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Alderley, near Wotton-under-edge, is a parish five miles in compass, and lies on the side of a hill between two rivulets, which join and fall into the Avon. It has a handsome church, with a tower that has curious pinnacles, visible to a considerable distance, which commands an extensive view of the adjacent vale. It is three miles from Wotton-under-edge, twenty-two from Gloucester, and was formerly the utmost bounds of Kingswood forest. Its church is on an eminence, though small is neat, and rendered memorable for the burial-place of Sir Matthew Hale, a native of this place. On some of the hills here, are found great numbers of cockle and oyster shells, or rather fossils resembling serpentine-stones and scallops.

Source: Universal British Directory 1791