Flaxley, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Flaxley, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire, near the river Severn, 3 miles N of Newnham, which is the post town. Acreage, 1066; population of the civil parish, 99; of the ecclesiastical, 114— A Cistercian abbey was founded here in the time of Stephen by Roger Fitz-Milo, second Earl of Hereford; was endowed by Henry II. with an iron forge in Dean Forest, and with several neighbouring manors; and was given at the Dissolution to the Kingstons, and passed to the Boevey family. Of the original buildings only the refectory and abbot's room remain with a few curiosities. Flaxley Abbey, the seat of the lord of the manor, was rebuilt in 1777, and retains some vestiges of the monastic edifice. It was the residence of Mrs Boevey, the widow to whom Addison's Sir Roger de Coverley paid court in vain. There is a monument to her in the church.- the scenery in Flaxley and its neighbourhood is picturesque. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net yearly value, £168 with residence. The church was erected in 1856 from designs by Sir Gilbert Scott, and has an alabaster reredos and a good stained east window.
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 | Flaxley St. Catherine | |
Hundred | St. Briavells | |
Poor Law union | Westbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1559.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary, erected in 1856, is a building of stone in the Early Decorated style, from designs by the late Sir G. Gilbert Scott R.A. and consists of chancel, nave of three bays, north aisle, south porch and a tower with spire at the west end of the north aisle, containing a clock and 2 bells: one of the stained windows is a memorial to Frances Elizabeth, d. 24 Nov. 1905, wife of Sir T. H. Crawley-Boevey, 5th bart. d. 1912, to whose memory a window was erected in 1913: in the vestry is a mural tablet to Mrs. Catharine Boevey, daughter of John Riches esq. of London; there is also a reredos of alabaster and several modern brasses, including one to the late Mr. Gibbs, at whose cost the church was erected; and in 1888 another brass was placed and the organ enlarged and rebuilt to the memory of Mrs, Gibbs: there are 200 sittings.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Flaxley from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Flaxley (St. Catherine))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Flaxley 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.