BLOCKLEY, a parish situated in a detached portion of the upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, surrounded by Gloucestershire and a small portion of Warwickshire, comprising the hamlets of Aston Magna, Blockley, Ditchford, Dorne, Draycott, Northwich, and Paxford, and containing 1890 inhabitants, of which number, 1158 are in the hamlet of Blockley, 3 miles (N.W. by W.) from Moreton in the Marsh. The living is a vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction and patronage of the Bishop of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £54. The church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is partly Norman, and partly in the early style of English architecture: the tower was rebuilt in 1725, at the expense of the inhabitants.

A neat chapel has recently been erected by the Baptists. The village, which is situated on elevated ground, contains several neat dwelling-houses, and presents a clean and pleasing appearance: here are several silk-mills, worked by small streams which rise in Dovedale, a short distance hence. Fairs are held on the Tuesday next after Easter-week, for cattle, and October 10th, for hiring servants. A charity school for twenty boys and six girls is partly supported by bequests, and partly by subscription. Pursuant to a statute passed in the 9th of George IV., the magistrates for the county came to a resolution, at the general quarter sessions held at Worcester, in October 1829, to alter the divisions of the county, making Blockley the head of one division, the petty sessions for which are held here.

The Bishop of Worcester is lord of the manor, and, by his steward, occasionally holds a manorial court. Previously to the Reformation here was a palace in which the prelates resided, but the only memorial of it is in the name of a hill opposite to the vicarage, called the Parks. In a charter of King Buhrred, dated in 855, mention is made of a monastery, which then existed, and which was subsequently annexed to the bishoprick of Worcester. The Roman Fosse-way passed between this village and Moreton in the Marsh. Urns and other Roman remains have been found on Moor hill; and there are several chalybeate springs.

ASTON (MAGNA), a hamlet in the parish of BLOCKLEY; upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, 2 miles (N.) from Moreton in the Marsh, containing 254 inhabitants.

DITCHFORD, a hamlet in the parish of BLOCKLEY, upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, though locally in the upper division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, county of Gloucester, 4 miles (S.W. by W.) from Shipston upon Stour, containing 46 inhabitants.

DORNE, a hamlet in the parish of BLOCKLEY, upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, though locally in the upper division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, county of Gloucester, 1 mile (N.) from Moreton in the Marsh, containing 45 inhabitants. Tradition relates that Dome was once a city of some importance; and this is confirmed by the discovery, from time to time, of ancient foundations, with some Roman and British coins.

DRAYCOTT, a hamlet in the parish of BLOCKLEY, upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, though locally in the upper division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, county of Gloucester, 3| miles (N.N.W.) from Moreton in the Marsh, containing 197 inhabitants.

NORTHWICH, a hamlet in the parish of BLOCKLEY, upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, though locally in the upper division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, county of Gloucester, 1 mile (S.) from Chipping-Campden, containing 37 inhabitants.

PAXFORD, a hamlet in the parish of BLOCKLEY, upper division of the hundred of OSWALDSLOW, county of WORCESTER, though locally in the upper division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, county of Gloucester, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Moreton in the Marsh, containing 153 inhabitants.