Hempstead, Gloucestershire

Description
Hempsted or Hempstead, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands on the river Severn, near the Berkeley Canal, 1 1/2 mile SW of Gloucester, and is a very pleasant suburb of Gloucester city, with a fine view. The parish comprises 1447 acres; population, 422. The manor was given by Milo, Earl of Hereford, to Llanthony Priory, and passed at the dissolution to the Atkins family, subsequently to the families of Bathurst and Lysons. Hemp-sted Court is the chief residence, dating from the 15th century. There is an old cross in the village. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value,, £920. The church was erected about 1501 by Henry Dene, Prior of Llanthony, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor to Henry VII.; it has been restored, and contains a monument of 1610 to Chief Justice Atkyns, a brass of 1548, and a Norman font. The rectory was built in 1671 by the first Viscount Scudamore.