to home page«Home
Guide to St Michael's Church
WINTERBOURNE
HTML coding on this page meets W3C standardsCSS coding on this page meets W3C standardsThis page has been labelled to ICRA standards

Winterbourne Rectories

The only information we currently have comes from CHB Eliot (1936):
There is no information as to the residence of the very early rectors. 
The first known rectory stood on the right-hand side near the entrance to 
the churchyard. Mr. Goodrick speaks of a large stone, in front of the house, 
on which the rector mounted his horse, and which had been lowered into 
the footpath. The date of its ceasing to be the rectory is not known. 
It was occupied in 1769 by Isaac Payne, Attorney-at-Law, who died in 1773, 
and at a later time by Mr. Jones, who became curate in 1813, and had a school 
for boys there for some years. The house was taken down in 1828, when the 
present houses were built on the site. 
The date of the next rectory is not known, but Austen-Leigh says that it must
have been of considerable age when it was taken down in 1834. It stood within 
the grounds of the present rectory; 
Donne's map of 1769 places it in the angle between Winterbourne Street and 
Church Lane, but the Survey map of 1827 represents it as being further north. 
It was approached from the street, which was then bordered by a strip of 
common, afterwards included in the grounds.
The large barn was built by Mr. Warneford, rector from 1777-95.
and Ludwell
There appears to be no real evidence as to where the very early Rectory stood.
It is known however that one early Rectory stood on the site of one or perhaps
two of the present Church Cottages which were built in 1828. The next Rectory
according to the Rev Austen-Leigh was a very old house near the junction of
Church Lane and the High Street. This Rectory however was demolished in 1834 in
which year the Rev Whitfield built the present Rectory. Unfortunately he died
soon after its completion. Additions were made by the Rev Austen-Leigh but in
1954/5 it was found necessary to demolish part of the Rectory house mainly
on account of its size and ever-increasing cost of maintenance. 

Included in the Rectory Property is the large 18th Century Tythe Barn once used
for some of the Church Services (Under Licence). It was known as St Mary-at-the-
Barn, having been converted for church use in 1954/5, and dedicated to St Mary
on Palm Sunday 1962. 

The Present Rectory

view of rectory1
The present rectory, was built by Mr. Whitfield, rector, who borrowed the money 
for the purpose from Queen Anne's Bounty, and was completed in 1834, the year 
of his death. The main approach to it was from Church Lane. 
Mr. Austen-Leigh made some additions to the house.
When Mr.Burrough became rector in 1914, the road from Church Lane was disused, 
a new one from Winterbourne Street being made.
(Eliot 1936)
(Queen Anne's Bounty was a fund established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England. The bounty was funded by the tax (annates) on the incomes of all Church of England clergy, which was paid to the Pope until the Reformation, and thereafter to the Crown. In 1890, the total amount distributed was £176,896.)

Living here at the time of the 1881 census were:
Arthur H. AUSTIN LEIGH	M	45	M	Speen, Berkshire		Head Rector Of Winterbourne
Mary V. AUSTIN LEIGH	M	22	F	Swaffham, Norfolk		Wife
Mary D. AUSTIN LEIGH		3	F	Winterbourn, Gloucester	Daur
Voilet W. AUSTIN LEIGH		1	F	Winterbourn, Gloucester	Daur
Caroline AUSTIN LEIGH		1m	F	Winterbourn, Gloucester	Daur
Ellen H. HALLSAY		M	44	F	Haigh, Lancashire		Mother In Law Gentlemans Wife

The following servants were listed as living at the Rectory in the 1881 census:
Mary Ann PORTSMOUTH 	M	45	F	East Meon, Hampshire	Sevt	Cook (Dom)
Margarett JAMES		U	21 	F	Maidstone,Kent,England	Servant	Nurse (Dom)
Emily M. GRAVEST OR GRAVETT  	U  	25	F	Epsom, Surrey		Servant	Parlour Maid
Louisa F. LANG		U	20	F	Bradford Abbass, Dorset	Servant	House Maid
Mary E. TUGWOOD		U	14	F	Boveney, Buckingham		Servant	Nursery Maid
William PORTSMOUTH		M	40	M	Salford, Surrey		Servant	Coachman (D)
Hannah HORSMAN		M	55	F	Thornbury, Gloucester	Servant	Monthly Nurse

Was this the living quarters for some of the servants?
servants' living quarters?

The Stables
stables

In 1882 a water surveyor wrote 'Some years ago it was proposed to supply a portion of Bristol with water from the Frampton Cotterell iron mines, which are in the Pennant, and the analysis made of the water showed it to be of good quality'. Subsequently a Frampton Cotterell iron mine was acquired by the West Gloucestershire Water Company. Bristol Waterworks laid a ten-inch water main in Winterbourne High Street in 1890, although main drainage was not laid in the High Street until 1954 and in Green Lane/Swan Lane in 1964.

So until the 1890s this pump was the source of fresh water for the Rectory!
view of rectory6

"When Mr.Burrough became rector in 1914, the road from Church Lane was disused, a new one from Winterbourne Street being made."
This view shows the Rectory from the new one.
view of rectory from new road