England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanvihangel Ystern Llewern St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Llanvihangel Ystern Llewern lies in northern Monmouthshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Herefordshire. Llanvihangel Ystern Llewern lies roughly 5 miles west of the town of Monmouth and sits a half mile south of the B4233 road which connects Monmouth with Abergavenny. Llanvihangel Ystern Llewern is a rather small place, little more than a hamlet, which sits on the southern banks of the River Trothy, a quiet rural farming parish where a mixed regime would have allowed both cereals and cattle to prosper despite the thick clay soils. Today little has changed although Llanvihangel Ystern Llewern does have visitors as the Offa's Dyke National Trail passes through the village en route from Chepstow to Prestatyn. The Trothy drains the parish southeastwards meeting the Wye to the south of Monmouth thence to the Bristol Channel through Chepstow. Llanvihangel Ystern Llewern is sited at roughly 50 metres above the sea in undulating countryside where local heights rise to 160 metres within a mile or so. A small parish by Monmouthshire standards Llanvihangel Ystern Llewern covered just over 1,800 acres and would have supported a population of close to 150 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanvihangel Ystern Llewern is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover much west of Monmouth.

The Church

St Michael's church sits on the narrow lane that crosses the hamlet before climbing steeply southwards out of the valley of the Trothy. Whilst the church has medieval origins little remains after thorough restoration during the Victorian period. Pevsner points only to a retained 14th century eastern window and an early 16th century southern window as remnants of what was undoubtedly a church of the Decorated and Perpendicular styles. Two significant restoration campaigns which involved almost total reconstruction occurred in the 19th century, however. In 1874 the chancel was largely rebuilt whilst two decades later the nave was also restored and the southern porch and timber bellcote added. Where the lane bends sharply and the Offa's Dyke trail comes in from ahead a small pull-in enables parking by the churchyard gates. Once within there are no obvious obstacles to photography.