England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Trostrey St David

The Parish

The parish of Trostrey lies in central Monmouthshire about 2 miles north of the small market town of Usk and on the eastern banks of the River Usk/Afon Wsyg. Trsotrey sits on the B4598 road which connects Usk with Abergavenny. There is very little to Trsotrey, not even a hamlet of any size merely a scatter of farms and cottages on the slopes risinf from the river towards Trostrey Court, a small manor house. The area is primarily an agricultural one, at the time of this transcript pastoral farming would have been the dominant land use but today more arable is creeping in with the use of modern machinery. The Usk drains the parish southwards through Usk, itself, and onwards to reach the Bristol Channel through the port of Newport. Trostrey is sited across a sloping site, the lower portions beside the river are at around 30 metres above the sea whilst Tristrey Court stands at 50 metres. The valley of the usk runs through strongly undulating countryside and locally heights rise to almost 200 metres above the sea on nearby Trostrey Hill. Parishes in the less mountainous portion of Monmouthshire are rather small and Trostrey is no exception, it covered around 1,200 acres and would have supported a population of just under 200 parishioners. Like most of Wales Trostrey is not recorded in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St David's church sits just east of the B4598 on a narrow rising lane leading to Bettws Newydd. The church stands alone amongst fields as that lane crests the immediate climb out of the Usk valley. The church has its origins in the late 14th or early 15th centuries and is designed using the Perpendicular style fashionable at that time. Typically small, as befits the relatively small congregation, it consists of a simple combined nave & chancel topped by a western bellcote. The church uses the local Old Red Sandstone from the Permian geologic period which gives an attractive colour particularly in evening sunshine. The church stands well back from the road with a broad grassy area available for parking. Entrance is through a broad lychgate which grants entrance through the stone walled churchyard. There are virtually no obstructions to photography within.