Tintern Parva

or Little Tintern

(A description written in 1891)

A Parish on the river Wye, on the new road (Bigsweir Trust) from Chepstow to Monmouth, with a station on the Wye Valley branch of the Great Western railway; it is 6 miles north from Chepstow and 146 miles from London; in the Southern division of the county, Raglan Hundred, Chepstow Petty Sessional division, Union and County Court district; eastern division of Netherwent rural deanery, archdeaconry of Monmouth and diocese of Llandaff.

The church of St. Michael and All Angels, close to the river Wye, is an ancient building of stone, in the later Early English style and was restored and partly rebuilt in the year 1846: it consists of chancel, nave, a fine Early English south porch, with groined roof, and a bell-cote at the west end containing one bell: the handsome stone pulpit is modern: the east window, of three lights, is stained: the font is small, but is ancient and elegant in style: there are 220 sittings. The register of Baptisms dates from the year 1694; Marriages, 1695; Burials, 1756. The living is a rectory, £64.11s.4d. yearly tithe rent-charge, with glebe valued at £6 and farms added by Queen Anne's Bounty, value £86, joint gross yearly value £233, in the gift of Robert Hamilton Williams and Henry Edward Burney Esqs., and held since 1889 by the Rev. Alfred Trask Pullin B.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. Parish Clerk: Frederick Bowen.

This parish shares in certain Charities, bequeathed to the parish of Chapel Hill.

Schools:

The children of this parish attend the school at Chapel Hill.

County Police Station:

Henry Williams, constable. Post, M.O. & T.O., S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office:

Mrs. Mary Ann Henessy, postmistress. Letters through Chepstow arrive at 7.55 a.m; dispatched at 3.50 & 6 p.m.

It is somewhat remarkable that Tintern Abbey itself is not included in this parish (Tintern Parva), but is situated in that of Chapel Hill. There is a Roman camp on the farm of Madget, in Woolastone parish, across the river Wye, and an ancient kiln, supposed to be Roman work, at Coed Ithel, by the side of the road to Llandogo. In the village street stands the base of an ancient stone cross, and there are still some remains of a large mansion of the Tudor period, which, tradition says, was battered down by Cromwell, and a cannon ball has been found in the ruins. The mansion was, however, occupied by the Fielding family nearly a century later.

The extensive woods, which form one of the chief features of this part of the county, are cut every 12 or 14 years, and the timber sent to the collieries in South Wales; the smaller wood is prepared for hoops or charcoal. Nightingales abound in the woods above the village; lilies of the valley and allied plants are also to be found, as well as several of the rarer ferns, such as the oak fern and beech polypodium and some of the club-mosses.

Nurton is the residence of Edward D. Williams Esq. and commands a very fine view of the Wye and the woods on the Gloucestershire side of the river.

The principal landowners are the Duke of Beaufort K.G, who is lord of the manor, Edward D. Williams Esq., Mr. George Roberts and Mr. John Fryer. The soil is sandy, shallow and poor; the parish lies on the junction of the old red sandstone and mountain limestone. The land is chiefly in pasture and coppice wood. The area is 795 acres of land; rateable value, £1,306.

The population in 1881 was 326.

Iron Mills near Tintern c.1798 on the river Wye, courtesy of & © The British Library

(extracts from Kelly's 1891 Directory of Monmouthshire, transcribed by J. Doe)

Slideshow images by Charlotte Cramer