Lydney, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Lydney, a small town and a parish in Gloucestershire. The town stands in Dean Forest, on a streamlet running to the Severn about a mile W. of the Severn and 9 NE of Chepstow; is supposed to occupy the site of the Roman station Abona, has a harbour called Lydney Creek entered through gates 34 feet wide and containing berthage for vessels of 700 tons. It has a station, Lydney Town, on the Severn and Wye, Severn Bridge and Monmouth railway, and another, Lydney Junction, at the junction of that railway with the G.W.R. It has a head post office, is a seat of petty sessions, and has assembly rooms and a market-hall, a police station, and a cottage hospital. Under the Local Goverment Act it has a parish council composed of eleven members. Coal, pig-iron, bark, timber, manufactured tin-plate, and paving-stones are exported. A cattle market is held on the first Tuesday in every month, and fairs are held on 4 May and 8 November, and a wool and stock fair on 25 June. The township comprises 5185 acres, with 1793 of adjacent tidal water and foreshore; population, 2944. The parish contains also the tithing of Aylburton. Acreage, 7075, with 2773 of adjacent tidal water and foreshore; population, 3632. Lydney Park is the seat of the Bathurst family, and occupies the site of Whitecross House, which was built by Sir William Wyntour, vice-admiral in the time of Queen Elizabeth, was fortified and defended for Charles I. by Sir John Wyntour, and on the fall of the king was abandoned and burnt to the ground by Sir John. The present mansion was erected in 1875. Remains of a Roman villa and of two Roman camps are in the grounds; and a Roman bath, pieces of tessellated pavement, urns, statues, coins, and other Roman relics have been found. An excellent building-stone is quarried, coal and iron ore are mined, and there are extensive iron and tinplate-works. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelry of Aylburton, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £517 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Hereford. The parochial church is Early English, has windows of a later date, and has been restored. It consists of clerestoried nave, aisles, and chancel, with a square tower and handsome spire, and contains a carved stone pulpit and beautiful painted windows. Aylburton church was rebuilt in 1857. There are Baptist, Wesleyan, and Primitive Methodist chapels.
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 | Lidney St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Blidesloe | |
| Poor Law union | Chepstow | |
| Registration district | Chepstow | 1837 - 1937 |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1678, and incorporates that of Aylburton.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
Holy Trinity, Primrose Hill
The Church of the Holy Trinity, Primrose Hill, was erected in 1903, and will seat 150 persons.
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary is a large edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, north and south porches and an embattled western tower containing clock and 8 bells: the east window of the south aisle represents the period of transition from the Early English to the Decorated, and two windows in the north and south aisles are Perpendicular insertions: the chantry at the end of the north aisle was the chapel of the Holy Cross, and endowed by John Chardborough and his wife, and John Stevens and his wife in 1375: it is now used as an organ chamber and choir vestry: most of the windows are memorials: in 1896 a portion of the spire was blown down, and again rebuilt, at a cost of about £1,000; since that time extensive alterations and improvements have been made in the interior, including the erection of an oak screen, the panels of which are filled with oil paintings; there are also other oak screens including one between the chancel and the nave: the church affords sittings for 600 persons.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel
The Baptist chapel was erected in 1834 and enlarged and restored in 1816 and 1906, and has 350 sittings.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel
The Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1869, has sittings for 400 persons.
Wesleyan Chapel
The Wesleyan Methodist chapel was enlarged in 1892, and will seat 250 persons.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Lydney from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Lidney, or Lydney (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Lydney 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
Villages, Hamlets, &c
AylburtonVisitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.