In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Bisley like this:
BISLEY, a decayed small town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a hundred in Gloucester. The town stands 1¾ mile N of the Cheltenham and Great Western Union railway, in the neighbourhood of the Sapperton tunnel, and 3¼ miles E of Stroud. It has a post office under Stroud; is a polling-place; and long carried on a considerable manufacture of woollens, which now is nearly extinct. ...
A weekly market used to be held on Thursday, but now is merely nominal. Fairs are held on May 4 and 12 Nov.—The parish includes also the tythings of Averniss, Bidfield, Bussage, Chalford, Oakridge, Steanbridge, Throngham, and Tunley. Acres, 8,033. Real property, £14,277. Pop., 4,692. Houses, 1,166. The property is much subdivided. The manor belonged anciently to the Mortimers; and was held by Edward Duke of York, afterwards Edward IV. A common of 1,200 acres was given by Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, to the poor of the parish; but has been much curtailed by enclosure. Roman remains have been found at Custom-Scrubs; and a Roman pavement and vault at Lillythorne. The living is a vicarage, united with the p. curacy of France-Lynch, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £527.* Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is decorated English, of the time of Edward IV.; was recently restored; and contains an ancient Norman font, a monument of a crusader, supposed to be one of the Nottingham family, and a brass of Catherine Sewell. A stone cross, believed to be of the 13th century, octagonal and finely panelled, is in the churchyard. The vicarages of Bussage, Chalford, and Oakridge are separate benefices. There are four dissenting chapels, endowed schools with £56, and other charities with £242.-The subdistrict is conterminate with the parish; and is in the district of Stroud.-The hundred contains seven parishes. Acres, 27,003. Pop., 18,483. Houses, 4,163.
Bisley through time
Bisley is now part of Stroud district. Click here for graphs and data of how Stroud has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Bisley itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Bisley, in Stroud and Gloucestershire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/10394
Date accessed: 30th October 2024
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