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Little Dean, Gloucestershire

Historical Description

Dean, Little, or Little Dean, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire. The village stands on the east verge of Dean Forest, 2 miles NW of Newnham, and 2 miles from Cinderford station on Severn and Wye, Severn Bridge and Monmouth railway. It has a post and money order office under Newnham; telegraph office, Cinderford. The parish comprises 718 acres; population, 843. Coal and iron ore are worked. There is a Roman encampment near the village, from which a fine view of the "Horse-shoe" bend of the Severn, so extolled in Cowper's poems, may be seen. The camp is supposed to have been a British camp of observation before it fell into the hands of the Romans. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £185 with residence. Patron, the Church Patronage Society. The church is Perpendicular, and contains two monuments to the Pyrke family. There is a Congregational chapel.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyGloucestershire 
Ecclesiastical parishLittle Dean St. Ethelbert 
HundredSt. Briavells 
Poor Law unionWestbury 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

The register dates from the year 1684.

The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.


Churches

Church of England

St. Ethelbert (parish church)

The church of St. Ethelbert is an ancient building of stone, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, north aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower, containing a clock and 6 bells: the spire was destroyed by a heavy gale in November, 1894: the chancel arch is Norman: there are tablets to the Pyrke family: the church has sittings for 360 persons.

Congregational

Congregational Chapel

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Little Dean from the following:


Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:


Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.