Alderley

"ALDERLEY, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of Grumbald's-Ash, in the county of Gloucester, 6 miles to the N.E. of Chipping Sodbury. Wotton-under-Edge is the post town. The village stands among the Cotswold hills, between two small streams, which meet and join the Avon. It is not far from Kingswood forest. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, value £200, in the patronage of R. H. B. Hale, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. Kenelm. The weaving of fine cloth is carried on here by some of the inhabitants. This was the birthplace of the great lawyer and judge, Sir Matthew Hale, who was born in November, 1609, and died in 1676. His remains lie in the church. Alderley House is the seat of his descendant, R. H. B. Hale, Esq."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]