Lechlade, Gloucestershire Genealogy

England   Gloucestershire

Parish History
 The Church of St. Lawrence (Insert picture Lechlade St. Lawrence Parish Church.jpg)

"The Parish Church - Though it is known that a church previously occupied the site, the present church of St. Lawrence was built towards the end of the 15th century. Started in 1470, using local stone from a quarry at Taynton near Burford, and completed in 1476, the whole building is in one style of architecture, early Perpendicular.  Prior to 1502 it was known as the church of St. Mary, but Catherine of Aragon ordered that it be renamed St. Lawrence, after a Spanish saint born in Aragon.  Local wool merchants would probably have furnished money for the building."

"The church has the usual Perpendicular plan, with nave, aisles and chancel, and the exterior is very generously decorated with gargoyles and other grotesque sculptures. The fabric of the interior was plain with little decorative work.  This served to show off the rich and beautiful woodwork of the screens in the chancel, choir and chapels.  All this has now disappeared through various refurnishings of the interior over the years.  An exception is the door leading from the chancel to the vestry.  Among the details in the carvings on this four hundred year old door is a pomegranate, the badge of Catherine of Aragon.  In 1882 the vicar and parishioners engaged in the task of clearing and reseating the whole interior.  Box pews were replaced by the present open type ones, and the fabric of the church, the pillars and arches, were stripped of the remains of the 15th century shrines, canopies and carvings, and were revealed in their simple beauty." "The tower holds a peal of six bells, their dates ranging from 1595 to 1911. In the spire is still the Angelus bell or "Ting Tang," which rang a nightly curfew until 1850, and which is still used at some services." "Many old headstones exist in the churchyard, the oldest decipherable date reading 1687, though it is obvious that burials took pace before that date."1 1 (See previous URL for additional information on the history of the church of St. Lawrence.)

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Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
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Census records
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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Gloucestershire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.
 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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