Bisley, Gloucestershire


Bisley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, about east of Stroud. The parish is combined with adjoining Lypiatt, the two being styled Bisley-with-Lypiatt. The once-extensive manor included Stroud and Chalford, Thrupp, Oakridge, Bussage, Througham and Eastcombe.

Governance

An electoral ward in the name Bisley exists. This ward has the same area and population as the civil parish.

History and architecture

The area is noted for the wealth of its Cotswold stone houses of architectural and historic interest. They include Lypiatt Park, formerly the home of Judge H. B. D. Woodcock and then of the late Modernist sculptor Lynn Chadwick; Nether Lypiatt Manor, formerly the home of Violet Gordon-Woodhouse and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent; Daneway ; Over Court; Througham Court ; and Jaynes Court, formerly the private residence of Simon Isaacs, 4th Marquess of Reading.
Througham Slad Manor is believed to date from the mid-16th century with 18th century additions, the manor was altered in the 1930s by Norman Jewson for W. A. Cadbury. In the 1970s, the house was owned by Mike Oldfield, who installed a recording studio in the barn.
The village prison, which had originally been located in the churchyard, was replaced in 1824 by a two-cell lock-up, where drunks were kept overnight, and petty criminals were detained before appearing before the magistrate. This was often followed by a spell in the stocks or pillory. This building still stands, minus its heavy oak doors.
Bisley has a structure on Wells Road, containing seven spouts forming a public water supply from the Seven Springs and is known for its well dressing.
There is a Saxon wayside cross on the wide verge of Bisley Road, south-west of Stancombe Toll House.

Church history

The parish church of All Saints may originally have been an Anglo-Saxon minster. Between 1827 and 1857 the Vicar was Thomas Keble, a Tractarian and a pioneer in parish ministry. Thomas Keble was the younger brother of John Keble. His son Thomas Keble succeeded him as Vicar.

Notable residents