Llanfoist (St. Faith)
LLANFOIST (St. Faith), a parish, in the union, division, and hundred of Abergavenny, county of Monmouth, 1½ mile (S. W. by S.) from Abergavenny; containing 1500 inhabitants. This parish is bordered on the north by the river Usk, and intersected by the road from Abergavenny to Merthyr-Tydvil; it abounds with coal, ironstone, and limestone, and the produce is chiefly forwarded to the Blaenavon iron-works, in the parish of Llanover. There are also quarries of good building-stone, of which large quantities are sent to Abergavenny and Hereford. The Brecon and Abergavenny canal, which communicates with the Monmouth and Newport canal near Pont-y-pool, passes through the parish; as does also the tram-road from Hereford. The parish includes the greater portion of the Blorenge mountain, 1720 feet high; along the brow proceeds a tram-road, and down the centre are four inclined planes, passing over the Abergavenny canal, to the village of Llanfoist, where are extensive limekilns. From the summit of the mountain the views are extremely beautiful. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 4. 4½., and in the gift of the Earl of Abergavenny: the glebe comprises 30 acres, with a small parsonagehouse, and the tithes have been commuted for £280. The church is an ancient structure. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.