WOOLLASTON (or WOOLLASTONE), is a parish in Chepstow union, containing, by the census of 1861, 971, and in 1871, 998 inhabitants, and 4168 acres; in the south division of the deanery of the Forest, archdeaconry of Gloucester, diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, hundred of Westbury, West Gloucestershire; 4 miles south-west from Lydney, 5 miles north-east from Chepstow, 11 south-east from Newnham, 12 south-east from Monmouth, with a Station on the South Wales Section of the Great Western Railway, half a mile from the village. The rectory, with Alvington and Lancaut attached, in the incumbebcy of the Rev. William Somerset, M.A., B.C.L., is valued at £630 per annum, with residence, and is in the patronage of Samuel Stephens Marling, Esq., M.P., who is also lord of the manor. The church is an ancient Norman edifice, dedicated to St. Andrew, consisting of nave, chancel, south aisle, and porch, with a fine old Norman doorway and a massive tower on the north side at the junction of the nave and chancel, containing five bells. The nave is of great length and height with a fine timbered roof. The aisle is divided from the nave by arches supported by columns of polished marble, with richly foliated capitals, and the chancel, arch, and columns are also in the same style. There is a handsome stained glass window in the east end, by Wailes, of Newcastle. The church was restored in 1859. The Baptists, Bible Christians, and Primitive Methodists have places of worship here. There are schools for children of both sexes, with residence for the master, which were erected in 1862, and are now under the management of a School Board.

BROCKWEIR is a hamlet, on the banks of the Wye; 5 miles north-west, partly in this parish and partly in those of Hewelsfield and St. Briavels. The Moravians have a place of worship here, which was erected in 1833. The Board School, for the united district of Hewelsfield and St. Briavels, is in that portion of the hamlet belonging to this parish. The rateable value of this parish in £6029.

 

Clergy & Gentry

BATTERSHILL Mr. Charles Joseph, Laurel cottage

BIRD Mr. William, Netherend

DAVIS Mrs. Mary, Brookend

ELLIOTT Rev. John (Moravian), Chapel house, Brockweir

SMITH Miss Hannah, Platts house

SOMERSET Rev. William, M.A., B.C.L., The Rectory

 

Trades and Professions

ADAMS Adam, farmer, The Chase

BALL George Terrett, farmer, Plusterwine farm

BALL Samuel, farmer, Whitewalls

BULLOCK Thomas Henry, farmer, Platts farm

BURROWS Albert, thrashing machine owner, High Woolastone

BUTLER Charles, blacksmith, Brookend

CLARKE Francis, tanner and currier, Brookend; and at Chepstow

DANCE William, farmer, Abbey passage

DAVIS John, beer retailer, The Common

FEWINGS John B., farmer, Woolastone grange

FLETCHER Henry, farmer, High Woolastone

FLETCHER Joseph, boot and shoemaker, Netherend

FLETCHER William, "Old Duke's Head" inn, Brookend

HIGGS James, grocer, Netherend

HILLIER Orlando W., farmer, Green Pool farm

HOWELL James Proctor, wheelwright and carpenter, Netherend

JAMES Thomas, grocer, draper, and sub-postmaster, Brookend

JONES William O., haulier, Woodside

LEWIS James, shopkeeper, The Common

MORGAN Charles and Edward, farmers, Townsend farm, Brockweir

MORGAN Samuel, farmer, Ashwell grange

O'HARE Mrs. Elizabeth, shopkeeper, The Common

PETERS William, farmer, Knights

PHILLIPS The Misses Eliza & Mary, boarding and day school, Woodside

PHILLIPS William, beer retailer, Netherend

PREWETT Hugh, blacksmith, Brookend

PRICE William, farmer, Slad bottom

PRITCHARD Henry, farmer, Chase farm

PROCTOR George W., farmer, Cainsome and Madgett farms

RANDLE James E. (Trustees of), paper manufacturers, Cone Paper Mills - Frank J. Noble, manager

RATTUE Tom, stationmaster, Railway Station

REEVES William, farmer, Woodside

ROWLAND Charles, "Woolastone" inn, Brookend

RYMER Charles, farmer, High Woolastone

SHILLAM John, shoemaker, The Common

SMITH Samuel, parish clerk, Woodside

SMITH Mrs. Sarah Ann, corn dealer, Netherend

SPURWAY Thomas (firm of Taylor and Spurway); h. Possession house

STEEL Thomas Rees, relieving officer, and registrar of births, deaths, and marriages for the Lydney district, and clerk to the Woolastone School Board, Netherend

STOCKHAM James, farmer, Gumstalls

TAMPLIN Richard, shopkeeper, Netherend

TAYLOR AND SPURWAY, beer merchants, Brookend

TAYLOR AND WORKMAN, coal merchants, Railway Station

TAYLOR Thomas (firm of Taylor and Spurway - and Taylor and Workman); h. Possession house

THOMAS Walter P., master of Board School, Netherend

TUDOR William, beer retailer, The Common

WELLINGTON Richard, farmer, Bowlash

WILLETT William, farmer, High Woolastone

WILLIAMS Henry, farmer, Netherend farm

WILLIAMS James, farmer, Burnt house

WOODROFFE William Henry, farmer, Plusterwine house

WORGAN John, "Swan" inn

Post Office, Brookend - Thomas James, sub-postmaster. Letters through Lydney delivered at 9 a.m.; dispatched at 5 p.m. on week days only. Lydney is the nearest money order and telegraph office.

School Board

Rev. William Somerset, M.A., B.C.L., chairman

George Ferrel Ball, vice-chairman

Charles Joseph Battershill

Charles Rymer

Thomas Spurway

Clerk to the Board - Thomas R. Steel

Assistant Overseer and Collector of Poor Rates - Thomas Rees Steel

Relieving Officer, and Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages for the Lydney District - Thomas Rees Steel.

Board School, Netherend - Walter P. Thomas, master; Mrs. Jessie Ida Thomas, infant's mistress.

Board School for the United District of Hewelsfield and St. Briavels - Brockweir - Mrs. Emily Jones, mistress.

Great Western Railway Station (South Wales Section) - Tom Rattue, stationmaster

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