CHURCH.
A church had been established at
Horsley before 1105 when Horsley's independence
from Avening parish was confirmed. (fn. 26) The living
was served by Horsley Priory (fn. 27) until a vicarage was
ordained in 1380, (fn. 28) from which time it has remained
a vicarage. The patronage was retained by Bruton
Priory until the Dissolution and was subsequently
owned by the Crown. Giles Bennett had received a
grant of the next presentation after the Dissolution. (fn. 29)
The Crown continued to appoint through the Lord
Chancellor until the early 18th century (fn. 30) but by 1750
the bishop of Gloucester was patron (fn. 31) and remained
so in 1972. (fn. 32)
The endowment of the vicarage assigned in 1380
comprised 12 marks a year and 4 cart-loads of wood,
and the impropriators, Bruton Priory, were required
to build a vicarage house. (fn. 33) In 1535 the living was
worth £7 11s. 4d. yearly (fn. 34) and in 1563 the
impropriator was charged with paying the incumbent
a salary of £8. (fn. 35) The living was still worth £8 a year
in the early 18th century (fn. 36) but in 1715 was granted
£200 from Queen Anne's Bounty, which made a
further grant of £200 to match an equal sum given
in 1733 by Paul Castleman. (fn. 37) The interest from those
sums in addition to the original benefaction, which
included £2 yearly in lieu of the cart-loads of wood,
gave the living an annual income of £40 in 1750. (fn. 38)
Further grants were made by Queen Anne's Bounty:
£200 in 1794, £800 in 1826, and £200 in 1833, the
last being made to meet an annual grant of £15
from the rectory of Cam by the bishop of
Gloucester. (fn. 39) The living was worth £180 yearly in
1856, (fn. 40) about which time part of the rectorial tithe
rent-charge was settled on the vicarage. (fn. 41) The old
vicarage house was sold in 1797 (fn. 42) and a new vicarage
house purchased at Rockness. (fn. 43) The house was said
to be an unsuitable residence in the early 19th
century (fn. 44) and was later rebuilt in the Gothic style.
Little is known of the medieval vicars who served
Horsley after 1380 but Ralph Bennett, instituted in
1425, may have been from a family closely connected
with Horsley during the later Middle Ages. (fn. 45) Henry
Woodhouse, vicar in 1532 and until 1555, was not
learned. (fn. 46) The living was vacant in 1563 (fn. 47) and in
1603 was said to have been so for fifty years; (fn. 48) the
next recorded institution was that of Samuel
Craddock in 1609. (fn. 49) During the vacancy the parish
was served by a number of assistant curates. (fn. 50) In the
early 17th century Edward Norris, a Puritan cleric
who went to America in 1639, is said to have served
at Horsley. (fn. 51) Another Puritan, Samuel Hieron, was
curate of Horsley in 1642 and until at least 1648
when he signed the Gloucestershire Ministers'
Testimony. (fn. 52) A Mr. Ridler was recorded as minister
in 1650. (fn. 53) Nathaniel Hall, admitted to the cure in
1657, conformed at the Restoration (fn. 54) and was
succeeded by Henry Stubbs, a crypto-Presbyterian,
who remained vicar until his death in 1678. (fn. 55) George
Gwinnett, vicar from 1764, was granted a yearly
pension of £10 for life by the parish when he
resigned the living in 1774. (fn. 56) During the 18th
century the parish was served by a number of
assistant curates including, from 1794 until 1810,
Thomas Dudley Fosbrooke, the author of a history
of the county and other books; (fn. 57) he also took an
active interest in the welfare of the parish, vaccinating
over 600 persons at his own expense in 1810. (fn. 58)
Anthony Keck, curate in 1812, owned an estate in
the parish. (fn. 59)
A church recorded at Chavenage in the mid 13th
century, (fn. 60) for which no later record has been found,
presumably served the old village of Ledgemore,
north of Chavenage Green; (fn. 61) the name Churchyard
field and the tradition of a church were attached to a
place in that area in the early 19th century. (fn. 62) A
private chapel at Chavenage House was recorded
from 1803 (fn. 63) and from 1819 it was used as a chapel of
ease for that part of the parish. Chaplains were
licensed by the bishop on the nomination of the
occupant of the house with the vicar of Horsley's
consent, and received a stipend raised by the lord of
the manor and the tenants of the estate. (fn. 64) From
c. 1860 the chapelry was served by the vicar, although
it apparently retained a technically separate existence
until the early years of the 20th century. (fn. 65)
A church had been built at Horsley by 1105 (fn. 66) and
the dedication to ST. MARTIN (fn. 67) recalls the earliest
monastic owners of Horsley. (fn. 68) The medieval church,
rebuilt except for the tower in 1839, comprised
chancel with north and south chapels, aisled nave
with south porch, and west tower. (fn. 69) The chancel was
built or rebuilt c. 1332 (fn. 70) by which time the nave and
aisles had been built. The tower, of four storeys and
incorporating an earlier west doorway, was built
during the 15th century at which time the chapels
were added. The north chapel, which was dedicated
to St. George, (fn. 71) may once have housed a chantry;
men described as the guardians of the chapel were
required to repair a tenement in the village, belonging
to it, in 1512. (fn. 72) By the end of the 15th century a
rood-stair and loft had been inserted in the church. (fn. 73)
The impropriator was blamed for the poor condition
of the chancel in the later 16th century (fn. 74) and a titheowner was considered responsible for its fabric in
1812. (fn. 75) There was a gallery at the west end of the
nave by 1768 (fn. 76) and one had been inserted in the
south aisle before 1838. (fn. 77)
The church was felt to be inadequate in the early
19th century (fn. 78) and subscriptions were raised for
building a new church, incorporating the west tower
of the old building, to which many of the monuments
of the old church were removed. The new church,
comprising chancel with north and south vestries,
north and south transepts, and broad nave, was
built on to the tower to designs by Thomas Rickman
and was consecrated in 1839. (fn. 79) In 1887 the church
was restored and some internal fittings replaced. (fn. 80)
The bells include two dated 1632, three cast during
the 18th century by various members of the Rudhall
family, and one, replacing an earlier bell, cast by
Mears and Stainbank in 1871. (fn. 81) The ancient plate
was melted down in 1876 and new vessels cast from
the silver. (fn. 82) The registers begin in 1590 but there
are some gaps during the 17th century. (fn. 83)