Victoria County History: Gloucestershire
Scoping Report for a Cirencester Volume
The Gloucestershire County History Trust agreed at its meeting on 31 October 2012 to
commission from me scoping reports for proposed Victoria County History volumes centred
on Cheltenham and Cirencester. This report on a Cirencester volume is submitted to the
trustees for their consideration, and for consultation with others interested in supporting this
project. I gratefully acknowledge the invaluable help that I have received from Linda and
David Viner of Cirencester, and from Kate Maisey of Gloucestershire Archives.
John Chandler
8 January 2013
Introduction
The Gloucestershire County History Trust anticipates that sufficient funding will be secured for
work on two new ‘red book’ volumes to begin concurrently in Autumn 2013, centred on
Cheltenham and Cirencester. The research and writing may be commissioned from a small
number of specialist historians under contract to work on specific sections of the volumes,
and it is possible (in fact probably desirable) that the same personnel may contribute to both
volumes. Because both volumes will focus on the history of important towns and a small
group of surrounding parishes, arguably they should be similar in approach and structure,
although reflecting the towns’ different characters, and their eras of pre-eminence. And
because several hands will be involved it is important that quite detailed synopses be devised,
and refined in consultation with appropriate experts on the two towns, in order to avoid
overlaps and omissions, and to ensure balanced treatment. These synopses can then be used
to inform candidates of the work required and form the bases of contractual agreements. A
first attempt at a synopsis for the Cirencester volume is included in this report. The precise
content and subdivision of the sections will emerge by agreement with the researcher and the
Trust, and/ or an overseeing general editor as the work progresses. The contributors will be
required to follow the well established VCH style conventions for ‘red book’ volumes.
Methodology
VCH research is based on the principle that a checklist of manuscript and printed historical
sources should be read, and all evidence relevant to the place in question noted. Once this
body of evidence has been collected it can be used to inform the writing of individual sections
of the history, alongside other sources specific to the subjects being treated, and input from
targeted volunteer projects (see below). It follows that, if work on a town history is to be
shared between several researchers, the collection of evidence from standard sources should
be organised and divided in a coherent way in order to minimise duplication; a chronological
division is probably the least ambiguous. This does not of course preclude the need for the
different researchers to share their findings with each other, and where expedient to read and
VCH Gloucestershire: Scoping Report for a Cirencester Volume (January 2013) © GCHT
note sources on each other’s behalf. The checklist of sources currently in use by VCH
Gloucestershire editors is appended to this report.
Corinium
An unusual feature (in VCH urban history terms) of Cirencester’s history relates to its
importance in the Romano-British period. As a Roman provincial capital it can be argued that
Corinium (including its Iron Age antecedent at Bagendon) should form a significant part of the
book, especially if there is sufficient evidence to describe the Roman town and its rural
surroundings in somewhat similar fashion to a typical VCH account of medieval and later
periods. It would also make for a stimulating discussion of continuity and/ or hiatus over a
long historical period which would, I feel, be pioneering (as far as VCH practice is concerned)
and would thereofre be well-received by reviewers.
Against this may be argued that researching (or more probably reworking existing
archaeological research) and writing about the prehistoric and Romano-British periods
requires different expertise and criteria, and would certainly mean employing someone with a
landscape archaeology background to work alongside the documentary historians of the
traditional VCH. It must also be noted that, when the Gloucester VCH volume (vol. 4, 1988)
was produced, prehistoric, Roman and pagan Saxon Gloucester were not considered, and
were reserved for future treatment in a volume covering the archaeology of the county as a
whole. Furthermore, one recent model suggested in national VCH guidelines for writing an
urban history is Chester, a major Roman city, but Chester’s Roman history is presented in a
relatively brief VCH account.
My recommendation is that, since a countywide archaeology volume is no longer
contemplated in the VCH Gloucestershire series, prehistoric and Romano-British Cirencester
should be treated fully and in a manner proportionate to their importance. But this matter of
principle should be referred to VCH central office before any firm decision is taken. Simon
Draper’s opinion on the feasibility of this approach should also be sought, since Roman–Saxon
continuity is very much his area of interest.
Sources
Source material for studying Cirencester’s archaeology and history was reviewed in 1994 (by
Darvill and Gerrard, Cirencester town and landscape, 1994), and this forms a useful basis;
more recent excavations are described, and a review of archaeological work 1958-2008 given,
in Holbrook, Excavations and Observations in Roman Cirencester 1998-2007, Cotswold
Archaeology). Writing about documentation in the medieval period the 1994 authors admit:
‘Documents have not been systematically studied and this material provides the greatest
potential for future enhancement of our knowledge of medieval Cirencester and the
identification of new monument classes’ (pp.113-14). This in itself is a good argument for the
potential value of VCH treatment.
The most recent academic study of Cirencester’s medieval and early modern history
(David Rollison, Commune, Country and Commonwealth, 2011) includes a full bibliography of
primary and secondary sources. All manuscript sources cited by him are in Gloucestershire
Archives (including diocesan records) or The National Archives, the latter including only patent
and close rolls, a hearth tax assessment and a star chamber case. For the 1994 study the
authors contacted ‘all county record offices in the country’ for information about Cirencester-
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related material and all responded, but most positive responses detailed only a single
document (Darvill and Gerard 1994, 25). The principal exception was the Nelthorpe family
deposit in Lincolnshire Archives. A catalogue of this collection is now available at
www.lincstothepast.com, which returns 131 ‘hits’ for Cirencester (although not all relate to
the Nelthorpe papers). A brief search via the A2A website maintained by TNA also suggests
that, although some relevant documents are held in other repositories, including adjacent
county archives offices and the Bodleian Library, most important source material is held at
Glos Archives or (e.g. Cirencester Abbey Cartulary) is available in reliable printed editions
(Ross 1964; Devine 1977).
The Glos Archives collections relating to Cirencester are very extensive. Notable are
the Cirencester parish records (P86/1), which beside church matters include much relating to
local government through the parish vestry, deeds of properties belonging to the church and
numerous charities, school records, and miscellaneous items including manorial records, and
an unpublished history of c.1790 by Joseph Kilner. The records of the Cirencester
Improvement Commissioners from 1825 and successor local authorities, latterly Cirencester
UDC (to 1974) are also very substantial (DA4), as are the artificial collections of material
relating to many town institutions, businesses, properties and families deposited by the
Bingham Library Trust Archive (D10820); and on a smaller scale the Royce collection, including
manorial records (D1375). There are significant accumulations of property deeds in solicitors’
deposits, including those of Mullings Ellett (D182, D1388, etc) and Wilmot & Co (D1070); and
family papers in the Bathurst (D2525) and Chester-Master archive (D674b). A great deal of
potentially relevant material has been incompletely catalogued or not catalogued at all, and
this issue is addressed under ‘Volunteers’ below.
The town has also been well served by its older historians, beginning with Samuel
Rudder (1780), and continued by K.J. Beecham (1887) and W. St. Clair Baddeley (1924), whose
works include much material that may now be regarded as primary sources. Beecham’s
extensive notes for a revised edition of his history are included in the 1978 reprint. The local
newspaper, the Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard, is valuable for its many historical articles, as
well as for the light it throws on contemporary events. Books on specific aspects of
Cirencester include its archaeology (edited by Alan McWhirr, ed. 1976), the agricultural
college (by Sayce 1992), and Quakerism (by Hawkins 1998). Brief histories of Cirencester
abbey and three medieval hospitals in the town were published in VCH Glos. vol.2 (1908), but
I suggest that these should be revisited and fresh accounts included in the proposed volume.
Volunteer Involvement
A particularly useful ancillary activity, which would both enhance the VCH red book research,
and inform strategies for future archaeological interventions, would be to organise a
volunteer group to trawl property deeds, leases, etc, and surveys/ inhabitants lists (including
the 1909 land valuation), with the aim of reconstructing the tenurial history of each plot
within the urban core. Such a group could be led and supervised by a VCH researcher, but it
would be worth seeking funding to employ as consultant a buildings historian, who could train
the group in identifying and dating architectural features, so that a survey of surviving
buildings could be tied in with the documentary research. [A similar project by English
Heritage to train volunteers to examine listed buildings at risk within the Cotswolds AONB
area is planned – though Cirencester itself falls outside the AONB.] A community archaeology
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project could then extend this work to town-plan analysis, non-invasive archaeological
fieldwork, test-pitting, analysis of garden soil, etc.
Although much archival material relating to Cirencester is readily available at Glos
Archives, two very large accumulations of records, those of the Bathurst family (D2525,
approximately 93 boxes, only partially catalogued), and those of Mullings, Ellett and related
solicitors’ firms (approximately 450 boxes, mostly uncatalogued and disordered) are
problematical. Both contain a great deal of Cirencester source material (including the records
of local organisations, as well as property deeds), without the benefit of which a VCH account
of the town and surroundings would be very incomplete and erroneous. It is possible that
box-listing of some of this material could be undertaken as a volunteers’ project, under
archivist’s supervision, but it may be necessary, in conjunction with Glos Archives, to employ
someone with archival experience on contract to work on this material and/ or organise
volunteer help, for which additional funding might need to be raised. I suggest that, at a fairly
early stage in the project planning, this issue should be discussed with the County Archivist
and her staff. On a positive note this work would undoubtedly reveal aspects of Cirencester’s
history hitherto completely obscure, which would add to the value of the VCH account and
perhaps lead to spin-off research and publications.
It should be noted also that a substantial portion of the proposed Cirencester volume
is concerned with nearby rural parishes. In line with programmes of volunteer work
established by the VCH elsewhere in Glos and other counties, and ongoing volunteer activity
organised by Glos Archives, there will be opportunities for local people to contribute to the
research on their parishes.
Coverage
Since the account of Cirencester alone is of insufficient length to fill a volume, and in
conformity to national VCH guidelines for volumes including a medium or small town, the
project should include also some adjoining or nearby parishes. One early decision, therefore,
will concern which places apart from Cirencester itself should be considered.
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Although the determination of volume contents according to medieval hundreds is no
longer strictly adhered to, its use in the past means that the Cirencester area forms an island
surrounded by hundreds already treated by the VCH, to the north and east by vol. 7, to the
west by vol. 11, and to the south by Wilts. vol. 18. The area not covered by these volumes
forms principally the medieval hundred of Crowthorne and Minety (itself a merger of earlier
hundreds of Cirencester and Gersdon), as well as several parishes which lay in Wiltshire until
19th-century boundary changes. These latter have not been and will not be covered in the
Wiltshire VCH series, although Minety, formerly in Glos and now in Wilts, has been included in
Wilts. vol. 18.
I suggest that this area could conveniently be covered in two ‘red book’ volumes of
roughly equal size, treating respectively Cirencester, most of its neighbours, and parishes to
the north in the former; and the remainder of the hundred, together with the ex-Wiltshire
‘orphans’ in the latter. I am grateful to Linda Viner for her helpful comments and observations
on this matter. The provisional composition of the two volumes would be as follows:
1.
Bagendon
Baunton
Cirencester
Daglingworth
Duntisbourne Abbots
Duntisbourne Rous
Preston
Siddington
Stratton
2.
Ampney Crucis
Ampney St Mary
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Ampney St Peter
Ashley
Coates
Driffield
Down Ampney
Harnhill
Kemble
Long Newnton
Meyseyhampton
Poole Keynes
Poulton
Somerford Keynes
South Cerney
PROPOSED SYNOPSIS
This outline follows the ‘small and medium sized towns recommendations’ contained in the
VCH online guide to ‘Writing an Urban History’ (which should be consulted for the rationale
underlying this approach: available at VCH website > Learning > Writing for the VCH > Writing
an Urban History), but it has been adapted to the special circumstances of Cirencester’s
history. In estimating the length of each section the recommended target total of 190,000
(excluding notes) for the whole volume is assumed. Contributors may exceed these totals in
writing text for the online version, on the assumption that editing for publication will reduce
the wordcount.
This synopsis is a first attempt to achieve a balanced structure for the volume, and has
been drafted for consultation with the expectation that it will be modified in the light of
comments and criticism. (Target wordcounts for each section or subsection in brackets)
INTRODUCTION
(The discussion of the hundred covers an area larger than the volume, but the landscape and
settlement sections should relate only to the relevant area)
Crowthorne and Minety Hundred (4,000)
boundaries
predecessors, constituents, changes, divisions
governance
Landscape, Geology and Drainage (4,000)
Settlement (2,000)
brief summary of following sections
CORINIUM AND ITS ENVIRONS
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(This section focuses on the Roman town, but also considers its immediate landscape context
from prehistory to c.700, so should not be restricted to the area covered by the volume.)
Before Corinium: Prehistory of the Cirencester area (3,000)
early prehistory to Early Iron Age
Bagendon oppidum and its context
Corinium Dobunnorum (15,000)
introduction and chronological framework
topography and settlement
street layout and relation to road system
public and administrative buildings
domestic buildings and urban built environment
suburban and rural settlement
governance
civitas capital
provincial capital
military activity and defences
economic activity
marketing and economic hub
commerce and manufacturing
quarrying
service provision, including hospitality and entertainment
villa economy and the countryside
religions and funerary monuments
population and social structure
After Corinium (2,000)
structural decline
economic and social decline
threads of continuity
CIRENCESTER ABBEY (5,000)
narrative account augmenting and replacing that in VCH Glos II
CIRENCESTER
(This relates to Cirencester ancient parish and its tithings, but for the later periods includes
suburban expansion into its neighbours.)
Late Saxon and Medieval Cirencester, to 1540 (20,000)
Anglo-Saxon to Domesday (all aspects)
medieval topography and built environment
communications
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Cirencester town, including urban planning
hamlets, tithings and rural settlement
manors and estates
Cirencester
Chesterton
Wiggolds
Archibalds
Oakley
minor manors and estates
economic activity
agriculture, including woodland and mills
trade, including markets and fairs, and innkeeping
manufacturing, including textiles
population and social structure
charities
influential townspeople
local government
crown and military activity
manorial administration
borough administration
religious history
parish church, origins and status
endowment and patronage
religious life
Cirencester 1540 to 1825 (20,000)
post-medieval topography and built environment
effects of the dissolution
communications, including roads and canal
urban development
rural settlement
manors and estates
Cirencester
Oakley, Cirencester Park
other manors and estates
local government
borough administration
guild and trade companies
parochial administration
public services
Parliamentary representation
economic activity
agriculture, including woodland and mills
trade, including markets and fairs, and innkeeping
manufacturing, including textiles
population and social structure
charities and social welfare
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education
social and cultural life
influential townspeople
religious history
patronage and incumbents
religious life
dissent and recusancy
Cirencester 1825 to 1945 (20,000)
topography and built environment
communications, including road, canal and rail
urban development and suburban expansion
rural settlement and country estates
local government
improvement commissioners
parochial administration
local board and urban district
public services
Parliamentary representation
economic history
trade, markets, hospitality and service industries
manufacturing
agriculture and rural industries
social history
population and social structure
welfare, including charities, hospital and workhouse
education, including grammar school and Royal Ag. College
sporting and cultural activities, library, social clubs
religious life
established church, including restoration and Watermoor
protestant nonconformity
Roman Catholicism
Cirencester since 1945 (15,000)
topography and built environment
communications
urban demolition and renewal, archaeological research
housing estates and suburban expansion
local government and public services
urban district, Cotswold DC, Cirencester Town Council
Parliamentary representation
economic history
trade, markets, and service industries
tourism and hospitality
manufacturing
agriculture and rural industries
social history
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population and social structure
welfare provision
education
sporting and cultural activities, social clubs, library
religious life
established church
protestant nonconformity
Roman Catholicism
non-Christian religions
(the following parish histories adopt the conventional VCH treatment. Wordcounts may be
adjusted, but the total for the eight parishes should not exceed 80,000)
BAGENDON (10,000)
introduction and settlement
manors and other estates
economic history
social history
local government
religious history
BAUNTON (10,000)
introduction and settlement
manors and other estates
economic history
social history
local government
religious history
DAGLINGWORTH (10,000)
introduction and settlement
manors and other estates
economic history
social history
local government
religious history
DUNTISBOURNE ABBOTS (10,000)
introduction and settlement
manors and other estates
economic history
social history
local government
religious history
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DUNTISBOURNE ROUS (10,000)
introduction and settlement
manors and other estates
economic history
social history
local government
religious history
PRESTON (10,000)
introduction and settlement
manors and other estates
economic history
social history
local government
religious history
SIDDINGTON (10,000)
introduction and settlement
manors and other estates
economic history
social history
local government
religious history
STRATTON (10,000)
introduction and settlement
manors and other estates
economic history
social history
local government
religious history
APPENDIX:
VCH Gloucestershire Research Check Lists
NOTE
These lists have been reformatted from those used and regularly updated to 2010. They have
not subsequently been revised, although increasingly existing sources are becoming available
online, and new online finding aids are being created. One preliminary task in preparation for
the Cheltenham and Cirencester projects, therefore, will be an overhaul and reassessment of
these check lists to reflect sources available in 2013/14.
There are three check lists. The first describes sources to be checked at an early stage
in the research process for all the places to be included in a ‘red book’ volume. The second
and third list manuscript and printed sources to be checked as each parish is researched. For
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the Cheltenham and Cirencester volumes, where the majority of the work involves a single
town, this distinction between volume and parish sources is less important than for a volume
covering a group of rural parishes.
JHC January 2013
SOURCES TO BE CONSULTED FOR EACH VOLUME
Location Guide:
A = Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society library, Archives Room, Francis
Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham
G = Glos. Colln. (in Gloucestershire Archives)
I = Institute of Historical Research, London
R = Gloucestershire Archives library
Printed sources
R Book of Fees
GI Calamy Revised
AI Cal. Papal Reg. I–XIX (or more recent vol.) and Pet.
R Cat. of Glos. Colln., pp. 892 sqq.
I 1801 Crop Returns for England I, ed. M. Turner (List and Index Soc. 189)
R Colvin, Biog. Dict. Brit. Archit.
R Compton Census, ed. Whiteman
R Davie & Dawber, Old Cotswold Cottages
R Delineations of Glos.
I Feudal Aids II, VI [II in R]
R Finberg, Early Charters of W. Midlands
R Finberg, Glos. Studies
R Gunnis, Dict. of Brit. Sculptors
R Glos. Q.S. Archives
R Glos. Soc. Ind. Archaeol. Jnl [ = Gloucestershire Archives, AR 47]
Gl Harvey, Eng. Med. Archit. [1954 edn in Gloucester Library reference section, 927.2]
I Hist. MSS Com. Topog. Guide (1914)
I Ibid. Index of Places (1973)
I Hodgson, Queen Anne’s Bounty
Gl Leland, Itin., ed. Toulmin Smith [Gloucester Library reference section, 914.2]
I Ogilby, Britannia (1675)
AR Pleas of the Crown for Glos., ed Maitland
R Poor Law Abs., 1804 and 1818 [= Gloucestershire Archives, Q/CR 26/8–10]
G Red Bk. of Worc.
I Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum I–III
I Turner, Original Records of Early Nonconformity.
R Willcox, Glos. 1590–1640
A William Worcestre, Itin., ed. J.H. Harvey (1969)
Gloucestershire Archives: Quarter Sessions Records
Q/AV 2 (alehouse recognizances 1755)
Q/CI 2, pp. 16–19 (list of county bridges and date of earliest reference in QS order
books)
Q/RNc 1–2 (papists’ estates) [TS calendar]
Q/RSf 2 (friendly societies) [TS calendar]
Q/RUm (public works) [TS calendar]
Q/RZ 1 (friendly societies)
Q/SIb 1 (indictment book) [TS calendar]
Q/SO 1 (order book), ff. 41v.–42, 129 and v., 185v., 200 and v. Also check TS
calendar.
Q/SO 3–4 (order books) [TS calendar]
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Q/SR (order rolls) [TS calendar]
Q/SRh (highway diversion papers) [TS calendar: ?always listed under parishes]
Gloucester Diocesan Records (in Gloucestershire Archives)
Volumes 284B(2), 319, 320, 382, 384, and 385
Gloucestershire Collection (in Gloucestershire Archives)
27082 (feet of fines in Phillipps MS 18565) [look at this collection generally]
20979 (TS of Bodleian MS Rawl. C. 790)
Worcestershire Record Office
Worcester Episcopal Registers [TS index in Gloucestershire VCH office]
The National Archives
E 134: Depositions taken by Commission
E 178: Special Commissions of Inquiry
E 179/116/544: Hearth Tax exemptions
E 301/21, 23: Certificates of Colleges and Chantries
E 309: Enrolment of Leases
E 310: Particulars of Leases
E 315/67, 68: Miscellaneous Books
ED 7: Public Elementary Schools, Preliminary Statements
FS 2/3, 13: Friendly Societies: Indexes to Rules and Amendments I
FS 4/11, 12, 13: Friendly Societies: Indexes to Rules and Amendments II
HO 129: Ecclesiastical Returns 1851 [available on microfilm]
IND 1/17050: Wood’s Index
JUST 1/274; 1/275 and 1/1204, rot. 3; 1/278; 1/286; 1/293: Eyre Rolls
List & Index XXXII
British Library
Board of Education, List 21, 1911 (HMSO) [BL (SP) BS 10/48]
Ibid. 1922, 1932, 1938
Educ. Enquiry Abs. (Parl. Papers 1835 (62), xli) [microfiche]
Educ. of Poor Digest (Parl. Papers 1819 (224), ix (1)) [microfiche]
Poor Law Com. Reps.
Poor Law Returns (1830–1) (Parl. Papers 1830–1 (83), XI)
Ibid. (1835) (Parl. Papers 1835 (444, XLVII)
Public Elem. Schs. 1906 (Parl. Papers 1906 [Cd. 3182], LXXXVI) [1906 only]
Rep. of Educ. Cttee of Council, 1869–70 (Parl. Papers 1870 (165), XXII)
Harleian MS 4131 (microfilm copy in Gloucestershire Archives, MF 193)
Maps catalogue
Class catalogues 61a, 61b, and 80
Bodleian Library, Oxford
Slip index to quarto catalogues
Record, Index to Summary Cat. and slip index continuation of same
Turner & Coxe, Cat. of Charters & Rolls; bound MS. continuation of same, and card
index continuation of same
MS Top. Glouc. c. 3 (copy in Gloucestershire Archives, MF 213, which also has c. 2)
MS Rawl. B 323 (copy in Gloucestershire Archives, MF 336). Use Notes on Dioc. of
Glouc. by Chancellor Richard Parsons
Church of England Record Centre, South Bermondsey, London
General Inquiry by National Society into Schools 1846–7 (1849). British Library copy,
cat.8369, r. 2, is at Woolwich and needs 2 days’ advance order.
Office for National Statistics Birkdale, Southport
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Worship Register
National Monuments Record, English Heritage, Swindon
Parish boxes (search for illustrations, sale particulars etc.)
MS SOURCES TO BE CONSULTED FOR EACH PARISH
Gloucestershire VCH Office
Indexes: multiple reference slips
feet of fines (series 1)
printed pipe rolls
Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), IV
Inq. p.m. Glos.
VCH Glos. II (on slips), IV–XI
File of general notes for current volume
Acreage Returns, 1905
Gloucestershire Archives
Indexes: general place-name index
temporary index
parish records
inclosure maps
other maps
manorial records
prints and photographs
wills 1801–58
CH 21
D 383 (=TNA, E 179/247/14)
D 837 (=TNA, E 101/59/9–11)
Hockaday Abs.
Gloucester Diocesan Records (in Gloucestershire Archives)
Kirby, Cat. of Glouc. Dioc. Rec. I–II
T 1 (tithe awards): see GDR supplementary lists
V 5 (glebe terriers): see GDR supplementary lists
vol. 40: check photocopy of F.D. Price’s calendar in Gloucestershire Archives finding
aids room
vol. 383
Gloucestershire Collection (in Gloucestershire Archives)
Cat. of Glos. Colln.
LOCATE (GA Local Studies online catalogue)
Supplementary catalogue 1928–55 [red binders]
Supplementary catalogue 1955– [cards]
Prints catalogue
Card indexes: newspaper cuttings
‘Bygones’ cuttings
Census microfilms 1841, 1851, and later ones selectively
Historical Manuscripts Commission
National Register of Archives
The National Archives
TNA Online catalogue
C 78: Decree Rolls
C 115: Duchess of Norfolk Deeds
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C 142: Inquisitions post mortem Series II (List and Index XXIII, XXVI, XXXI, XXXIII)
C 143: Inquisitions ad quod damnum (List and Index XXII)
CP 40: De Banco Rolls
CP 43: Recovery Rolls
E 123–7, 159: Decrees and Orders; Memoranda Rolls
E 179/247/13: Hearth Tax (when ibid. 14 fails)
E 315/47–54: Miscellaneous Books
IR 18: Tithe Files
MAF 68: Agricultural Returns 1866, 1896, 1926, 1956, 1986
possibly also MAF 32 (1940–1)
PROB 11: Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills
REQ 2: Court of Requests Proceedings (List & Index suppl. VII)
SC 2: Court Rolls (List & Index VI)
SC 6: Ministers’ and Receivers’ Accounts (List & Index suppl. III, VIII)
STAC 1–2: Court of Star Chamber Proceedings
Duchy of Lancaster records for parishes that were in the duchy. For sources most
likely to be useful, see
Ducatus Lancastriae. (Rec. Com.), I–III
DL 1: Pleadings
DL 3: Depositions
DL 7: Inquisitions post mortem
List & Index XIV and Suppl. List V (I–III)
DL 30: Court Rolls
DL 36: Cartae Miscellaneous
DL 42: Miscellaneous Books
DL 43: Rentals and Surveys
DL 14: Drafts and Particulars of Leases
DL 31: Maps
DL 41:Miscellaneous
List & Index VI
DL 30: Court Rolls
Deputy Keeper’s Report XXXV, Appendix pp. 1–41; Appendix I, pp. 161–205,
and/or TNA calendar
DL 25–7: Ancient Deeds
Deputy Keeper’s Report XXXIX, Appendix pp. 549–62
DL 12: Warrants
List & Index V
DL 29: Accounts to 1485
List & Index XXXIV
DL 29: Accounts 1485–1547
List & Index XXV
DL 43: Rentals and Surveys
DL 44: Special Commissions
TNA list arranged by county
DL 5: Decrees and Orders
British Library
Online manuscripts catalogue:[includes Cat. of Addns 1882–1955; for additions from
1956, see Automated Current Catalogue]
Index to Charters and Rolls in British Museum I–II [= index locorum: copies in
Gloucestershire Archives]
Online integrated catalogue
Charity Commission
Online Char. Com. Register
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VCH Gloucestershire: Scoping Report for a Cirencester Volume (January 2013) © GCHT
Other Internet resources
Some are more reliable than others, and new ones are added all the time. Some of the most essential, in addition
to those specified above, are:
Access to Archives: http://www.a2a.pro.gov.uk
Counties Gazetteer: http://www.old-maps.co.uk
Gazetteer of Markets/Fairs to 1516:
http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html (cite as Samantha Letters, Gazetteer of Markets & Fairs in
England and Wales to 1516 (last updated date))
English Heritage: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk
Historical directories: http://www.historicaldirectories.org
Images of England: http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk
Incorporated Church Building Society: http://www.churchplansonline.org
Index to Local and Personal Acts:
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/chron-tables/chron-index.htm
Institute of Historical Research: http://www.history.ac.uk
Lambeth Palace Library: http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org
London Gazette: http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk
Current editions online, with search facility. The entire archive from 1665 is
currently being digitized and made available free online. As of Feb. 2003, available
texts are First and Second World Wars and 20th century honours and awards.
Repositories of primary sources:
http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html
Workhouse Gazetteer: http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/england/england.htm
In addition:
Parish websites
Local employers' websites
Search engines:
Google: http://www.google.com (fast, efficient, no banner adverts)
PRINTED SOURCES TO BE CONSULTED FOR EACH PARISH
Location Guide:
A = Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society library, Archives Room, Francis
Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham
F = Archives Room, Francis Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham
G = Glos. Colln. (in Gloucestershire Archives)
GL = Gloucester Library
I = Institute of Historical Research, London
R = Gloucestershire Archives library
V = Gloucestershire VCH office
N.B. standard record publications are to be found in The National Archives library and on the open shelves in the
British Library reading rooms.
Maps
V OS Area Book
R OS Maps 6” and 1:1,250.
V OS Map 1” (1828–31 edn)
F Geological Survey Map
F Land Utilisation Survey Map
AR Taylor, Map of Glos. (1777) [in BGAS Atlas (1961)]
R Bryant, Map of Glos. (1824)
R Greenwood, Map of Glos. (1824)
Books
AR PN Glos. (EPNS)
AI Cart. Sax. ed. Birch
I Cod. Dipl. ed. Kemble
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VCH Gloucestershire: Scoping Report for a Cirencester Volume (January 2013) © GCHT
AR Grundy, Saxon Charters
AR RCHM, Glos. I
ARV Archaeol. in Glos. (Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum and BGAS 1984)
AV Domesday Book (Rec. Com.) [for foliation see VCH copy]
AR Domesday Book; Glos., ed. and transl. Moore
AR Taylor, Dom. Glos.
AR Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.)
AR Plac. de Quo Warr. (Rec. Com.)
A Rot. Parl. (Rec. Com.)
AR Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.)
AR Inq. Non. (Rec. Com.)
R Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.)
ARI Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.)
AI Cal. Chart. 1341–1417, 1427–1516
AI Rot. Litt. Claus. (Rec. Com.)
AI Close 1231–72
AI Cal. Close, 1272–1509
AI Cal. Fine 1272–1509
RI Rot. Lib. (Rec. Com.)
AI Cal. Lib. 1226–72
AI Cal. Mem. 1326–7
AI Cal. Pat. 1226–72, 1370–7, 1485–1509, 1547–82
AI L. & P. Hen. VIII, I and Addenda
RI Cal. SP Dom. 1677–85, 1696–1704
I Cal. Cttee for Compounding
I Acts of PC 1613–31
AI Cal. Inq. p.m., I–XXIII
AI Cal. Inq. p.m. Hen. VII, I-III
AI Cal. Inq. Misc. I–VI
IGL Ibid. VII [Gloucester Library reference section, 942.038]
A Cal. Doc. France, ed. Round
R Red Bk. Exch. (RS)
AR Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.)
A Rot. Cur. Reg. (Rec. Com.)
I Curia Reg. I–XIX
A Curia Reg. 1194–5 (Pipe Roll Soc. 14)
A Eyre Rolls, 1221–2 (Selden Soc. 59)
A Pub. Works in Med. Law, I (Selden Soc. 32)
A Select Cases in Chancery (Selden Soc. 10)
R Cal. Proc. in Chancery Queen Eliz. (Rec. Com.), I–III
AR Cat. Ancient Deeds VI
A Ancient Charters (Pipe Roll Soc. 10)
A Cartae Antiquae (Pipe Roll Soc. N.S. 17)
AR Dugdale, Mon.
R Ciren. Cart.
R Hist. & Cart. Mon. Glouc. (RS)
AR Orig. Acta of St. Peter’s Abbey, Glouc. ed. Patterson
AR Cart. of St. Augustine’s Abbey, Bristol, ed. Walker
AR Reg. Mon. Winch.
R Chron. Evesham (RS)
A Eng. Episc. Acta VII, Heref. 1079–1234, ed. J. Barrow
AR Berkeley MSS, I–III
AR Cat. Berkeley Mun.
ARV Sherborne Mun.
I MSS of H. of L.
AR Glouc. Corp. Rec.
R Earldom of Glouc. Charters, ed. Patterson
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R Camden Misc. 22 (for earldom of Heref. charters)
R Glos. Subsidy Roll, 1327
IR Poll Taxes, ed. Fenwick
AR Military Surv. of Glos. 1522
V EHR 19, 100–21 (for Hooper’s visitation 1551)
AR Eccl. Misc. (for Glouc. dioc. surv. 1603)
ARV Smith, Men and Armour
AR Notes on Dioc. of Glouc. by Chancellor Richard Parsons, ed. Fendley
AR Bp. Benson’s Surv. of Dioc. of Glouc. 1735–50, ed. Fendley
AR Glos. Feet of Fines 1199–1299, ed. Elrington
RA Glos. Feet of Fines 1300–59, ed. Elrington
R Census
AR Cal. Glouc. Wills, I–II
AR Cal. Worc. Wills, I
AR Visit. Glos. 1623
AR Visit. Glos. 1682–3
AR Glos. Ch. Bells [1986 edn by M. Bliss and F. Sharpe; consult, if necessary, H.T.
Ellacombe’s work under same title, published 1881]
AG Glos. Ch. Notes [see Glos. Colln. 35130 (SR41) for copy with added illustrations]
AR Glos. Ch. Plate
AR Davis, Glos. Brasses
AR Roper, Glos. Effigies
R W. Hobart Bird, Ancient Mural Paintings in Glos. Churches
RV U. Daubeny, Ancient Cotswold Churches
AR B. & G. Par. Rec. [use copy in Gloucestershire Archives finding aids room]
R Glouc. Dioc. Year Bk. (later Dioc. of Glouc. Dir.)
R Kirby, Cat. of Bristol Dioc. Rec.
R Atkyns, Glos.
AR Bigland, Glos. [consult vols. in BGAS Gloucestershire Record Series but give
pagination or numbers according to three original vols. published 1791–1889]
R Fosbrooke, Glos.
ARV Rudder, Glos.
R Rudge, Agric. of Glos. [TS. index]
R Rudge, Hist. of Glos.
AR Memorials of Old Glos.
AR Eng. Topog. (Gent. Mag. Lib.), pt. 4
R Brayley and Britton, Beauties of England and Wales, V
R Bibliotheca Glos.
AR Glos. Notes & Queries General Index
AR Trans. BGAS cumulative indexes
I Notes & Queries Indexes to national series 10–15
AR Manual of Glos. Lit.
I London Gazette Index, 1830–83
R Index to Private and Local Acts, 1801–1947
Vardon’s Index to Local and Personal and Private Acts
GS Index to Min. of Glos. County Council, I–III. For continuation of indexes,
Gloucestershire Archives, K 91
AG Richardson, Wells and Springs of Glos.
R Licensed Houses in Glos. 1891; 1903
AR Payne, Glos. Survey [n.d. 1946; relates to 1941–4]
AR Verey and Brooks, Glos.
R Kelly’s Dir. Glos. [1856–1939; available in Gloucestershire Archives on microfiche:
for towns use other directories]
V Schools and Establishments Dir.
R Char. Com. Rep.
Bishops’ Registers
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(Search either the Hereford or the Worcester registers, depending on which diocese
included the parish until 1541)
Bishops of Hereford [the volumes in Gloucester Library are in reference section, 283]
R Index to Reg. 1275–1535
GlR Reg. Beauchamp
GlR Reg. Boner [ = appendix to Reg. Bothe]
GlR Reg. Bothe
GlR Reg. Boulers
GlR Reg. Cantilupe
GlR Reg. Courtenay
GlR Reg. Foxe [ = appendix to Reg. Bothe]
GlR Reg. Gilbert
GlR Reg. L. de Charlton
Gl Reg. Lacy
Gl Reg. Mascall
GlR Reg. Mayew
Gl Reg. Myllyng
GlR Reg. Orleton (Cant. & York Soc., 1908)
GlR Reg. Poltone
Gl Reg. Spofford
Gl Reg. Stanbury
GlR Reg. Swinfield
GlR Reg. T. de Charlton
GlR Reg. Trefnant
GlR Reg. Trillek
GlR Institutions 1539–1900
Bishops of Worcester [the volumes in Glos. Colln. are on shelf BT551]
AR Reg. Bransford
GI Reg. Cobham
R Reg. Giffard
GI Reg. Ginsborough
AR Reg. Montacute
R Reg. Orleton (Worcs. Hist. Soc., 1979)
GI Reg. Reynolds
R Reg. Sede Vacante
R Reg. Wakefeld
[Cirencester Scoping 08.01.13.doc]
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