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ST. ARVANS Including
ST. ARVANS GRANGE,
PORTHCASSEG,
ST. LAWRENCE,
The church of St. Arvan is an ancient building of stone, erected at various periods, and consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a tower containing one bell, dated 1751. The priest's door on the south side of the chancel is an interesting example of Early Norman work, and there is a window on the same side dating from a century later: a portion of the shaft of an ancient Saxon stone cross.was found in taking down the walls of the nave, and in a cavity in the walls, in another part of the church, a number of silver coins were discovered. The church was almost completely restored in 1883-4, under the directon of Mr. Pritchard, architect, at a cost of about �2,000, of which �500 was contributed by Mrs. Clay, of Piercefield, and the church was reopened 26 Feb. 1884: there are 300 sittings. The register dates from the year 1686, when all previous registers were burnt. The living is now a vicarage, with Penterry annexed in 1888, joint net yearly income �200, with 42 acres of glebe here and residence in the gift of the Bishop of Llandaff and the Duke of Beaufort alternately, and held since 1887 by the Rev. John Tilley. The vicarage house was built in 1889 by public subscription and Queen Anne's bounty. There is a Congregational chapel. Piercefield Park, the seat of Henry Clay esq. M.A., D.L., J.P., is about 400 acres in extent, and is bounded on the east and north sides by beautifully wooded and precipitous cliffs, rising at the angle to a height of several hundred feet and commanding a fine view of the valley of the Wye; the mansion is a plain but substantial building of stone, erected towards the close of the last century, by George Smith esq. then owner of the estate, upon the site of a former house, which had for many generations been the seat of the Walters family, by whom the estate had been sold in 1727. The park is open on Tuesdays during the season, and visitors are permitted to pass through it to the high road above. At various points on the way exquisite views are afforded ot the Wye and the beautifully wooded cliffs rising on either side of the valley. Oak Grove is the seat of Henry Hastings Clay esq. J.P. The Duke of Beaufort, who is lord of the manor, Henry Clay esq., George Smedley esq. of Tutshill, the Dean and Chapter of Llandaff, the Rev. N. S. Barthropp M.A. Rector of Itton and the Rev. John Henry Whiteley M.A. of St. Lawrence, Chepstow, are the principal landowners. The soil is loam and sand; subsoil, marl and limestone. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area is 2,258 acres of land, 2 of water, 34 of tidal water and 36 of foreshore; rateable value, �2,913; the population in 1891 was 503 in the civil and 540 in the ecclesiastical parish.
Parish Clerk, William Fisher.
Post Office, St.Arvans - Martin Smith, sub- postmaster, also M. & T.O., T.M.O., Express Delivery, Parcel Post, S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office. National School, built in 1872 & enlarged in 1895, for 150 children; average attendance, 92; Edward B. Bendall, master; Miss Louisa Simmonds, assistant mistress. ST. ARVANS GRANGE is a parish. The area is 536 acres; rateable value, �450; population in 1891 was 15. PORTHGASSEG is a hamlet is 3 miles north from Chepstow.
ST. LAWRENCE is a hamlet 1 mile west from Chepstow. ROGERSTONE GRANGE, formerly extra parochial, has the remains of an old mansion, at one time occupied by the Curre family.
ST. KINGSMARK, or Kynemark, is a parish, formerly extra parochial, 1 mile northwest from Chepstow railway station, in the hundred of Caldicot, union and county court district of Chepstow, and, for ecclesiastical purposes, included in the parish of St. Arvans. Here was once a small priory, founded before 1291. Its history is involved in obscurity, but some fragments of wall yet remain to mark its site. There was also a church here, every vestige of which has now disappeared. By Local Government Board Order No. 17,582, dated March 25, 1885, a detached part of St. Arvans, known as Chapel Fields, was transferred to Chapel Hill. PRIVATE RESIDENTS Bendall Edward B. Church house Clay Henry M.A., D.L., J.P. Piercefield park Clay Henry Hastings J.P. Oak grove Dredge Frank Henry, Wyndcliff villa Eeles John Proctor, Woodlands Glennie Walter O'Brian, The Elms Kilpern James, Parkfield Master Rev. Oswald, M.A. St. Arvans court Peake Mrs. St. Arvan's lodge Rake Thomas Samuel, Clingre house, Crossway Green Thomas John, Uplands Tilley Rev. John (vicar of St. Arvan's & Penterry), The Vicarage, Watkins Mrs., Hydrangea cottage Whiteley Rev. John Henry M.A., St. Laurence
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