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

The Parish

The parish of Brilley lies in the extreme west of Herefordshire forming a lengthy stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Radnorshire and thus a stretch of the England/Wales border. Brilley is located roughly 6 miles northeast of the Breconshire market town of Hay on Wye and sits a little over a mile north of the A438 road which links Hay with Hereford. Brilley is a dispersed parish with no real concentration of properties in a village, Brilley, itself, consists merely of the church,a couple of farms and a few cottages, there is another small cluster to the south at Little Merthyr whilst on the A438 Rhydspence and its inn is accompanied by yet more farms and cottages. Brilley parish is an upland parish with land rising steeply from the River Wye which forms part of its southern boundary, the farming is determinedly beef cattle with traditional Herefordshire breeds dominant. Much of the south of the parish is wooded and this would have been managed through coppice for traditional woodland products such as canes, poles and charcoal. Brilley is drained eastwards by the Wye which head to Hereford before taking a sinuous course to the outer Bristol Channel arriving through the port of Chepstow. Brilley parish covered a wide range of heights from 90 metres above the sea at Rhydspence's inn to 328 metres at Pen Twyn Iron Age fort, a multi-vallate structure crowning a hill, further west in Radnorshire heights of over 400 metres are reached west of Newchurch in strongly undulating countryside. Brilley parish was extensive as befits its upland nature, covering just under 3,800 acres it would have supported a population of around 600 parishioners. Like much of the border region Brilley is not mentioned in Domesday Book which has scant coverage in this area.

The Church

St Mary's church on the western side of a slightly wider lane than many in the area, it heads ultimately for Michaelchurch on Arrow, a few yards north of the church the dead-end lane heads south to Brilley Green. Whilst the church undoubtedly existed in the 12th century, the font dates from that time, almost all of the church has been modified/replaced at some time in the intervening centuries. Between the late 13th and early 14th century the church was virtually rebuilt as a continuous structure of 4-bay nave with a single bay chancel all in one unit, they are only separated internally, with a northern transept. As a result of this rebuild crossing fashion boundaries both Early English Gothic and Decorated styles both appear. The 19th and 20th  centuries saw much change, some the result of deliberate planning some due to an unfortunate disaster. Three periods of work are documented by Pevsner, in 1865 both nave and northern transept were restored, the work also extended the nave westwards, rebuilt  the southern timber porch having installed a new door and created a formal separation between nave and chancel with a timber screen. This extensive work was followed in 1888 with a rebuilding of the chancel, a Perpendicular styled east window replaced the medieval version. The medieval church came with a detached timber western tower but it was destroyed in January 1910 by a devastating fire. In 1912 a new sandstone 2-stage tower was completed with the nave extended still further westwards so no longer detached. The church has a good sized car park ouside the gates which allows for a relaxed visit, the churchyard has no obstacles whatsoever for the photographer.