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St Margaret of Antioch's Church,
Church Road,
Alderton, 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 Saxon period, and we understand it is still open.

Kelly's Directory of 1923 says St Margaret's Church is "an ancient building of stone in the Gothic style of the 14th century, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, south aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower, containing 6 bells". On the south side of the chancel is a mural tablet to the Rev. Henry Higford (d.1795), a former rector of the parish. He was "the last male representative of the ancient family of that name, who resided at Dixton Manor House, and were large landowners in the county for over 300 years". Kelly adds that the church dates back to Saxon days, "a Saxon font having been excavated near the north door, and a fine specimen of piscina was discovered on the northern side of the chancel". There are some remains of ancient stained glass, and a church chest of an early date.

The church was restored 1890-2 by Knight and Chatters. In 1923, the living was held by Rev. Arthur Delgarno Pennington M.A. of St Mary's Hall Oxford, who was also vicar of Great Washbourne.

Dixton is a hamlet 2 miles south-south-west of Alderton. The manor house "in the Elizabethan style", is reported as having a stone over the entrance with the name 'John Higford', and the date 1555. In 1923, it was occupied by Lieut-Col Charles Henry Leveson D.S.O. On the hill near the house are the remains of what Kelly says is a Saxon encampment. It is now known as "Dixton Hill Camp", and believed to date back to the Iron Age.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/343/21/5/5) recorded 54 worshippers attending morning service on March 30th, and 70 in the afternoon, with 36 and 30 Sunday Scholars respectively. It was completed by the rector at the time, Charles Covey. Evidently, with 300 sittings available in the church, he expected a greater attendance, as he remarked that "the weather was cold and stormy and therefore unfavourable for persons being here".

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 SP0020533168. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Margaret of Antioch's Church, Alderton shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Alderton 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)