Leonard Stanley

"LEONARD STANLEY, (or Stanley St. Leonard's), a parish in the lower division of the hundred of Whitstone, county Gloucester, 1½ mile S. of Stonehouse, its post town, 3½ miles W. of Stroud, and 1 mile E. of the Frocester station on the Gloucester and Bristol railway. The manor was held at the time of Domesday Survey by Richard de Bercklai, or Berkeley, one of whose descendants founded a priory cell to the Benedictine abbey at Gloucester. At the Dissolution its revenues were returned at £126, and the site was given to the Kingstone family.

The parish, which is inconsiderable, is situated near the Stroudwater canal, and on the road from Gloucester to Stroud. An extensive view may be obtained from a hill called Sandford's Knoll. The soil consists of clay and sand. The village, which was once a market town, was burnt down in 1686.

The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, value £200. The church, dedicated to St. Swithin, is an ancient cruciform structure of stone, with a tower containing four bells. In the interior are tombs of Crosse, the last prior, and of the Sandfords, who partly rebuilt the priory in 1750. The charities produce about £32 per annum. The Rev. J. P. Jones is lord of the manor. Fairs are held on St. Swithin's Day and the 6th November."

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