Beachley, Gloucestershire Family History Guide

Beachley is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Gloucestershire, created in 1850 from Tidenham Ancient Parish.

Parish church: St John The Evangelist

Parish registers begin: 1833

Nonconformists include:

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Tidenham

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

BEACHLEY, a chapelry in Tidenham parish, Gloucester; at the influx of the river Wye to the Severn, adjacent to the South Wales railway, 2 miles SE of Chepstow. Post Town, Chepstow.

Rated property, £958. Pop., 229. The property is divided among a few. Beachley Lodge is a fine seat. Here is the Aust ferry across the Severn, which was considered an important military pass in all times of war; and here was the termination of Offa’s Dyke, which can still be traced.

The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £16. Patron, the Vicar of Tidenham The church is very good.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851

Beachley, a hamlet in the parish of Tidenham county of Gloucester, at the confluence of the Wye with the Severn; 3 miles south-south-east of Chepston [sic]. There is a ferry over the Severn at this place, which tradition refers to as the scene of a conference between Edward the Elder and Leolin, prince of Wales. Pop. returned with the parish.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.

Lewis Topographical Dictionary of England 1845

Beachley, a chapelry, in the parish of Tidenham, hundred of Westbury, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 3 miles (SSE) from Chepstow; containing 224 inhabitants.

This place is situated on a small peninsula at the mouth of the Wye, formed by the junction of that river with the Severn, over which latter is the Old Passage ferry, lately improved by the erection of stone piers and an establishment of steam-packets; it is remarkable for his early vegetation, the salubrity of its air, and the beauty of its surrounding scenery.

The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £16; patron, Vicar of Tidenham; impropriator C. S. Stokes, Esq. The chapel, which is in the early English style, was consecrated on Sept. 10th, 1833, and is dedicated to St. John; it was made a district church in 1842. A neat national school was erected in 1840, at the expense of Robert Jenkins, Esq.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV.