Woolastone 1870
WOOLASTONE is a village, parish and station, on the Gloucester, Swansea and Carmarthen line of the Great Western Railway, 5 miles north-east from Chepstow, 12 south-east from Monmouth, and 11 south-west from Newnham, situated on the western bank of the river Severn. The village, which is very much scattered, partly lies on the high road from Newnham to Chepstow in the Western division of the county, hundred of Westbury, union and county court district of Chepstow, rural deanery of The Forest, archdeaconry of Gloucester, and diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. The church of St. Andrews is an ancient and curiously formed structure in the Norman style, beautifully restored in 1859: It consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, organ chamber, and a massive western tower; the church is entered on the south side, through an old porch, and the interior is rendered exceedingly noble by the length and height of the nave, combined with its fine timbered roof; the arcade which divides the aisle from the nave consists of double shafts of polished marble, with richly foliated capitals. The large east window of the chancel is filled in with stained glass, by Wailes. The register dates from the year 1688. The living is a rectory, gross yearly value, with the chapelries of Alvington and Lancaut annexed, about £640, with residence, in the gift of the Duke of Beaufort, and held by the Rev. William Somerset, L.L.D., of Magdalene College, Cambridge. There is a National school for boys and girls, which was erected in 1862, at a cost of upwards of £1,000. The Duke of Beaufort, K. G., is lord of the manor and chief landowner. The charities are about £7 10s. yearly. The soil is mostly gravel; subsoil, limestone and sandstone. The chief crops are wheat and barley and many orchards. The area is 3,161 acres; the population in 1861 was 971; gross estimated rental, £6,815; rateable value, £5,634.Parish Clerk - Samuel Smith.
Post Office - George Lodge Shillam, receiver. Letters arrive by foot post from Lydney at 8.30 a.m. ; dispatched at 6 p.m. Lydney is the nearest money order office.
National School - John Morris, master; Mrs. Ellen Jane Morris, mistress.
BIRD Mr. William, Netherend
BLUNDY Mr. Charles, Possession house, Brookend
LEE Mr. James A., Severn house
SMITH Mrs., Platts house
SOMERSET Rev. William, L. L. D., Rectory
COMMERCIAL:-
BALL George, farmer, Plusterwine
BUTLER Charles, blacksmith, Brookend
CALE William, blacksmith
CHAPMAN William, farmer, Netherend
CLARKE Francis, tanner & currier
DAVIS John, beer retailer, Common
DIBDEN Henry, beer retailer & butcher
FLETCHER Joseph, boot & shoe maker, Netherend
FLETCHER William, Old Duke's Head, & butcher, Brookend
FUSSELL Isaac, beer retailer
HIGGINS Hen., farmer, Woolastone grange
HIGGS James, shopkeeper, Netherend
HOWELL James, carpenter, Cone
JAMES Thomas, grocer & draper, Brookend
MILES Henry, farmer, Woodside
O'HARE John, shopkeeper, Common
PACKER William, relieving officer & registrar of births & deaths & assistant overseer
PROCTOR George, farmer, Caynsham
PROCTOR John, farmer, High Woolastone
RYMER Charles, farmer, High Woolastone
SHILLAM George Lodge, boot & shoemaker, Common
WILLETT Wm., farmer, High Woolastone
WILLIAMS James, farmer, Burnthouse farm
WILLIAMS William, Woolastone inn
WOODROFFE Henry, farmer, Little Plusterwine
WORGAN John, Swan