England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llansantffraed St Bridget

The Parish

The tiny parish of Llansantffraed lies in the northern part of central Monmouthshire (Gwent to modern eyes) roughly 5 miles southeast of the market town of Abergavenny. Llansantffraed is a tiny place, no discernible village as such, which sits immediately north of the A40 road, which links Abergavenny with Monmouth. Llansantffraed sits a half mile north of the River Usk as its winds its way through the undulating Old Red Sandstone of this area of the county, the only signs of Llansantffraed are the church and Llansantffraed Court built in 1912 in a style more reminiscent of southern England than its present location. The rather few inhabitants in this parish would have been engaged in the local practice of pastoral farming, Modern developments have come to the parish, the former winding route of the A40 now replaced by a fast dual carriageway which curs through mere a hundred yards or so south of the church. Llansantffraed is drained southwards by the Usk which makes its way to the outer Bristol Channel arriving through Newport. Llansantffraed is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in gently undulating terrain which rises northwards reaching local high spots of close to 120 metres within a mile or two. Llansantffraed parish was the smallest in its county at only 290 acres with a population of barely 20 too, it hardly merited the status. Like most of Wales Llansantffraed is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

Access to the church is from the former route of the A40 where a prominent former gate house marks the start of the access road for Llansantffraed Court, now a country house hotel and fine dining venue, the lane passes under the new A40 and the church is on the eastern side soon after. Very little remains of any early church as the present building was almost completely rebuilt in Victorian times, the western porch, standing below a tall double-bell bellcote, being added in the mid-1850s. The building was clearly of little architectural interest for Pevsner who's account is a mere handful of largely descriptive lines. The surfaced car park, immediately west of the church is a complete surprise, seemingly far too large for its tiny congregation, but it is often locked, the quiet location allowing careful parking nevertheless.