Avenbury, Herefordshire - Post Office Directory, 1863

Extract from Post Office Directory of Herefordshire, 1863

AVENBURY.

AVENBURY is a parish, 2½ miles south-east from Bromyard (its postal town), 11 north from Ledbury, 13 north-east from Hereford railway station, and 153 from London, in Broxash hundred, Bromyard union and county court district, Frome deanery, Hereford archdeaconry, and Hereford bishopric; it is pleasantly situated on the Bromyard and Ledbury turnpike road; the river Frome runs through it. The church of St. Mary is an old stone building in the Gothic style, pleasantly situated on the banks of the Frome, with small square tower and 3 bells; the interior of the church consists of nave, chancel, and a porch. The register dates from 1661. The living, is a stipendiary vicarage, worth £80 yearly, with residence and 2 acres of glebe land, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor; the Rev. John Shepherd, M.A., of Trinity College, Dublin, is the incumbent. Birchy Field, the residence of Mrs. Kempson, is a finely built structure of freestone, in the Modern English style, commanding an extensive and prospective view of the surrounding country. The population in 1861 was 371; the acreage is 3,048. The soil is clayey; subsoil, red sandstone. The representatives of the late Dean of St. Asaph are lords of the manor; Edmund Higginson, Esq., James Saunders, Esq., and John Freeman, Esq., are the chief landowners. The chief crops are wheat, beans, hops, and apples. There are charities of 40s yearly value. Near Bridenbury is a detached part of the parish, which in 1861 contained 34 persons.

MUNDERFIELD ROW, a hamlet, is about 1 mile and three-quarters south-west.

Parish Clerk, William Vernell.

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AVENBURY.

PRIVATE RESIDENTS.

COMMERCIAL.

MUNDERFIELD ROW.

Letters are received Bromyard, which is the nearest money order office

[Transcribed by Barbara E. Haner in March 2004
from a personal copy of Post Office Directory of Herefordshire, 1863]