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

The Parish

The parish of Goldcliff lies in the extreme south of Monmouthshire forming a lengthy stretch of the county's coastline with the outer Bristol Channel. Goldcliff is located roughly 4 miles southeast of the industrial port of Newport and sits within the Monmouthshire Levels, an area devoid of significant numbered roads, the closest such road being the A48 linking Newport with Chepstow and which lies almost 4 miles to the north. Goldcliff was so named because of a prominent yellow sandstone outcrop which, albeit rather small was a significant vertical element in this otherwise level landscape. A Benedictine priory founded in 1113 ran the area for 3 centuries before disappearing in 1467 with no obvious trace remaining today. The area around Goldcliff is largely man-influenced by sundry drainage schemes creating a web of channels designed to remove water from the network of pastures that formed the area's economy. Lacking a natural harbour Goldcliff was not a settlement which would have majorly exploited its coastal assets. Today innovative restoration schemes have created a wildlife sanctuary at Goldcliff Pill and, of course, the new Wales Coastal Trail passes through the parish on the raised sea embankments that line the coast. Various small streams are funneled into Goldcliff Pill to reach the outer Bristol Channel. Goldcliff is sited at barely above sea level and one has to travel almost to the M4 motorway before crossing a 10 metre contour, the hill of Waltwood Hill at 62 metres being the closest. The parish of Goldcliff covered around 2,200 acres and would have supported a population of around 250 parishioners. Like most of Wales Goldcliff is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Mary's church sits tucked away behind fronting properties and is accessible either from The Farmers Arms Inn or by a footpath running westwards from Chapel Road. St Mary's was built in 1424 after a disastrous flood destroyed Goldcliff Priory, it was thus built almost in a single build in the prevailing Perpendicular style of the early 15th century. Both its southern and western walls, however, were constructed using limestone blocks recovered from the destroyed priory and, indeed, Pevsner points our 12th century fret decoration inserted into that southern wall, later work of c1850 but undoubtedly recovered from the remains of the priory. Also from the late 18th or early 19th century one finds the tremendously blocky western tower which has broad lancet windows in tribute to the newly re-fashionable Early English Gothic style of the 13th century. Given the ease of parking it is usual to approach from the Farmers Arms where a footpath leads past the west side of the inn to the church in around 200-300 yards, as you approach there's a thick band of trees on the right which extend almost the the south wall removing most of the favoured angles from the photographer's portfolio and making for a tricky subject on a sunny day.