Bredon

Descriptive Notes

The ancient ecclesiastical parish of Bredon with Bredon's Norton includes five villages right on the edge of southern Worcestershire, bordering the County of Gloucester. The largest of the villages in the parish is Bredon, the other four being Bredon's Norton (1 1/2 miles north), Westmancote (1 mile N.E.), Bredon's Hardwicke (1 1/2 miles S.W.), and Kinsham (1 mile S.E.). There are two churches, the Parish Church of St. Giles in Bredon village, and a small chapelry in Bredon's Norton. In both churches regular services of worship are held every Sunday.
The village of Bredon is notable for its superb large 14th century medieval threshing barn which runs to an impressive 132 feet. It is noted for its dramatic aisled interior and unusual stone chimney cowling. It is now administered by the National Trust.

Status

Ancient Parish [25]
Bredon included a chapel at Welland, which was a separate parish perhaps by 1300, a detached chapel at Cutsdean (which was a separate parish by 1866), a chapel at Bredon's Norton ( which perhaps was a separate parish by 1300, but its separate status was not sustained, hence this parish is ecclesiastically called 'Bredon with Bredon's Norton') [25]

Location

O.S. Ref: SO920369
3½ miles N.E. of Tewkesbury along the B4080.
Westmancote is a small village and hamlet...4½ miles N.E. from Tewkesbury and 1 mile north from Bredon. Mitton, 2 miles south, was formerly a chapelry. Norton-by-Bredon is a hamlet 1 mile N.W. [57]

Parish Church

St. Giles

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction

Peculiar of the incumbent / Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [1] [25]

Hundred

Middle Oswaldslow [15] [25] [28]

Poor Law Union

Tewkesbury [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes

Bredons Norton; Eckington; Kemerton (Gloucestershire); Ashchurch (Gloucestershire); Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire); Twyning (Gloucestershire); Strensham [1]

Parish Registers at Worcestershire Archives

[Contact details]

		Coverage	Source
Microform	Christenings	1559-1963	[5]
	Marriages	1562-1963	[5]
	Burials	1559-1963	[5]
Originals	Marriages	1562-1968	[12]
	Banns	1865-1968	[12]

Bishops' Transcripts

Begin 1625 Worcestershire Archives [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1559-1875

Register Copies

At [FreeREG]
Free Internet searches of baptism, marriage and burial records, transcribed from parish and non-conformist registers of the U.K., are available at: http://www.freereg.org.uk/cgi/Search.pl

FreeREG is a new project. The database currently contains a few million records only, so you should not expect to find all your ancestors in the database.

The coverage for this parish currently stands at: Christenings: 1559-1812 Marriages: 1562-1760 Burials: 1559-1812

Further records may have been added since this posting

Nonconformist

Westmancote Baptist (founded 1779): Marriages 1928-62 Worcestershire Archives
Church roll: Baptists Kinsham Villa:1875 Gloucestershire Archives

War Memorials

For the names of those included on a WW1 Memorial at St. Giles Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/bredon-st-giles-church-ww1-memorial/

For a memorial to Lieut. Hugh Donald Bennett at St Giles Churchsee:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/bredon-st-giles-church-bennett-memorial/

For a War Memorial in St Giles Church commemorating those who lost their lives in the Boer War see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/bredon-st-giles-church-boer-war-memorial/

For a memorial to Matthew James Stuart at St Giles Churchsee:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/bredon-st-giles-church-stuart-memorial/

For the names of those included on a WW2 Memorial at St. Giles Church see:
http://www.rememberthefallen.co.uk/memorial/bredon-st-giles-church-ww2-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 51 1901 at Worcestershire Archives [14]

1851 81 Gloucestershire Archives

At Society of Genealogists:
Gloucestershire 1851 Census index & transcription, vol. 19 : HO 107/1974 - [Tewkesbury registration district] Deerhurst & Overbury sub-districts - Worcestershire part: Index to the 1851 Census for Gloucestershire [Microfiche.] - Published Gloucestershire FHS, 1999

Gloucestershire 1891 census returns: Tewkesbury registration district RG 12/2049-2050 [Microfilm.] - Published London Public Record Office 2003

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent

Burial 1660-1852 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records

Worcestershire Archives [50]
Compotus rolls - various years 1375-1525; Court papers 1468-9; Court rolls - various years 1389-1500; Extent c.1265

Schools Records

The following school records are original documents. Note reference number and contact staff at Worcestershire Archives:
Bredon C P School
Admission registers (2 vols) - 1916 - 64 - Ref: BA 4275/2
Log books (2 vols) - 1888 - 1964 - Ref: BA 4275/1

Hancock's Endowed School
Indenture of apprenticeship of William Pearce to be a blacksmith - 1883 - Ref: BA 10413/3 (ii)
Log book of Handicraft - 1926 - 39 - Ref: BA 10413/3 (i)
Log books - 1885 - 1946 - Ref: BA 10413/1 (ii) (iii)
Register of Admissions - 1824 - 1986 - Ref: BA 10413/2 (ii) - (iv)

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

At Society of Genealogists:
Bredon hill & its villages Published 1968 Author Lloyd, R H Edition 3rd edn Source D: L Weinstein

The parish church of S. Giles', Bredon IN: The story of St. Giles' church Bredon (cover) Published Gloucester The British Publishing Co. Ltd. Nd. Author Taylor, J F Author Birch, L J Source D: M Herber.

Tales from the country : The distant scene, Under the parish lantern & The secrets of Bredon Hill - a country chronicle of the year 1900 (3 vols. in boxed set) Published London : Coronet Books, 1973 Author Archer, Fred Source D: C Mills.

When village bells were silent Published : Coronet Books, 1977 Author Archer, Fred Edition Reprint of 1975 vol. Source D: E Perry.

Directories

An extract from the Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis:

BREDON, a parish comprising the chapelry of Norton, and the hamlets of Bredon, Hardwick with Mittons, Kinsham, and Westmancote in the middle division, and the chapelry of Cutsdean in the upper division, of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, and containing 1239 inhabitants, 3¾ miles (N. E. by N.) from Tewkesbury. The living is a rectory, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the rector, rated in the king's books at £72.11.0½ , and in the patronage of the Rev. John Keysall. The church, dedicated to St. Giles, has some specimens of Norman architecture, and contains, among other monuments, one to the memory of Dr. Prideaux, who was dismissed from the bishoprick of Worcester during the parliamentary war. The river Avon flows past this parish, and separates it from Gloucestershire on the west. From the summit of Bredon hill there is a pleasing, view of the vales of Evesham and Cotswold, including the winding course of the Severn. About the commencement of the present century, a fissure opened in the rock in the side of this hill, nearly two hundred yards long, fifteen feet wide, and of unequal depth: the top of the hill is crowned by a Roman encampment, with a double trench. William Hancocke, in 1718, gave land, the rental of which is applied in instructing, clothing, and apprenticing twelve boys. There is an almshouse for eight poor females, Bredon was given by Ethelbald, King of Mercia, previously to the year 716, to his kinsman Eanulph, in order that he might found a monastery here, in of St. Peter, which, previously to the Conquest, was annexed to the bishoprick of Worcester. At Mitton, in this parish, are the ruins of a chapel.

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