ST. ARVANS, Monmouthshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

The National Gazetteer (1868)] "ST. ARVANS, a parish partly in the upper division of the hundred of Caldicott, partly in the upper division of the hundred of Ragland, in the county of Monmouth, 2 miles to the N.W. of Chepstow. It is pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Wye, which bounds the parish on the N.E., and contains the hamlet of Portcasseg. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Llandaff, value £53, in the patronage of the Duke of Beaufort. There are ruins of two chapels, which were dedicated to SS. Kingsmark and Lawrence.

To the E. of St. Arvans is Piercefield Park, formerly the seat of Valentine Morris, Esq. The grounds, which lie at a considerable elevation above the river, extend in length 3 miles, and embrace a charming variety of scenery, hill, vale, wood, and water. A precipice bounds them on the S.W., and to the N. is Wyndcliff Hill, towering far above the park. In the house are four pieces of Gobelin tapestry, which belonged, it is said, to Louis XVI. The views from different parts of the grounds are very fine over the Wye and the Severn, and the hills of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and Somersetshire."

"KINGSMARK, an extra parochial place adjoining the parish of St. Arvan's, county Monmouth, 2 miles N.W. of Chepstow."

"PORTCASSEGG, a hamlet in the parish of St. Arvans, upper division of Ragland hundred, county Monmouth, 3 miles N.W of Chepstow. It is situated near the river Wye."

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

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