Blockley

Status

Ancient Parish [25]
The township of "Blockley" was in Worcestershire (Oswaldslow Hundred"), as was the hamlet of Aston Magna. Aston Magna became a separate Ecclesiastical Parish in 1847 [15] & [57].

Blockley included in Warwickshire (Kington Hundred) a chapel at Stretton on the Fosse, which had some separate rights from 1351, but was completely independent by the end of the 14th cent. Blockley was entirely Worcestershire thereafter. Blockley transferred from Worcestershire to Gloucestershire in 1931. [25]

Location

O.S. Ref: SP164349
About 4 miles N.W. of Moreton-in-Marsh along the A44 and B4479

Parish Church

St.Peter & St.Paul, The Square, Blockley

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction

Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester until 1919 when transferred to the Diocese of Gloucester. [25]

Hundred

A detached portion of upper Oswaldslow in Worcestershire, surrounded by Gloucestershire & a small portion of Warwickshire [44] [11] [28]

Poor Law Union

Shipston on Stour [3]

Adjoining Parishes

Ebrington (Gloucestershire); Stretton on the Foss (Warwickshire);Todenham (Gloucestershire); Gt Wolford (Warwickshire); Little Compton (Warwickshire); Lower Lemington (Gloucestershire); Evenlode; Moreton-in-the-Marsh (Gloucestershire); Batsford (Gloucestershire); Bourton on the Hill (Gloucestershire); Snowshil (Gloucestershire); Broadway; Chipping Campden (Gloucestershire) [1]

Parish Registers at Worcestershire Archives

[Contact details]

		Coverage	Source
Transcripts	Christenings	1813-70	[27]
	Marriages	1871-2000	[27]
	Burials	1763-1812	[27]
	General	1538-1812	[27]

Bishops' Transcripts

Begin 1612 Worcestershire Archives [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

[19]

		Coverage
Bishops' Transcripts	Births / Christenings	1613-1700
	Marriages	1613-1700

Register Copies

At Gloucestershire Archives
Christenings 1538-1958; Marriages 1539-1979; Burials1538-1980
Ts: Christenings 1538-1812; Marriages 1539-1754; Burials1538-1812
Index: Christenings 1538-1812; Marriages1539-1754; B1538-1812

At Society of Genealogists [68]
BLOCKLEY : Christenings 1538-1901, Marriages 1538-1753, 1813-37, Burials 1538-1855, Banns 1754-1800 [Microfiche.] Published Gloucester : Gloucestershire County Council, Nd. Source S: K E Thomas.

BLOCKLEY : Marriages(I) extracts 1543-1651: Boyd's marriage index [Typescript.] IN: Boyd's marriage index Published , 1925-55 Author Roe, E A Author Boyd, Percival ed. Source D: P Boyd.

Nonconformist

At Gloucestershire Archives :
Baptists: Births1813- 41, Marriages1864- 67, Burials1865 (Indexed)
Church rolls: Baptists1822-1959
Blockley & Paxford 1961-77
Ebenezer: Marriages 1925-67

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents

BLOCKLEY : Monumental Inscriptions in the churchyard: Worcestershire Churchyard Inscriptions [Manuscript.] IN: Worcestershire Churchyard Inscriptions Published , 1917 Author Bloom, J Harvey (trans.) Society of Genealogists [59]

-1719 Bigland Gloucester Gloucestershire Archives

MIs at Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Record Office

War Memorials

For the names of those included on a war memorial previously at Aston Magna's St.John the Evangelist Church now in Blockley St Peter and St Paul's Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/aston-magna-st-john-the-evangelist-church-now-in-blockley-st-peter-and-st-pauls-church/

For the names of those included on a WW2 memorial at St Peter and St Paul's Church see: http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/blockley-st-peter-and-st-pauls-church-ww2-memorial/

For the names of those included on Blockley War Memorial see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/blockley-war-memorial/

For a memorial to Francis Raywood Osborne at St Peter and St Paul's Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/blockley-st-peter-and-st-pauls-church-osborne-memorial/

For the names of those included on a WW1 memorial at St Peter and St Paul's Church see: http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/blockley-st-peter-and-st-pauls-church-ww1-memorial/

Census Records

All the censuses between 1841 and 1901 are now available on a number of fee-paying (Subscription or PayAsYouGo) sites including Ancestry.co.uk, FindMyPast.co.uk, thegenealogist.co.uk and genesreunited.co.uk. The 1911 census is available in full or in part on some of these sites. We are unable to advise on the choice of site since researchers' personal preferences will be influenced by the content and search facilities offered by each site. Some sites offer a free trial.

Access to the library edition of Ancestry.co.uk is widely available at most record offices, including Worcestershire Archives, and some libraries. You are advised to book time on their computers before making a visit.

A free-to-view site is being developed at freecen.org.uk for the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 censuses. Coverage of Worcestershire parishes is rather sparse at this time.

Census returns can usually be viewed at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' Family History Centres.

Some repositories offer census details on microform, disc or printed copy. These include:
1841-1901 at Worcestershire Archives [14]
1851 61 81 91 Gloucestershire Archives
1841 51 61 71 91 Stratford Upon Avon Library

At Society of Genealogists :-
1851 Gloucestershire FHS (CD) - Published Gloucestershire FHS 2001
Gloucestershire 1851 Census index & transcription, vol. 24 : HO 107/2044; HO 107/2074; HO 107/2076 (parts) - North East Gloucestershire [parishes in cross county districts - Evesham, Stratford on Avon & Shipston on Stour registration districts]: Index to the 1851 Census for Gloucestershire [Microfiche.] - Published Gloucestershire FHS, 1999
Warwickshire 1891 census returns: Shipston on Stour registration district RG 12/2484-2486 [Microfilm.]- London Public Record Office 2003

Manorial Records

Worcestershire Archives [50]
Compotus rolls 1383-4, 1458-9, 1514-5, 1524-5, 1526; Court rolls 1544-5, 1575 Jury presentments, suit rolls, valuations, lists of residents and accounts 1663-1856; Manor books 1781-1860; Rental 1695-1702, 1759-69, 1769-1805; Surveys, valuations, manor books, rent rolls etc 17th-19th cents

Schools Records

The records of schools and other educational establishments in this parish are detailed in a handlist available at Worcestershire Archives. The list refers to original documents so you will need to note the reference number and contact staff.

Other Sources

"The History of Blockley in the County of Worcester" by Alfred J Soden (1875) Society of Genealogists
Name index of overseers of the poor papers for parishes Abenhall - Moreton Valance [Microfiche.] - Published Gloucester : Gloucestershire FHS, 1999 - Authors: Loosley, John & Bright, John (comps.) Society of Genealogists

Website: www.allthecotswolds.com/ - Links to people researching families in Blockley, Paxford, Dorn, Aston Magna, Draycott and surrounds

Directories

Extracts from the Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis:

BLOCKLEY, a parish situated in a detached portion of the upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW county of WORCESTER, surrounded by Gloucestershire and a small portion of Warwickshire, comprising the hamlets of Aston Magna, Blockley, Ditchford, Dome Draycott, Northwich, and Paxford, and containing 1890 inhabitants, of which number, 1158 are in the hamlet of Blockley, 3¼ miles (N. W. by W.) from Moreton in the Marsh. The living is a vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction and patronage of the Bishop of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £54. The church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is partly Norman, and partly in the early style of English architecture: the tower was rebuilt in 1725, at the expense of the inhabitants. A neat chapel has recently been erected by the Baptists. The village, which is situated on elevated ground, contains several neat dwelling-houses, and presents a clean and pleasing appearance: here are several silk-mills, worked by small streams which rise in Dovedale, a short distance hence. Fairs are held on the Tuesday next after Easter-week, for cattle, and October 10th, for hiring servants. A charity school for twenty boys and six girls is partly supported by bequests, and partly by subscription. Pursuant to a statute passed in the 9th of George IV, the magistrates for the county came to a resolution, at the general quarter sessions held at Worcester, in October 1829, to alter the divisions of the county, making Blockley the head of one division, the petty sessions for which are held here. The Bishop of Worcester is lord of the manor, and, by his steward, occasionally holds a manorial court. Previously to the Reformation here was a palace in which the prelates resided, but the only memorial of it is in the name of a hill opposite to the vicarage, called the Parks. In a charter of King Buhrred, dated in 855, mention is made of a monastery, which then existed, and which was subsequently annexed to the bishoprick of Worcester. The Roman Fosse-way passed between this village and Moreton in the Marsh. Urns and other Roman remains have been found on Moor Hill and there are several chalybeate springs.

NORTHWICH, a hamlet in the parish of BLOCKLEY, upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, though locally in the upper division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, county of Gloucester, 1¾ mile (S.) from Chipping-Campden, containing 37 inhabitants.

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