ALDERLEY, a village and a parish in Chipping-Sodbury district, Gloucester. The village stands on a hill of the Cotwolds, above the confluence of two rivulets, 3 miles ESE of Charfield r. station, and 4 NE of Wickwar; and has a post office under Wotton-under-Edge. The parish comprises 898 acres. Real property, £1,800. Pop., 98. Houses, 23. The property is not much divided. The hill on which the village stands has yielded many curious fossils. The parish was formerly the boundary of Kingswood forest. The estate of Alderley was the birthplace of Sir Matthew Hale, and continues to be held by his descendants. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £200.* Patron, R. H. B. Hale, Esq. The church is a handsome building, conspicuously situated on the hill; and contains the grave and monument of Sir Matthew Hale.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))