CHRISTCHURCH is an ecclesiastical parish, formed 1844, under the Act 5 and 6 Vict. c. 65, and including Joyford, Hillersland, Shortstanding and Edge End, in the township of West Dean: it has a scattered population, mostly employed in and around Coleford, of which place it forms a suburb, and is one-and-a-half miles north from Coleford station on the Great Western and Severn and Wye railways, in the Forest of Dean division of the county, Monmouth union and county court district, Coleford petty sessional division, rural deanery of South Forest, archdeaconry of Gloucester and diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Christ Church, erected in 1812, is a building of stone, in the Gothic style, consisting of apsidal chancel, erected in 1885, double nave, south aisle, and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing one bell: a pulpit of Caen stone was erected in 1885 as a memorial to the Rev. William Henry Taylor B. A., vicar, 1852-83, an organ being added at the same time by public subscription: there are sittings for 600 persons. The register dates from the year 1814. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £141, including 100 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Crown, and held since 1883 by the Rev. Christopher Barnes, of St. Rees. The Crown is the principal land owner. The soil is light, sandy; subsoil, is sandstone and limestone. The chief crops are wheat, barley and roots. The area is 3,149 acres; the population in 1891 was 1,424.Sexton, James Gwilliam.
Post Office, Christ Church - Mrs. Sarah Young, sub-postmistress. Letters arrive from Coleford at 6.45 a.m.; dispatched at 6.45 p.m. Postal orders are issued here, but not paid. Coleford is the nearest money order & telegraph office.
Schools:- National (mixed), built with master's residence, in 1812 & enlarged in 1870, for 350 children; average attendance, 175 mixed and 75 infants; Edward Ernest Smith, master; Miss Eliza Prince, mistress.
BARNES Rev. Christopher, Vicarage
BROWN Joseph, blacksmith, Five acres
COMMERCIAL:-
DELANEY William, The Rock P. H.
EBBORN Mary (Mrs.), farmer, Shortstanding
FOX Fred, beer retailer, Joyford
GODWIN Harriet (Mrs.), beer retailer
GWILLIAM Milson, farmer
HARRISON Charlotte (Mrs.), beer retailer, Joyford
HUGHES Albert, beer retailer, Five acres
JARRETT Isabella (Mrs.), grocer
JONES James & Son, monumental masons
JONES Charlotte (Mrs.), milliner & dressmaker
JONES Thomas, farmer, Five acres
KILBY Jas, Rising Sun P. H., Five acres
MAPP Geo., wheelwright, Five acres
STEPHENS George, shopkeeper & colliery proprietor, Shortstanding
TOMLINS Geo., New Inn, Shortstanding
WORGAN Thomas, farmer, Hawthornes
YOUNG Margaret (Mrs.) colliery proprietor, Five acres