Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for HORSLEY

HORSLEY, a village, a parish, and a sub-district in Stroud district, Gloucester. The village stands under the Cotswolds, 3 miles SW of Minchinhampton, and 5 S of Stroud r. station; was once a market town, and a place of more importance than now; consists chiefly of old houses, irregularly built; and has a post office under Stroud, and a police station. The parish includes also the hamlet of Chaseridge, the village of Nailsworth, and the hamlets of Barton-End, Down-End, Newmarket, Rockness, Shortwood, Nupp-End, and Walkley-Wood. Acres, 4, 082. Real property, exclusive of Nailsworth, £8, 545; of which £10 are in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 2, 931; in 1861, 2, 558. Houses, 630. The decrease of pop. was caused by the closing of cloth mills. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to Townsend Stephens, Esq. A Tudor manor house, with chapel attached, is at Chavenage. An ancient priory, a cell to St. Martin du Tours, stood near the church; passed to Bruton abbey, to the Dennys, and to the Stephenses; and is now represented by only a gateway. The woollen manufacture, though much declined, is still carried on. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £199.* Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The church is perpendicular English; and consists of nave, transept, and chancel, with a tower. There is a chapel of ease at Shortwood. The p. curacy of Chaseridge is a separate benefice. There are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans, an endowed national school, and charities £100.—The sub-district contains also the parish of Avening. Acres, 8, 510. Pop., 4, 628. Houses, 1, 109.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Horsley CP/AP       Horsley SubD       Stroud RegD/PLU       Gloucestershire AncC
Place: Horsley

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