We have 5 Images Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of John Williams

St Michael & All Angels Church,
1 High Street,
Withington, 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 12th century, and we understand it is still open.

William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides (1830), described the village of Withington having "a church like a small cathedral... this immense and fine church, which is as sound as it was 7 or 800 years ago, was built by and for a population, containing, at most, only about 120 grown up and able-abodied men!". My original source for Cobbett's account was from the Project Gutenberg website, but copies are also available in The eBook and Texts Archive.

Kelly's Directory of 1923 describes it as "an ancient building of stone in the Norman style, with later additions and consists of chancel, clerestoried nave, south transept, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock with chimes and 6 bells". There is a memorial window, the gift of the Rev. Hon. George G.C. Talbot M.A. to Emily Sarah (Elwes) his wife, who died 21st November 1876, and two daughters. On the south side is a mural monument to Bridget, wife of John Howe, dated 1642, and eight children; and one to G. Osborn, minister, dated 1656. There is also a marble monument dedicated to the Howes of Cassey Compton at the west end.

The parish records of baptisms and burials date from 1609; and of marriages from 1755.

There is more about St Michael's Church, which is Grade I Listed, on the British Listed Buildings website. And there is also a short history on the website of the Coln River Group of parishes, to which St Michael's belongs.

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 SP0311715624. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Michael & All Angels Church, Withington shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Withington 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 Withington, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Offering over 57,000 free eBooks in various formats - download them or read them online from the Project Gutenberg (null) (verified 2018-11-21)
• The “Wayback Machine” Internet Archive of The eBook and Texts Archive (null) (verified 2018-11-07)
• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)
• The United Benefice of Withington, Sevenhampton with Charlton Abbots, Hawling, Whittington, Dowdeswell and Andoversford, Shipton and Cold Salperton - the Coln River Group (null) (verified 2018-11-01)

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.