England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Littledean St Ethelbert

The Parish

The parish of Littledean is located in western Gloucestershire roughly 12 miles west of the city of Gloucester. Littledean sits on the A4151 road, a linking road joining the A38 (Gloucester to Chepstow) road with the A4136 (Monmouth to Huntley) road. Littledean is a mid-sized and compact village sitting on the steep slopes that form the eastern edges of the Forest of Dean, here the A4151 climbs the hill forming an "L" shape within which sits the village. At one time Littledean was of sufficient importance to warrant the status of market town but that has been defunct since the early 1800s albeit the market cross still stands in the village. The Forest was a royal hunting estate and was beyond the normal parochial system, it is fringed by small settlements such as Littledean. The area is rich in coal and iron and Littledean was noted for the manufacture of nails from these twin products which employed many, the wider parish would have been largely pastoral with woodland management for forestry products in those remaining areas of forest. Today the Forest is a haven for wildlife with tours in search of reintroduced wild boar a particular speciality. Littledean stands no more than 3 miles from the River Severn as it expands to an estuary and numerous small brooks and streams drain that short distance. Littledean is sited on a steeply rising site, the lowest properties standing at 130 metres whilst the upper part is 40 metres higher, land continues to rise into the Forest of Dean reaching 237 metres at the local high spot. By the standards of this area Littledean was a tiny parish covering just over 700 acres yet within that small acreage it would have supported just over 800 parishioners. Littledean is not mentioned in Domesday Book which has few entries in this border area.

The Church

St Ethelbert's church sits adjacent to the A4151, here named Church Street, as it climbs steeply up through the village, a platform was created of level ground for the church to sits upon, its southern edges are level with road height whilst the northern edge stands well above and is buttressed by a tall wall. The church is largely a product of the 14th century, the main church-building era of the medieval period. The church was begun in the first half of that century and shows the Decorated style prevalent in that half century, however traces of an earlier version remain with the chancel arch showing late Norman and 12th century jambs. The remaining core of nave, chancel and their southern porch are all early 14th century. Later work and Perpendicular in style is represented by the northern aisle, given a date of c1400 by Pevsner, and the northern chapel of 1412. Potential disaster struck the church in 1894 when storms damaged the spire which then graced the tall western tower, the spire was removed for safety and the tower remains showing the basal part of that former spire. Two phases of Victorian restorations are recorded by Pevsner, 1864 & 1877 being their respective completion dates, he makes the point that they were "relatively tactful". Parking close to the church is difficult, the road is narrow, busy and steep so parking elsewhere and arriving on foot is recommended. The western tower sits flush with the roadside so better views are from across the road whilst the churchyard is open and uncluttered with no insurmountable difficulties for the photographer.