England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Dorstone St Faith

The Parish

The parish of Dorstone lies in western Herefordshire not too far from the joint border with both Breconshire & Radnorshire and hence also Wales. Dorstone is located roughly 8 miles east of the Breconshire market town of Hay and sits on the B4348 road which connects Hay with Herefordshire's Dore Valley, also known as the "Golden Valley". Dorstone is middling sized village which sits on the southern banks of the Dore within a broad-bottomed valley tucked away between substantial hills. The valley bottom gave excellent grazing and beef cattle are the mainstay of this parish's economy, the higher slopes giving way to a more sheep-led regime. Modern developments did temporarily come to the valley, a branch line from the Abergavenny to Hereford rail line once ran along the valley connecting in to Hay but has been largely dismantled today. The Dore drains the parish southeastwards joining first the Monnow and then the Wye to reach the Bristol Channel through the port of Chepstow. Dorstone is sited at around 150 metres above the sea but land rises sharply once out of the valley to local heights of over 430 metres in nearby Vagar Hill. As a relatively upland parish Dorstone was amongst the larger in its county, covering almost 3,800 acres it would have supported a population of close to 550 parishioners. Dorstone is mentioned in Domesday Book as a holding of one Drogo, the son of Poyntz but us described as "waste" with no assets listed, this area being very much the Norman border area.

The Church

St Faith's church sits on the southern side of the B4348 as it winds its way through the village. Whilst the church has medieval origins it was largely rebuilt in the late 1880s. That rebuild did, however, utilise many remnants of the original church which Pevsner uses to attempt to piece together what existed prior to the rebuild. The earliest remnant identified is the reused tower arch of the 13th century, several 14th century remnants have also been identified which indicate a church begun in the Early English Gothic period and completed during the later Decorated style. Everything else dates to that Victorian rebuild of 1889 - 1890 with the exception of the curiously truncated western tower, a blocky edifice which had to be shortened in 1950 to prevent collapse, hence its odd character. The churchyard is hedged to the B4349 and has a small parking area at the eastern edge of the site. Whilst the churchyard is fairly uncluttered, sadly a mass of trees rob the photographer of the favoured southeastern aspect making it a challenge to adequately capture on a sunny day.