risen to £200 and in 1814 it was valued at
£550, (fn. 23) no explanation for the sharp rise being
apparent. In 1856, in spite of the award at the tithe
commutation, the living was valued at only £528; (fn. 24)
possibly some of the tithe rent-charges had been
applied to the new daughter churches.
A house was assigned to the vicar by the ordination of 1360. (fn. 25) The vicarage house was said to
require timber, wattle, and thatch for its repair in
1563, (fn. 26) and a stone front is said to have been added
to the house by John Sedgwick in the earlier 17th
century; (fn. 27) in 1689 it was described as a house of 4
bays with a barn of 2 bays. (fn. 28) It was partly rebuilt
before 1744 when it contained 9 bays and also had a
new stable and barn of 8 bays. (fn. 29) Thomas Keble
regarded the house as unfit for his residence in 1828 (fn. 30)
and rebuilt it, to the designs of William Franklin,
in 1832. (fn. 31)
One of the earliest incumbents of either portion
of the rectory found recorded was the first portioner
Hugh Mortimer, who was accused of forging papal
letters in 1254. In 1257 he was licensed to hold the
benefice in plurality with the church of Old Radnor (fn. 32)
and in 1280 he was given permission to let his
portion at farm while he lived in Ireland in the
service of Maud Mortimer, presumably the wife of
the patron Roger Mortimer. (fn. 33) In 1270 Hugh was
given licence to hunt with dogs in the forests of
Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire. (fn. 34)
He was succeeded as first portioner in 1290 by
another kinsman of the patron, also called Hugh
Mortimer, who had not yet entered orders (fn. 35) and was
still not in priest's orders in 1294, when he was also
cited for plurality. (fn. 36) Henry of Upavon, the portioner
in 1314, was given licence to study for a year. (fn. 37)
Peter de Lacy, who acquired the living by exchange
in 1351, (fn. 38) also held the rectory of Northfleet (Kent)
and a prebend at Wolverhampton in 1363, when he
was granted a canonry at Lichfield on condition
that he resigned Wolverhampton and Bisley. (fn. 39) In
1404 the portion was held by Walter Medford,
chancellor of Salisbury, (fn. 40) after whose death Thomas
Duncan, M.A., was instituted in 1423. (fn. 41) Richard
Edenham, bishop of Bangor, held the portion for
a few months in 1470-1. (fn. 42)
The second portion of the rectory was held from
1282 by Robert of Bisley (or le Eyer), of the patron's
family. He had licence for 2 years' absence for
study in 1310 (fn. 43) and Bartholomew of Elmham,
instituted to the second portion in 1313, had leave of
absence in the king's service the following year. (fn. 44)
Another member of the Bisley family, Henry of
Bisley (or le Eyer), was instituted in 1317 and had
leave of absence for a year's study in 1318. (fn. 45)
Stephen Roach, who held the portion from 1361 to
1370, (fn. 46) was appointed a guardian of the temporal
possessions of the bishop of Bath and Wells during
a vacancy of the see in 1364. (fn. 47)
The names of the medieval vicars of Bisley are
recorded from 1302 (fn. 48) but little else is known of them.
Edmund of Elcombe who was instituted in 1349 (fn. 49)
was perhaps from the hamlet of that name in Bisley.
John Prout held the vicarage from 1369 until 1378
when he exchanged it with Robert Marriott for
Woodchester rectory (fn. 50) and Marriott exchanged the
living in 1383 with John Edward, the chantry priest
of Bisley. (fn. 51) A later chantry priest, James Lowe,
became vicar in 1509. (fn. 52) John Fowler, of the local
clothier family, was vicar from 1543, (fn. 53) and in 1551 he
was found to have a satisfactory knowledge of
doctrine. (fn. 54) Richard Rawlins, apparently the assistant
curate, was serving the church as well as the cure
of Rodborough in 1563; (fn. 55) in 1566 he was excommunicated for not paying the subsidy. John
Lightfoot, vicar from 1572 to 1588, (fn. 56) was cited in
1576 for failure to catechise (fn. 57) and in 1584 was
described as a conformist and neither a graduate nor
a preacher. (fn. 58) His successor Christopher Windle, who
remained vicar until 1625, (fn. 59) was dispensed to hold
Bisley with Syde rectory in 1592. (fn. 60)
John Sedgwick was instituted in 1625 and Daniel
Layford in 1638. (fn. 61) In 1641 Sedgwick and some
parishioners complained that Layford had gained
the living after securing Sedgwick's deprivation on a
false charge of simony; they said that Layford,
whom they described as 'superstitious in observance
of ceremonies, but lax in performance of duties'
was a drunkard and was in prison for debt. (fn. 62) Layford
agreed the same year to give way to Richard
Britton, whose Puritan sympathies were evidently
more to the taste of the parishioners. (fn. 63) Britton
signed the Gloucestershire Ministers' Testimony of
1648 (fn. 64) In 1650 was described as a constant
preacher. (fn. 65) In 1659 he was implicated in Massey's
attempted royalist rising at Gloucester, motivated it
was said by his fears of the influence of Quakers and
Anabaptists. (fn. 66) He subscribed at the Restoration and
remained vicar until his death in 1679. (fn. 67) Stephen
Phillips was vicar from 1715 to 1740 and was
succeeded by another Stephen Phillips who remained
vicar until his death in 1782. Edward Hawkins,
vicar 1782-1806, was also rector of Kelston (Som.)
from 1798. (fn. 68)
In 1827 the church life of Bisley was revitalized
and given a new direction by the institution of
Thomas Keble, the younger brother of John Keble.
Keble set the pattern for Tractarian observance by
his practice of daily services and gathered around
him a group of clergy of sympathetic views who
were later described as the 'Bisley school' of the
Oxford Movement. (fn. 69) Keble's curates included from
1828 to 1834 Sir George Prevost, Bt., later archdeacon of Gloucester, (fn. 70) from 1842 to 1848 Isaac
Williams, devotional poet and author of several
Tracts, (fn. 71) from 1843 Robert Gregory, later dean of
St. Paul's, (fn. 72) and from 1847 Robert Suckling, who
was later perpetual curate of Bussage. (fn. 73) During
Keble's incumbency and largely at his instigation
places of worship were provided for the villages in
the south of the parish: churches were built at
Oakridge, Bussage, and France Lynch, and the early18th-century chapel at Chalford was consecrated and
restored. (fn. 74) Keble also played a leading role in
attempts to alleviate the distress and unemployment
prevalent in the parish during the early years of his
incumbency. (fn. 75) He died in 1875, having been
succeeded at Bisley in 1873 by his son Thomas who
remained vicar until his death in 1903. (fn. 76)
A chantry at Bisley, dedicated to the Virgin, had
been founded by 1274 when Thomas, rector of the
second portion, was assigned custody of its possessions. (fn. 77) In 1285, however, a chaplain was presented
to the chantry by the first portioner, (fn. 78) whose
successors continued to exercise the patronage, the
right passing with the portion to Stoke College. (fn. 79) At
the dissolution of the chantries, when the chantry
was said to have been founded by Osbert, a vicar of
the parish, its lands were valued at £4. (fn. 80) The house
and lands belonging to it were granted on lease by
the Crown from 1551. (fn. 81) The chantry chapel was
described as being in Bisley church in 1274 (fn. 82) but
later it was said to be in or below the churchyard; (fn. 83)
it was again said to be inside the church in 1510 (fn. 84)
and before the restoration of the church there was
a chapel within the east end of the south aisle which
it may have occupied. (fn. 85)
In the early 13th century Richard of Througham
built a chantry chapel adjoining his manor-house at
Througham and endowed the chaplain with 40 a. of
arable and other land. The chapel presumably
served to some extent as a private chapel for the
manor-house; Richard granted land to the rectors
of Bisley to guarantee them against loss of rights,
and promised that he and his household would
attend the parish church at the great festivals and
that the tenants of Througham would continue to
attend every Sunday. (fn. 86) The chapel was included in
the grant of the manor to Cirencester Abbey in
1261 (fn. 87) and it was rebuilt before 1319 when the
abbot was licensed to celebrate there for a year. (fn. 88)
It has not been found recorded later, although
Chapel Piece was named on the manorial demesne
in 1540. (fn. 89)
The parish church of ALL SAINTS, recorded
by that dedication from c. 1230, (fn. 90) is a large building,
comprising chancel, aisled and clerestoried nave
with north vestry, and south porch, and west tower
and spire; it occupies a commanding position above
Bisley village. The site may have been occupied
from antiquity, for Roman pottery has been found
in the churchyard. (fn. 91) The likelihood of there being a
church on the site in pre-Conquest times is supported
by the existence of some carved Saxon stonework
built into the fabric. (fn. 92) The church was apparently
completely rebuilt in several stages during the 14th
century (fn. 93) but little ancient work survives, for it was
largely rebuilt in 1862 to the designs of W. H.
Lowder, who was a curate at Bisley from 1860 to
1864. (fn. 94) The nave and aisles were rebuilt from the
ground upwards, although on the original plan, and
the chancel was very thoroughly restored (fn. 95) but the
tower with its tall broach spire survives from the
ancient church.
In the chancel the most considerable survival
from the ancient fabric is an ornate 13th-century
canopied recess placed externally on the south wall.
Although possibly built as a tomb-recess it later
served as a porch to a small chancel doorway; (fn. 96) at
the restoration of 1862 the door was blocked and an
effigy of a knight, formerly in the south aisle, was
placed under the canopy. (fn. 97) The font has a Norman
bowl of rough workmanship, which was in the
churchyard for many years until 1862 when it was
restored to its proper use and a new pedestal carved
for it in matching style. (fn. 98) Reset in the wall of the
north aisle is a series of incised coffin lids which
were discovered at the restoration serving as
guttering for the aisle. (fn. 99) A brass to Catherine
Sewell (d. 1515) survives, and carved wallmonuments and metal inscription plates were moved
under the tower at the restoration. Part of the
medieval nave roof, with carved corbels and
bosses, was incorporated in the roof of the vestry
added then. A mural of St. Michael weighing the
souls, in the north aisle, was revealed then but
destroyed. (fn. 1) Until the restoration the nave and
aisles were filled with private seats and galleries,
including one in the south aisle which was entered
by external stairs up to the aisle windows. (fn. 2) Another
gallery, built across the chancel arch, was
particularly obnoxious to the Tractarian clergy and
was removed by the curate Robert Gregory in the
face of some opposition in 1844. (fn. 3) Refitting of the old
church carried out in 1770-2 included the provision
of a singers' gallery and a new pulpit and readingdesk carpentered by Edward Keen. (fn. 4) The peal of
six bells (fn. 5) was recast by Abel Rudhall in 1748
and one was recast and two more added by John
Warner & Sons of London in 1864. (fn. 6) A new set of
communion plate was acquired in 1862 but the
church still has two pewter alms-dishes dated
1696. (fn. 7) The registers survive from 1547.
In the churchyard stands a 13th-century hexagonal structure with recessed trefoil-headed arcades
crowned by a spirelet. Now identified as a 'poor
souls' light' in which candles for the dead were
placed, (fn. 8) it was originally thought to be a well-cover,
and a local tradition concerns the drowning of a
workman in a well in the churchyard which led
to an interdict during which corpses were carried
to Bibury for burial. (fn. 9) A short interdict following
bloodshed in the churchyard was recorded in
1470 (fn. 10) and may have provided the basis of the
tradition. The engraved inscription plates on the
tombs in the churchyard include some with ornate
early-18th-century lettering and others of the late
18th and early 19th centuries by Iles and Cook of
Minchinhampton and Freebury and Franklin of
Stroud.
The chapel at Chalford, known as CHRIST
CHURCH after 1841, was built in the early 1720s
by a subscription among local inhabitants and was
vested in trustees. (fn. 11) The chapel, which remained
unconsecrated, was served by curates who were
nominated by the trustees and licensed by the
bishop. The curate was supported by subscription
and had an income of c. £40 in 1750. (fn. 12) In the mid
1770s the subscriptions failed and the chapel
remained unserved for several years, (fn. 13) but by her
will dated 1778 Mrs. Hester Tayloe gave £853 to
support a minister who was to hold two services and
preach a sermon each Sunday in accordance with
established church principles; the will directed that
if the bishop or the vicar of Bisley ever became
patron, or if the chapel was left unserved for a
whole year, her endowment should be assigned
instead to the France Lynch dissenting meeting. (fn. 14)
Subsequently the chapel appears to have been
regularly served and in 1825 it was said to have a
congregation of 300-400. (fn. 15) In 1841 it was enlarged
and consecrated, and in the following year it was
made a district church; it seems also to have been
given an additional endowment, and a glebe house
was built. (fn. 16) In order to circumvent Mrs. Tayloe's
proviso the right of nomination was at first vested in
three neighbouring incumbents, and in 1843 it was
transferred to the archdeacon of Gloucester. (fn. 17) The
living, a perpetual curacy later called a vicarage, was
valued at £150 in 1856. (fn. 18)
The original chapel comprised nave with a small
apsidal sanctuary, north aisle with an arcade of tall
plain arches, and west bellcot. (fn. 19) The alterations of
1841, in the Romanesque style by Thomas Foster
of Bristol, involved the lengthening of the nave and
the addition of a chancel and a west tower with a
short spire. In 1890 the church was reroofed and a
gallery removed from the aisle. Most of the
furntiture and fittings were made in the early 20th
century by Peter Waals and others of the Cotswold
craftsmen established locally. (fn. 20) A small private
chapel built in the 1890s by Christopher Smyth,
formerly vicar of Bussage, adjoining his house called
Firwood at Brown's Hill later served for some years
as a chapel of ease to Chalford. (fn. 21)
The first of the new 19th-century churches was
ST. BARTHOLOMEW at Oakridge which was
begun in 1835 and consecrated in 1837. It was paid
for by subscriptions raised largely by the efforts of
Thomas Keble and Sir George Prevost. (fn. 22) The
church was initially a chapel of ease to the parish
church, although curates were licensed specifically
to serve it (fn. 23) and it had its own glebe house by 1838. (fn. 24)
In 1849 it was made a district church (fn. 25) and the
living, a perpetual curacy (later called a vicarage)
in the nomination of the bishop, was worth £25 in
1856. (fn. 26) The church, comprising lofty chancel and
nave, west tower, and south porch, was designed in
the Early English style by Robert Stokes. (fn. 27)
The church of ST MICHAEL at Bussage was
begun in 1844 and consecrated in 1846. The money
was provided by 20 Oxford undergraduates who in
1839 had agreed to each put aside £20 a year until
they had raised enough to build a church. (fn. 28) Bussage
was made a district church in 1848, (fn. 29) and the living
a perpetual curacy (later called a vicarage) in the
nomination of the bishop, was worth c. £90 in
1856. (fn. 30) The church, which originally comprised
chancel, nave, and west tower, was designed by
J. P. Harrison in accordance with Ecclesiological
Society principles. An aisle for the use of the inmates
of the Bussage House of Mercy was added in 1854
and was designed by G. F. Bodley. (fn. 31) An iron
mission chapel was built at Eastcombe in 1901 (fn. 32)
but after the closure of the church school there in
1918 the school building was consecrated as
St. Augustine's chapel; (fn. 33) originally a chapel of ease
to Bisley, it was transferred to Bussage c. 1968. (fn. 34)
The church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST at
France Lynch was built in 1857 at the expense of an
anonymous benefactor. It remained a chapel of ease
to the parish church (fn. 35) until 1894 when Sir John
Dorington gave £1,000 for the endowment of the
living, which became a vicarage in the patronage of
the vicar of Bisley. (fn. 36) The church comprises chancel,
nave with bellcot, north aisle and vestry, and south
porch and was designed by G. F. Bodley as his
first complete church. (fn. 37)