HENBURY, a parish, county of GLOUCESTER, comprising the tythings of King's Weston and Lawrence-Weston, in the lower division of the hundred of BERKELEY, the joint chapelry of Redwick with Northwick, the township of Henbury, and the tything of Stowick, in the lower division, and the chapelry of Aust, and the tythings of Charlton and Compton, in the upper division, of the hundred of HENBURY, county of GLOUCESTER, and containing 2283 inhabitants, of which number, 431 are in the township of Henbury, 4 miles, (N.N.W.) from Bristol. The name is derived from the Saxon Hean, or Hen, old, and burie, a fortified place. The living is a discharged, vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Bristol, rated in the king's books at £30, and in the patronage of Viscount Middleton, Sir John Smyth, Bart., Edward Francis Colston, Esq., and the Rev. Charles Gore. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a spacious and handsome edifice, in the early style of English architecture, with decorated and later insertions: the church-yard is surrounded with ivy-mantled walls and enlivened with numerous evergreens.

A free school, or hospital, was founded in 1623, by Mr. Anthony Edmonds, and endowed by him with the proceeds of certain lands, for the instruction of all children born within the parishes of Henbury, Westbury upon Trym, Hafield, Redwick, Northwick, and Aust, in this county; the annual, income, augmented in 1736 by a bequest from Christopher Cole, Esq., is about £320: there is appropriate accommodation for the master and, usher, with garden and play-ground. The object of this charity has been suspended since 1815, in consequence of great injury done to the property from an inundation of the Severn. In 1756, Robert Sandford bequeathed £1500, the proceeds to be employed in instructing poor children in reading and writing: forty children are educated on this charity, and the present income is £55 per annum.

Here are the remains of an old chapel, dedicated to St. Blazius, a Spanish martyr, near which is a castellated summer-house, called Blaize castle, whence there is a most delightful prospect; and on the hill on which it stands is an ancient encampment, with triple ramparts and two deep ditches, having two entrances at the opposite angles, on the line of the ancient "Fosse-way": this work is usually ascribed to the Britons, but the discovery of Roman coins and other relics evinces its occupation by that people. The Roman Trajectus Sabrina is usually placed at Aust in this parish. The Severn is navigable on the west, and the Avon on the south-west, the two rivers joining at the Swash.

CHARLTON, a tything in that part of the parish of HENBURY which is in the upper division of the hundred of HENBURY, county of GLOUCESTER, 5 miles (N.) from Bristol, containing 296 inhabitants.

COMPTON, a tything in that part of the parish of HENBURY which is in the upper division of the hundred of HENBURY, county of GLOUCESTER, containing 151 inhabitants.

STOWICK, a tything in that part of the parish of HENBURY which is in the lower division of the hundred of HENBURY, county of GLOUCESTER, containing 467 inhabitants.

WESTON (KING'S), a tything in that part of the parish of HENBURY which is in the lower division of the hundred of BERKELEY, county of GLOUCESTER, 4 miles (N.W.) from Bristol, containing 154 inhabitants. Here was formerly a chapel, which has been demolished.

WESTON (LAWRENCE), a tything in that part of the parish of HENBURY which is in the lower division of the hundred of BERKELEY, county of GLOUCESTER, 5 miles (N.W. by N.) from Bristol, containing 335 inhabitants.