St Briavels, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Briavels, St, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands near Offa's Dyke and the river Wye, 2 miles ESE of Bigsweir station on the G.W.R., and 4¼ SSW of Coleford, under which it has a post, money order, and telegraph office. It formerly was a market-town, and was of importance as a defence-post against the Welsh. It was since very early times the seat of the government of the Forest of Dean, and the court leets are still held here. There is a reading-room and library. A castle was built in the time of Henry I. by Fitzwalter, Earl of Hereford; was 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 round towers flanking the gateway, a long pile of building behind, and some interesting features in the interior, such as a turnspit's wheel and an ancient chimney-piece, still remain. Area of theo civil parish, 4796 acres; population, 1112; of the ecclesiastical, 578. The manor belongs to the Crown. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £133 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Hereford. The church is chiefly Norman and Early English, and has been restored in 1830, 1861, and 1882;. it contains a stone pulpit. There is a Congregational chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Gloucestershire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Briavell's St. | |
| Hundred | St. Briavells | |
| Poor Law union | Chepstow |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1660.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
Iron Mission Chapel, Mork
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary is a cruciform building of stone, in the Norman, Early English and later styles, consisting of chancel, transept, nave of five bays, with a clerestory on the south side, aisles, and an embattled tower, with pinnacles, containing 8 bells and a clock: in the chancel are some remains of a monument, with recumbent effigies, to William Warren, 1573, and Mariana (Catchmay), his wife: the tower, which originally stood at the intersection of the nave and transepts, was rebuilt in 1830 on the south side: the church was restored in 1861 at a cost of £2,000, and again in 1882 at a cost of £1,000: there are sittings for 500 persons.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for St Briavels from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Briavell's (St.)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of St Briavels are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:
- Gloucester Citizen
- Gloucester Journal
- Gloucestershire Chronicle
- Gloucestershire Echo
- Cheltenham Chronicle
- Cheltenham Looker-On
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.