Bisley is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of Bisley-with-Lypiatt, in the

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the ...

district, in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England, about east of

. The once-extensive manor included Stroud and

Chalford Chalford is a large village in the Frome Valley of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is to the southeast of Stroud about upstream. It gives its name to Chalford parish, which covers the villages of Chalford, Chalford Hill, Fra ...

, Thrupp, Oakridge,

Bussage Bussage is a village in Gloucestershire, England, in the district of Stroud. Geography There is an older part to the village and a newer part. The village is situated close to the A419, between Brimscombe, Eastcombe and Chalford Hill, a ...

, Througham and Eastcombe. In 1891 the parish had a population of 5171.

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

in the name Bisley exists. The ward has the same area and population as the civil parish of "Bisley-with-Lypiatt". The parish was abolished in 1894 to form "Bisley with Lypiatt" and

History and architecture

The area is noted for the wealth of its Cotswold stone houses of architectural and historic interest. They include Lypiatt Park, formerly the home of Judge H. B. D. Woodcock and then of the late

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

sculptor Lynn Chadwick; Nether Lypiatt Manor, formerly the home of Violet Gordon-Woodhouse and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent; Daneway (near Sapperton, but within the parish of Bisley); Over Court; Througham Court (repaired in 1929 for the novelist Sir

Michael Sadleir Michael Sadleir (25 December 1888 – 13 December 1957), born Michael Thomas Harvey Sadler, was a British publisher, novelist, book collector, and Bibliography, bibliographer. Biography Michael Sadleir was born in Oxford, Oxford, England, the ...

by Norman Jewson); and Jaynes Court, formerly the private residence of Simon Isaacs, 4th Marquess of Reading (born 1942). BisleyLockup

Througham Slad Manor is believed to date from the mid-16th century with 18th century additions, the manor was altered in the 1930s by Norman Jewson for W. A. Cadbury. In the 1970s, the house was owned by

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

, who installed a recording studio in the barn. The village prison, which had originally been located in the churchyard, was replaced in 1824 by a two-cell lock-up, where drunks were kept overnight, and petty criminals were detained before appearing before the

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

. This was often followed by a spell in the

stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

. This building still stands, minus its heavy oak doors. Bisley has a structure on Wells Road, containing seven spouts forming a public water supply from the Seven Springs and is known for its well dressing. There is a Saxon wayside cross on the wide verge of Bisley Road, south-west of Stancombe Toll House.

Church history

The parish church of All Saints may originally have been an Anglo-Saxon minster. Between 1827 and 1873 the Vicar was Thomas Keble, a Tractarian and a pioneer in parish ministry. Thomas Keble was the younger brother of John Keble. His son Thomas Keble succeeded him as Vicar.

Notable residents

Denis Parsons Burkitt Denis Parsons Burkitt, MD, FRCS(Ed), FRS (28 February 1911 – 23 March 1993) was an Irish surgeon who made significant advances in health, such as the aetiology of a pediatric cancer, now called Burkitt's lymphoma, and the finding that rate ...

, surgeon and cancer researcher, lived latterly in Bisley and was buried there in 1993. *

, musician, lived and recorded at Througham Slad Manor in the 1970s. *Bisley since 1982 has been the home of

Jilly Cooper Dame Jilly Cooper, (born Jill Sallitt; 21 February 1937) is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. Cooper is ...

, a prolific contemporary novelist, and was that of her husband, the publisher Leo Cooper, until his death in 2013. *

(1888–1957), publisher, novelist, book collector and bibliographer, lived in Bisley from 1929 to 1949.

Gallery

File:StancombeTollHouse.jpg, Stancombe Toll House File:WaysideCross.jpg, The Cross-shaft File:WaysideCross2.jpg, The plaque

References

External links

*http://www.bisleyvillage.com/ *http://www.bisleynews.co.uk
BBC archive film of Bisley from 1985Stroud Voices (Bisley filter) - oral history site
{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Former civil parishes in Gloucestershire Stroud District