ENGLISH BICKNOR is a village and parish in Monmouth union, containing, by the census of 1861, 592, and in 1871, 601 inhabitants, and 2355 acres; in the south division of the deanery of the Forest, archdeaconry of Gloucester, diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, hundred of St. Briavels, West Gloucestershire; 3 miles north from Coleford, 8 north-east from Monmouth, 8 south from Ross, and 8 south-west from Mitcheldean Road Station on the Hereford, Ross, and Gloucester Railway. The rectory, in the incumbency of the Rev. John Burdon, M.A., is valued at £800 per annum, with residence, and is in the patronage of Queen's College, Oxford. The church is an ancient edifice, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, consisting of nave, chancel, north and south aisles, and north porch, with tower covered with ivy, and containing five bells and a clock. It bears traces of both Saxon and Norman architecture; one of the arches dividing the north aisle from the nave, is a very fine Norman one. In the vestry are two piscinas, and a recumbent effigy of one of the Wyrhall family. There are two private chapels, which formerly belonged to that family, and are now in possession of the Machen family, their descendants. The pulpit and reading desk are of oak. There is a stained glass window at the east end of the south aisle, to the memory of one of the Davis damily. Bigland, in his County History, states:- "On the site of the church, the remains of a fortress are still to be traced: the mote, which surrounded it, is in many places perfect" - Atkyns, in his History of Gloucestershire, states:- "The parish is 7 miles in compass, it lies 2 miles in length, by the side of the "River Wye". it consists of rich meadow and pasture; there is a small brook called East Pitch Brook, which rises in this parish and runs down into the Wye." The Ross and Monmouth Railway passes through this parish, skirting its north and west sides, and has two stations here, one at Symonds Yat, the other at Stowfield, where it has a Junction with the Severn and Wye Railway, to Lydbrook and Lydney, and is called the Lydbrook Junction Station.

LYDBROOK is a large hamlet, partly in this parish and partly in those of Newland, Ruardean, and East and West Dean.

SYMONDS YAT is a pass in some high rocks, which rise 550 feet from the bed of the Wye, and command magnificent views of that river and the neighbouring country, with the Welsh Hills in the distance. Bigland, in writing about this place, states:- "A promontory of great height, formed by the fantastic courses of the River Wye (the Vaga of the ancients), which though but a few hundred yards across, has a circumference of three miles. This romantic spot has been cultivated with great judgement and taste by the late possessor, Mr. Wyrhall." The walks are still kept in good order by the Rev. Edward Machen, B.A. There is a Station here on the Monmouth and Ross Railway, at the foot of the rocks close to the River Wye. The rateable value of this parish is £3950.

 

Clergy, Gentry and Private Residents

BURDON Rev. John, M.A., rector, The Rectory

DAVIES Rev. James, M.A., Bicknor house

HOUGH Mr. Charles Cooper, Braceland

MACHEN Rev. Edward, B.A., Eastbach Court

PARSONS The Misses, Stirte house

PROSSER Mr. Thomas, Bicknor cottage

TERRETT Mr. George

 

Trades and Professions

ADDIS James, butcher

BENNETT Richard, National schoolmaster, School house

BLANCH Mrs. Esther, farmer, Court farm

COPNER William, miller, Joyford mill

CROOK Mrs. Harriet, farmer, White house

DUTHERIDGE Thomas, farmer, Dryslade

EDWARDS John, farmer, Blackthorn farm

FARMERS FOLLY COLLIERY CO., colliery proprietors - Hugh Railton, manager

FLETCHER John, farmer, Joyford

GUNTER Thomas, farmer, Stirts farm

IVINS Thomas, farmer, Carter's piece

JAMES Richard, carpenter and wheelwright

JAMES William Wysham, assistant overseer and collector of poor rates

JONES Miss Mary, beer retailer and shopkeeper

JONES Thomas, farmer, Hillersland

KEENE Roger, farmer, Cowmeadow farm

LANE John Walter, farmer, Eachbach farm

LERIGO Henry, carpenter

LERIGO William, carpenter and sub-postmaster

PRESSICK Richard D., stationmaster, Lydbrook station

PROBERT William, blacksmith

Post Office - William Lerigo, sub-postmaster. Letters through Coleford delivered at 7.45 a.m.; dispatched at 6 p.m., on week days only. Lydbrook and Coleford are the nearest money order and telegraph offices.

Ross and Monmouth Railway Station (Junction with the Severn and Wye Railway), Lydbrook - Richard D. Pressick

National School - Richard Bennett, master

 

SYMONDS YAT

Trades and Professions

DAVIS Thomas, refreshment rooms

GOODE William, "Saracen's Head" inn

HUNT John, stationmaster

JONES Thomas, plasterer, and tiler

Monmouth and Ross Railway Station - John Hunt, stationmaster

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