England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Moylgrove St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Moylgrove lies in northern Pembrokeshire not too far from the border with neighbouring Cardiganshire and also forming part of the county's Irish Sea coastline. Moylgrove is located roughly 5 miles west of the port of Cardigan and sits in a broad area devoid of significant, numbered, roads. The closest such road is the B4582 which lies over 3 miles to Moylgrove's south and serves to shorten the distance between Cardigan and Newport. Whilst Moylgrove is a coastal parish the village, itself, sits just over a mile inland deep within the valley of the Afon Ceibwr here the settlement runs from the bridge and climbs the steeply rising southwestern side of the valley in a tumble of cottages lining the lane that follows closest to the coast. The wider parish would have been largely agricultural, a mixture of both arable and pastoral farming in place. The sheltered bay where the Afon Ceibwr meets the sea would have supported a small inshore fishing operation. Today it is the wild Irish Sea coast that draws folk to Moylgrove, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Trail passing through along the rocky coastline, the bay offering a welcome break from the strongly undulating cliff-tops on the long first day from St Dogmaels to Newport. Moylgrove occupies a range of heights from the bridge at 36 metres to the highest cottages at 105 metres whilst land continues to rise to the burial chamber topped hill to the southwest which reaches 192 metres in strongly rolling countryside. Pembrokeshire parishes are a mixture of small, medium and large in extent, Moylgrove at 2,400 was one of the medium sized parishes, within that acreage a population of close to 450 would have been supported. Like most of Wales Moylgrove is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits a quarter mile away from the bridge across the Afon Ceibwr and some 30 metres higher up the hill headed east and then south out of the village. Medieval fabric has long since ceased to be present in this church, the medieval being replaced in Georgian times by a building of 1814. In turn that building was replaced by today's St Andrew, albeit reusing the walling, in 1866 so this is not the venue that would be recognised by the participants in this transcript. For a rural Victorian replacement the church shows some elaboration over the normal simple boxes that are characteristic. A southern transept augments the nave and chancel whilst the octagonal spirelet is something of a flourish to the western end. The churchyard has a small broader verge for a single car to park just west of the iron gates which allow you through the rough-blocked stone walling that surrounds. The churchyard is thankfully open and uncluttered from the southern aspects, a blessing as the northern flanks of the church are hugged closely by a dense canopy of trees.