Coaley

"COALY, (or Cowley), a parish in the upper division of the hundred of Berkeley, in the county of Gloucester, 2 miles N.E. of Dursley, its post town and railway station, and 12 from Stroud. The Gloucester and Berkeley canal passes through the parish, as does also, the Gloucester and Bristol railway. The staple trade of this place was anciently the manufacture of woollen cloth. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, value £158, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, is an ancient edifice in the decorated style. The Wesleyans have a chapel, and there are parochial schools for boys and girls. The charities produce about £34 per annum, and there is an endowment of £30 a year for the repairs of the church. Earl Fitzhardinge is lord of the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]