England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bochrwyd St Cynog

The Parish

The parish of Bochrwyd, Boughrood in English spelling, lies in the extreme south of Radnorshire forming a lengthy stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Breconshire, here formed by the course of the River Wye (Afon Gwy). Bochrwyd is located roughly 7 miles west of the town of Hay on Wye and immediately across the river from the A470 road which links Glasbury with Builth Wells. Bochrwyd is a linear village running northwestwards from the bridge across the Wye for just under a half mile to the parish church at its northwestern end. Bochrwyd owes its origins to the ford which once crossed the river here, the village name translating as "the little ford", a castle was built to defend this crossing in the 12th century but it is merely humps and bumps marking its motte and bailey today. Bochrwyd has a mixture of riverside pastures, grazing for cattle, with upland hills to its north, the home of hardy sheep, the valley was extensively wooded too which would have been exploited for woodland products. Modern developments have come and gone from the parish, the railway line which followed the Wye valley from Glasbury to Builth Wells having closed and largely disappeared. Bochrwyd is drained initially southeast by the Wye, it performs a wide meander to head back northeast, passes through Hereford before heading in its meandering way to the outer Bristol Channel arriving through the port of Chepstow. Bochrwyd is sited at around 90 metres above the sea at the bridge rising to 120 metres at the early 19th century house of Boughrood Castle, the interior of the parish is lower than much of mid-Wales but still rises to summits such as Little Mountain at 318 metres and 357 metres on the Trewern Hills. Bochrwyd parish was relatively small for the county, covering just over 1,600 acres it would have supported a population of close to 300 parishioners. Like most of Wales Bochrwyd is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Cynog's church stands on the western side of Station Road, the main lane paralleling the river, at the northwestern end of the village, it stands within a "llan", a round churchyard a mark of an early Christian site. Sadly the medieval church which once stood here was replaced by today's church which was built in 1854. The steeply roofed nave, which has a lean-to northern aisle, the chancel and northwestern tower, complete with a masonry broached spire, were all built in the Geometrical style of the later 13th century newly re-fashionable in Victorian times. Since completion there has been some work required, the spire having to be rebuilt in 2005. Station Road is quite narrow so careful parking is required, the churchyard is one with no obvious difficulty for the photographer.