England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hewelsfield St Mary Magdalene

The Parish

The parish of Hewelsfield lies in the extreme west of Gloucestershire forming a stretch of the county's border with both Monmouthshire and, thus, Wales. Hewelsfield is located roughly 6 miles northeast of the Monmouthshire port & market town of Chepstow and sits a quarter mile east of the B4228 road which links Chepstow with Coleport. Hewelsfield is one of the villages standing on the edges of the former Royal hunting forest of the Forest of Dean, a large extra-parochial area at the time of this transcript. Hewelsfield would have been largely a pastoral farming village typical of the area with cattle a speciality. Nowadays much of the area is devoted to commercial forestry with large green patches dotting the local Ordnance Survey mapping. The Offa's Dyke National Trail passes through the western area of the parish, a thin extension heads westwards from its core giving the parish a short run of the River Wye's course and the county border, though few notice its brief passing. Hewelsfield is drained westwards by a deeply incised stream which heads the short distance to the Wye arriving at Brockweir, the Wye's meanders trend southwards reaching the outer Bristol Channel through Chepstow. Hewelsfield is sited at around 200 metres above the sea on some of the highest ground of the area, to the northwest a spot height of 249 metres on Hart Hill is the local high point. Hewelsfield parish was typically sized for its area covering just under 1,200 acres but supporting a healthy population of close to 550 parishioners. In contrast Domesday Hewelsfield was a deserted community, the proximity of the Forest and its enforcement of privacy deterring a community to form at that date such that it is described as "waste" with no recorded population or assets for its landholder Baderon's son William.

The Church

St Mary's church stands at the junction of Church Road and Church Lane, a three-way junction at the western end of the village. St Mary is an ancient church with its earliest fabric dating back to Norman times ans the 12th century. The nave complete with its narrow northern aisle is the oldest remaining piece, Norman Romanesque in style and 12th century, it comes with a northern arcade which Pevsner dates to c1200. The presence of a central crossing tower is also a typical Norman design feature and that squat example is also from the same period. Moving eastwards the chancel is later and 13th century from the Early English Gothic period, albeit towards the end of that era, so perhaps properly called Transitional. Both southern porch and western door are also 13th century, the latter leading to a curios small chamber sitting south of the nave rendering the church asymmetrical. The 14th century is represented by the northern transept which was added during the Decorated era and enlarged in the late 16th century, evidenced by a mason's date of 1558. Like most churches there was a Victorian restoration, here a lengthy phase from 1863 to 1867 which was at least sensitive to the history of the church. Outside the lych gate which forms the main entrance the roads are broad allowing safe parking, whilst the churchyard is fairly extensive a large tree stands due south of the church restricting some of the favoured aspects, all other angles are available.