Tetbury in 1842

TETBURY, an ancient market-town in Gloucestershire, near the borders of Wiltshire, situated on elevated ground near the source of the Warwickshire Avon, 99 miles west by north from London, 20 miles south-east of Gloucester. The parish, with four hamlets, contains a population of 2,939, according to the census of 1831. The town consists of one long street intersected by two shorter ones, with the market-place and a spacious market-house in the centre. The streets are paved and lighted, and the houses built chiefly of stone. A bailiff and constable are annually appointed at the court-leet of the feoffees of the manor. There are fairs held three times a year, for cheese, cattle, sheep, horses, &c.

The parish church, which was built soon after the Conquest, was taken down in 1784, with the exception of the tower, and rebuilt in the pointed style ; and a modern spire was placed on the tower. The living is a vicarage, of the annual gross value of £903. The Baptists and Independents have places of worship.

In 1723 Elizabeth Hodges left a rent-charge of £30 for the education of 15 children ; and in the years 1783, 1795, and 1797, the sum of £100 was left by three different persons for the support of a Sunday-school. In 1833 there were ten daily schools, attended by 173 children, and three Sunday-schools, at one of which, in connection with the Established Church, 174 children were instructed, and the other was a Baptist school, attended by 153 children. In the reign of James I, Sir William Romney, a native of the town, founded almshouses for eight poor persons, and left property for the endowment of a grammar-school.

The traces of an ancient encampment were visible on the south-eastern side of the town up to the middle of the last century ; and at this spot fragments of British weapons and coins of the Lower Empire have been found.