PAINSWICK, a market-town and parish, in the
hundred of BISLEY, county of GLOUCESTER, 7 miles
(S. S. E.) from Gloucester, and 100 (W. by N.) from
London, comprising the tythings of Edge, Shepscomb,
Spoonbed, and Stroudend, and containing 4044 inhabitants.
The manor is noticed in Domesday-book under
the name of Wiche, among the possessions of Roger de
Lacy; its prefix is derived from one of its subsequent
proprietors, Pain Fitz-John. The town is situated on
the declivity of Spoonbed hill, at the foot of which
runs a branch of the Stroud river, and the turnpike
roads from Stroud to Gloucester, and from Cheltenham
to Bath, pass through it. The streets are neither
lighted nor paved; the inhabitants are supplied with
water from wells. The manufacture of cloth is extensively
carried on in the town and neighbourhood, although,
by comparison with its former state, it may be
considered on the decline: there are quarries of freestone
and weather-stone in the vicinity. The market is on
Tuesday but it is very inconsiderable} there is a large
market for sheep on the first Tuesday after All Saints' day
(O. S.). Fairs are held, principally for cattle and sheep,
on Whit-Tuesday and September 19th. A court leet
for the manor is held annually, at which constables and
tythingmen are chosen. The living is a vicarage, in
the archdeaconry and diocese of Gloucester, rated in
the king's books at £14. 15. 2., and in the patronage
of J. Gardener, Esq., and others, as trustees for the
inhabitants who pay poor rates. The church, which is
dedicated to St. Mary, is a spacious edifice, with a very
lofty spire, and a fine ring of twelve bells; it was erected
at different periods, and is somewhat remarkable
for the incongruous combination of the Grecian and
English styles of architecture; the entrance is under a
portico of the Ionic order; Doric columns appear in
another part of the building, and, under the battlements
on the north side, the spouts represent singularly grotesque
heads of demons. In the chancel are monuments
of the Jerningham family, to which the manor
belonged in the reign of Elizabeth; and there is a
handsome altar-piece, erected in 1743. There are placesof
worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists.
A free school was founded, in 1707, for the education of
ten boys, by Giles Smith, who bequeathed £ 200 for this
purpose; and £200 more having been raised by voluntary
contributions, lands were purchased, now producing
about £30 per annum, for which twenty-six boys
are educated: other benefactions have since been
made, the most considerable of which is the sum of
£500, the bequest of John Hillman, in 1808. A benevolent
school was established here in 1809, and
there is a National school, both supported by subscription.
On the summit of Spoonbed hill is an ancient
camp, with a double intrenchment, called Kimsbury
Castle, King's barrow, or Castle Godwin: it comprehends
a space of about three acres, is nearly quadrangular, and
is supposed to have been a British fortress, afterwards
occupied by the Romans, as many Roman coins, with
a sword, and spear-heads greatly corroded, have been
found at different periods. In the reign of Edward the
Confessor, this camp was occupied by Earl Godwin,
who headed an insurrection against the king, in 1052.
During the siege of Gloucester by Charles I., his forces
encamped on this hill, and it is related, that after
raising the siege, the king being seated on a stone near
the camp, with his two elder sons, one of them asked
him when they should return home, " Alas! my Son,"
replied the unfortunate monarch, " I have no home to
go to." During the insurrections in .the west and other
parts of the kingdom, in the reign of Edward VI., Sir
Anthony Kingston, then Knight Marshall, being lord of
the manor of Painswick, caused a gallows to be erected
on Shepscombe Green, in this parish, for the execution
of insurgents, and gave three plots of land in his
lordship, since called Gallows' lands, for the purpose of
keeping in readiness a gallows, two ladders, and halters;
he likewise appointed the tythingman of Shepscombe
to the office of executioner, .with an acre of-land in the
tything, as a reward for his services; a field at Shepscombe,
held by the tythingman for the time -being,
is still known by the appellation of Hangman's Acre.