Upton St Leonards

"UPTON, (or Upton St. Leonards) a parish in the middle division of Dudstone hundred, county Gloucester, 3 miles S.E. of Gloucester, its post town, and S from Cheltenham. The village is situated on the road between Gloucester and Painswick. At a little distance from the village, on Painswick Beacon, is a Roman camp. The soil is chiefly a strong clay, but in some parts it is sand, stone brash, or gravel.

The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, value £175, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Leonard, was restored in 1850, when the chancel was rebuilt. It contains a stone font and a monument to Sir T. Snell, bearing date 1754. The parochial charities produce about £18 per annum. There is a National school for both sexes, partly endowed by the late Dowager Viscountess Downe. The Wesleyans have a chapel.

Bowden Hall, St. Bridge House, St. Leonard's Court, and Prinknash Park are the principal residences. This last was formerly the seat of the abbots of Gloucester, one of whom, Abbot Parker, here entertained Henry VIII. The chapel has been restored by James Acker, Esq."

"PRINKNASH-PARK, an extra parochial place in the middle division of Didstone hundred, county Gloucester, 2 miles N. of Painswick. It was once the seat of Judge Bridgman, and the abbots of Gloucester in the reign of Edward I."

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