•  Kempsford, Gloucestershire

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Kempsford like this:

KEMPSFORD, a village and a parish in Cirencester district, Gloucester. The village stands on the river Thames, at the boundary with Wilts, adjacent to the Thames and Severn canal, 3 miles S of Fairford, and 10 NW of Shrivenham r. station; is supposed to have occupied the site of a Roman settlement; and has a postoffice under Swindon. ...

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The parish contains also the hamlets of Dunfield, Horcutt, and Welford. Acres, 4, 790. Real property, £6, 924. Pop., 1, 007. Houses, 222. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged to Earl Harold; was held, at Domesday, by Ernnlf de Hesding; passed to the Chaworths, the Despencers, the Dukes of Lancaster, the Thynnes, and the Lords Coleraine; and belongs now to Sir Gilbert East, Bart. A castle was built on it by the Thynnes, but has nearly disappeared. A battle is said to have been fought here, about 800, between the Wiccii of Gloucestershire and the Walsati of Wilts. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £700.* Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The church was built in the 11th century; altered about the middle of the 14th century, by Henry Duke of Lancaster; was recently in part restored; and has a remarkably fine central tower. There are a Roman Catholic chapel and an endowed school with £10 a year.

Kempsford through time

Kempsford is now part of Cotswold district. Click here for graphs and data of how Cotswold has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Kempsford itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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