MINSTERWORTH (formerly called Mortune) is a parish and village in Westbury union, containing, by the census of 1861, 464, and in 1871, 459 inhabitants, with 1819 acres of land; in the deanery of the Forest, archdeaconry of Gloucester, diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, Duchy of Lancaster, West Gloucestershire; 4 and a half miles south-west from Gloucester, on the road from thence to Chepstow. The vicarage, in the incumbency of the Rev. Arthur Nettleship, M.A., is valued at £250 per annum, with residence and 2 and a half acres of glebe land, and is in the patronage of the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, was in 1870 entirely rebuilt, and in the Decorated style of architecture, from the designs of Henry Woodyer, Esq., and consists of nave, chancel, north and south aisles, and a tower containing a peal of six bells, access to which is gained by a handsome stair turret, terminating some feet above the tower, and surmounted by a weathercock, which bears the mark of a rifle bullet fired through it by a passing stranger one Sunday afternoon. The floor of the new building is raised four feet above the level of the ground, to keep out the river Sever, which in 1852 rose in the nave of the old church to a height of 18 inches. The chancel is divided by two richly carved oak screens from its aisle and from the nave, and is also enriched by a reredos in marbale and alabaster; the east window is filled with stained glass, some of it old and the rest by Clayton and Bell, in memory of the late Colonel Hawkins, C.B. There are also other memorial windows, by the same artistes, and by Wailes, of Newcastle, in the church. The peculiar west window, and the two east windows of the old church, have been replaced in the new building, which deserves to be called a successful specimen of the church architecture of the day. The Wesleyans have a place of worship here. There is a National School for children of both sexes. The rateable value of this parish is £5893.

 

Clergy and Gentry

ELLIS Miss Ann, Severn bank

ELLIS William Viner, Esq., Duni house

HAWKINS Mrs. B., Minsterworth court

JAMES Mr. Samuel, Church house

NETTLESHIP Rev. Arthur, M.A., The Vicarage

SYMS Mr. William, High Grove house

 

Trades and Professions

ARTUS Richard, shopkeeper

BARRETT Ralph, farmer

BARRETT James, butcher and farmer, Hampton farm

BENNETT John, farmer

BINNS James, blacksmith and shopkeeper

BRIDGES James, farmer

BUTT Mrs. Mary, farmer

COLE Richard, farmer, High Cross farm

HARVEY Frederick, farmer, Moorcroft

HOOPER Joseph, baker

JAMES William, farmer

JONES Charles, farmer, Pound farm

JONES Mrs. Mary, farmer, Jeffroys farm

LITTLETON William, farmer, Duni farm

MARTIN Mrs. Mary, farmer

MAYO Mrs. Eliza, National schoolmistress

MAYO James, coal merchant

MAYO James, Jun., master mariner

MORGAN William, shoemaker

PUGH John, farmer, Moorcroft farm

STEPHENS Charles, farmer; and at Maisemore

WAYMAN Joseph, basket maker

WELLS Charles Edward, farmer, cider and perry grower, The Elms farm

Letters from Gloucester arrive at 9 a.m. Pillar box cleared at 5.40 p.m. on weekdays only. Gloucester is the nearest money order office.

National School - Mrs. Eliza Mayo, mistress.

Carriers - William Morgan, from Littledean, passes through Mon, Wed, and Sat; and George Baldwin, from Westbury, on Sat.

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