St Briavels, Gloucestershire Family History Guide
St Briavels is a chapelry of Lydney Ancient Parish in Gloucestershire.
Alternative names: St Briavells
Other places in the parish include: Brockweir, The Fence, Mawkins Hazells, Forest Fence and the Fence, Forest Fence, and Mawkins Hayells.
Parish church: St. Mary
Parish registers begin: 1664
Nonconformists include:
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
- Bearse Common
- Hewelsfield
- Alvington
- Aylburton
- St Briavels Castle
- Mocking Hazell Wood
- Hudnalls with St Briavel’s Common
- Dean Forest St Paul
- Bream
- Newland
- Tintern Parva
- Llandogo
Parish History
St. Briavels
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
BRIAVELS (St.), a village, a parish, and a hundred, in Gloucester. The village stands near Offa’s Dyke and the river Wye, 4½ miles SSW of Coleford, and 5 NW of Woolaston r. station; and has a post office under Coleford. It formerly was a market-town; and it long made a figure as a defence-post against the Welsh.
A castle was built at it, in the time of Henry I., by Fitzwalter, Earl of Hereford; enlarged and strengthened at several periods; and governed by distinguished peers from the reign of King John till that of George III. The entrance-gateway, two demi-rounders flanking the gateway, a long pile of building behind, and some interesting features in the interior still remain. Tradition says that King-John was either a guest or a prisoner in the castle, and that he wrote on it,-
St. Briavel’s water and Whyral’s wheat
Are the best bread and water King John ever eat.
The parish includes also the places called the Fence, the Bearse, Mawkins-Hayells, and part of Hudnolls, sometimes deemed extra-parochial; and is in the district of Chepstow. Acres, 5,104. Real property, £6,183. Pop., 1,261. Houses, 276. The manor belongs to the Duke of Beaufort. Roman coins have been found at Clearwell.
The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £180. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Hereford. The church was recently restored. There are an Independent chapel and a national school.
The hundred contains ten other parishes, and part of another. Acres, 46,412. Pop., 28,215. Houses, 5,768.
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
Briavel’s (St.), a parish in the hund. of St. Briavell’s, county of Gloucester; 7 miles north of Chepstow, on the eastern bank of the river Wye.
Living, a curacy annexed to the vicarage of Lydney. The church is a small cruciform edifice of great antiquity. There are two daily schools in this parish. A weekly market was formerly held here under a charter of Edward II., who likewise conferred on the inhabitants the right of passing toll-free all over the kingdom, — a privilege now obsolete. The market has also fallen into disuse.
A court is held here for regulating all matters in dispute between miners in the neighbouring coal-works. Its jurisdiction extends over the whole hundred, concurrently with the other tribunals. The suits cognizable in this court are actions in the nature of debt, or contract, or for injury to personal property. The court sits every third Monday, except during vacations.
A castle was erected here in the reign of Henry I., as a frontier defence against the Welsh. Of this structure only a small portion remains, in which the officers of the hundred hold their courts; and in part of which are cells used as prisons for the debtors and delinquents in the Forest. It is in a dilapidaied condition. The moat still remains, and also some vestiges of Offa’s dyke.
The duke of Beaufort, as lord of the manor, holds the office of constable or governor of St. Briavel’s castle, — a sinecure charge. Pop., in 1801, 670; in 1831, 1,124. Houses 224. Acres 4,710. A. P. £2,894. Poor rates, in 1837, £267.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Briavells (St.), 2 miles S. Colford. P. 1287.
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850.
Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833
Briavell’s, St., co. Gloucester.
P. T. Blakeney (123) 8 m. W b S. Pop. 1112
A parish in the hundred of the same name; living, a curacy, subordinate to the vicarage of Lydney, in the archdeaconry of Hereford and diocese of Gloucester, not in charge; patronage with Lydney vicarage.
The village was formerly of greater extent than at present, and was once regarded as a borough and market-town, the inhabitants of which were exempted from toll throughout the kingdom. These privileges are now obsolete, but the parishioners still possess the right of cutting wood, but not timber, in the coppices within a certain extensive district on the banks of the Wye, called Hudnells; by which means Bristol is served with a vast number of hoops for the West Indies, as also with poles, faggots, and similar articles.
Here is a castle, erected by Milo de Fitzwalter, in the reign of Henry I., the remains of which are still competent to serve as a prison for the district, and the officers of the hundred also assemble in it to hold their courts. The Earls of Berkeley, as lords of the manor, retain the sinecure office of constable.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. I; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833.
Brockweir
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1851
Brooks-Weir, or Brockware, a village in the parishes of St. Briavell’s, Huelsfield, and Wollastone, hund. of St. Briavell’s, county of Gloucester; 5 miles north of Chepstow, on the eastern bank of the Wye. It is a place of some trade and activity. Vessels belonging to Bristol ascend the river to this place, for the purpose of receiving goods brought from Hereford and Monmouth in barges on the Wye. The tide seldom flows to any considerable height above Brooks-Weir, except during spring-tides.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1851.
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Directories
St. Briavels Kellys Gloucestershire Directory 1863
Saint Briavels is a village and parish, 6 miles from Lydney station on the South Wales railway, 8 from Monmouth, 8 from Chepstow, and 5 from Coleford, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, archdeaconry of Gloucester, rural deanery of the Forest, county court district and uuion of Chepstow, and gives the name to the hundred in which it is. The church of St. Mary is a stone building, having a tower with 8 bells, aisles, chancel, nave, organ, and a clock; it has recently been restored, at an expense of £2,000. Earliest date of register 1500.
The living is a vicarage, annual value £180, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Hereford; the Rev. Horatio Walmisley, M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, is the incumbent. The population in 1861 was 1,261; the area of the parish is 3,284 acres; the rateable value, £3,321. Here are the ruins of an old castle, built in the reign of William II. for the purpose of keeping back the incursions of the Welsh. Here is a National school, and a chapel for Independents.
Brown Henry, esq. Woodspring cottage
Burns Capt. Charles, Common
Jackson Wm. Henry, esq. Woodlands
Peel Edward Yates, esq. Aylesmore ho
Peel Major Lawrence, Aylesmore house
Peel Wm. Henry, esq, Aylesmore house
Rooke Miss, The Florence
Stephenson Frederick, esq
Stratford Rev. James [Independent]
Walmisley Rev. Horatio, M.A
COMMERCIAL.
Allen John, farmer, Wilsbury
Allen William, farmer & maltster
Allpass John, baker
Bullock Thomas, farmer & maltster
Bullock William Thomas, farmer
Butler John, farmer
Clark John, farmer, Stowe
Clark John, miller, Mork mill
Dixon Thomas, farmer
Godwin Thomas, farmer
Halford John, farmer, Mork farm
Hughes Mary (Mrs.), shopkeeper
Hulin Charles, plasterer
Hulin Henry, beer retailer
Hulin Isaac, stonemason
Hulin Orpheus, plasterer
Hunt Timothy, farmer
James William, carpenter & beer retailr
Jones John, farmer, Dnnkilns
Kear Ellen (Mrs.), George
Kear William, farmer & wood dealer
Miles George, Plough
Moore & Rossiter, shopkeepers
Muday Thomas, farmer, Stowe grange
Page James, farmer & butcher
Palmer Samuel, carpenter
Rosser John, farmer, Rodmore farm
Shipton James, shopkeeper & postmaster
Smith John, farmer, Bearse farm
Stephens Alfred, tailor
Taylor John, blacksmith
Taylor William, blacksmith
Thomas William, farmer
Weaver Joshua, farmer, High grove
White James, land & estate agent, Lindors
Whittington James, beer retailer
Whittington William, farmer, Mork
Wilson John Wilkin, farmer, Hoggins
Wintour James, farmer, Dunkilns
Post Office & Money Order Office & Savings Bank. — James Shipton, receiver. Letters from Coleford are delivered at 9 a.m.; dispatched at 5.30 p.m. Orders are paid from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Police Station, Samuel Sollis, sergeant
National School, John Philips, master
Source: Post Office Directory of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and the City of Bristol, Printed and Published by Kelly and Co., Old Boswell Court, St. Clement’s, Strand, London. 1863.
Administration
- County: Gloucestershire
- Civil Registration District: Chepstow
- Probate Court: Post-1541 – Court of the Bishop of Gloucester (Episcopal Consistory), Pre-1541 – Court of the Bishop of Hereford
- Diocese: Gloucester and Bristol
- Rural Deanery: Forest
- Poor Law Union: Chepstow
- Hundred: St Briavels
- Province: Canterbury