Barnwood, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire, on the old Roman road, Ermine Street, 2 miles ESE of Gloucester, which is the post town. Acreage, 1411; population of the civil parish, 1462; of the ecclesiastical, 1243. Bamwood Court and the manor house are chief residences. Bamwood House is an hospital for the insane, intended for patients of the upper and middle classes. The new County Lunatic Asylum, situated here, was opened in 1885. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, eŁ215 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester. The church dates partly from the 12th century, and has a good Norman chancel arch and a Perpendicular font. In this parish were bom Sir Edmund Sanders, Chief-Justice of the King's Bench in 1683, and Sir Charles Wheatstone, of telegraph fame, inventor of the stereoscope, harmonium, &c.
