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St Andrew's Church,
Miserden, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or had) a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in the 11th century, and we understand it is still open.

St Andrew's Church is a Grade II Listed Building - see the British Listed Buildings website for details. On the opposite side of the road to the south is the War Memorial, which is also listed. It is surrounded by a small memorial garden.

The account of the church in Kelly's Directory of 1923 doesn't mention it either. St Andrew's is described as "a building of stone, chiefly in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave of two bays, aisles, south porch and a low embattled western tower containing a clock and 2 bells". In the front over a closed doorway on the north side, and also in the south porch, are two exceedingly interesting arches of Saxon or very early Norman work, embedded in the wall. In the south chancel aisle, or manorial chapel, is a fine monument in alabaster with effigies to Sir William Sandys kt. d.1640, and Margaret (Culpeper) his wife, d.1644. The figure of the knight is in complete armour, and his lady is richly dressed. In the same chapel is an altar tomb with effigy, in stone, to William Kingston esq. d.1614, and on the floor of the chancel a tombstone inscribed to Thomas Warneford, d.1717.

On the north side of the chancel is a tablet, with kneeling effigies, to Anthony Partridge, d.1625, Alice (Cartwright) his wife, and four children. There are several stained windows, one of which, erected by the Nizam of Hyderabad, is a memorial to William Hurst Yarnton Mills esq. The stained east window is a memorial to the Rev. William Yarnton Mills J.P. for many years rector of the parish, and there is another to Daniel Yarnton Mills J.P. of Sudgrove House. In the church are also numerous tablets to various members of the Mills family, dating from 1724. In the manorial chapel are two stained windows, erected by E.A. Leatham esq. in 1882, and in the south aisle, another, presented by Mr. Leatham in memory of his son Harold, and one presented by Miss Juliana Willitt Lyon, in memory of Mrs. Lyon.

The font is of Saxon date. The lectern was carved by Henry Bradley, son of a former parish clerk, on the occasion of whose jubilee as clerk it was presented to the church. A carved and painted oak reredos and pulpit were presented in 1894 by Arthur W. Leatham esq. J.P.

The parish records date from 1574. The living in 1923 was a rectory, in the gift of F.N.H. Wills esq. and had been held since 1921 by the Rev. Harold Victor Hodson M.A. of Lincoln College, Oxford. Miserden Park was the seat of F.N.H. Wills esq. The park, extending over about 120 acres, was said to be thickly wooded, and with considerable undulations, and it was noted that the house was garrisoned by Cromwell during the Civil War. Sudgrove House ws the residence of H. Hamilton Mills esq. he, with F.N.H. Wills being the principal landowners.

Miserden was described as a parish and village, 8 miles north-by-west from Cirencester station on the Great Western railway, 7 north-east from Stroud, 11 south-east from Gloucester and 10 from Cheltenham. CAMP, 2 miles west-by-north, SUDGROVE, three quarters of a mile south, DOWN, 3½ miles west, and WISHANGER, 1 mile west-by-north, were mentioned as places within the parish.

The Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 11: Bisley and Longtree Hundreds (1976), pp.47-49 (Miserden) notes that it was called Greenhampstead in 1086. The name was retained until the late 13th century, but the alternative name of la Musarder [the family name of Hascoit Musard, who held the manor in 1086], had then been in use for a century, and by the late 15th century it had settled to Miserden, or very close variants.

None of the above accounts mention the very attractive Lych gate. It is dedicated in loving memory of Maria, wife of the Rev. B. Yarnton Wills, Rector of Miserden from 1842 to 1870. It is not known when she died.

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church is located at OS grid reference SO9362208931. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Andrew's Church, Miserden shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Miserden shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Miserden, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)
• The Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 11: Bisley and Longtree Hundreds (null) (verified 2018-11-06)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.