Marden, Herefordshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"MARDEN, a parish in the hundred of Broxash, county Hereford, 5½ miles N. of Hereford, its post town, and 1½ mile N. of the Moreton railway station. The village, which is considerable and of irregular form, is situated on the river Lug, noted for its grayling and trout. It is about 1½ mile E. of the turnpike road leading from Hereford to Leominster, and includes the townships of Amberly and Wisterstone. Grove Hill, situated about 3 miles distant, commands an extensive view of seven counties. Sutton Walls, celebrated for being the site of the camp of Caractacus, and afterwards of the palace of King Offa, has also views over the whole vale. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The soil is loamy and clayey upon a subsoil of gravel and stone.

The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Hereford, value £247, in the patronage of the dean and chapter. The church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, or, according to others, to St. Ethelbert, is a stone structure of great antiquity, with a square tower surmounted by four pinnacles and a spire, and containing six bells. It stands near a holy well said to have sprung up on the interment of the body of King Ethelbert prior to its removal to Hereford Cathedral. There is also a brass to Lady Chute, who was a resident of this parish. The parochial charities produce about £30 per annum, of which £20 goes to Shelley's school. In the chapel-of-ease at Wisterstone has been recently inserted a stained window to the memory of William Chute Gwinnett, Esq. The Amberley chapel is in ruins. Marden Court and Wisterstone Court are the principal residences. Thomas Evans, Esq., of Sufton Court, is lord of the manor."

"WISTERSTONE, a chapelry in the parish of Marden, hundred of Broxash, county Hereford, 6 miles N. of Hereford, on the river Lug."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]