Dixton or Dixton Newton

including May Hill, Redbrook and Wyesham

(A description written in 1891)

A Parish on the river Wye, on the road from Ross to Monmouth, and extending to the Gloucestershire border, 1 mile north-east from Monmouth railway station, in the southern division of the county; Hundred of Skenfreth, Monmouth & Skenfreth highway district; Petty Sessional division, Union and County Court district and partly in the parliamentary borough of Monmouth; eastern division of Abergavenny rural deanery, Monmouth archdeaconry and Llandaff diocese.

The church of St. Peter is an ancient building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, north and south porches, and a western tower with low broach spire, containing 4 bells, the tenor being of pre-Reformation date, and inscribed "Sancta Margareta ora pro nobis." There are 250 sittings. The register dates from the year 1661. The living is a vicarage, value from the tithe rent-charge (vicarial), commuted at £222, present net value £180, with 9 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of the Rev. Edward Machen B.A. of Eastbach Court, Coleford, Gloucestershire, and held since 1886 by the Rev. John Witherston Rickards B.A. of Cains College, Cambridge. Parish Clerk: James Ward.

The church of St James, at Wyesham, a Chapel of Ease to the parish church, erected in 1875, is a stone building in the Early English style, and consists of chancel, nave, and a tower containing one bell: the stained east window was a gift to the church: the west window is a memorial to the late Henry Gosling Esq.

Here are stone quarries, also steam saw mills and brick and tile manufactories. In a field on the right hand side of the road leading to Monmouth is a tumulus: it was opened some years ago and found to contain Roman pottery.

Here is Kymin Hill, on the top of which is a monument or temple, erected in August, 1800, to commemorate the victories achieved by English admirals in the 18th Century, and dedicated to her Grace the Duchess of Beaufort, daughter of Admiral Boscawen; it was restored by the Duke of Beaufort in 1882: a circular pavilion has also been erected for the use of visitors, which was restored in 1889; the prospect from the summit of the remarkable hill extends to a circumference of nearly three hundred miles, including parts of ten counties, namely Salop, Montgomery, Radnor, Brecon, Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester, Somerset, Glamorgan and Monmouth.

Newton Court is the seat of George Griffin Griffin M.A., D.L., J.P: The Garth, the seat of Lieut. Col. James Davies D.L., J.P; and Leasbrook, the seat of Col. Hubert Churchill Gould J.P; Wyesham House, the residence of Mrs Tudor, widow of the Rev. Thomas Owen Tudor, vicar of St. Thomas', Monmouth, is a building in the Tudor style, standing on an eminence overlooking the Wye and Monnow.

The Duke of Beaufort K.G. is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are the Crown, the Duke of Beaufort, G G Griffin Esq., J M Bannerman Esq. D.L., J.P. of Wyaston Leys, and Mrs Tudor of Wyesham House. The soil is light loam; subsoil, red sandstone. The area is 3,755 acres of land and 84 of water; rateable value £4,484;

The population in 1881 was 772.

MAY HILL is a Hamlet 1 mile south of the church.

REDBROOK is a Hamlet 3 miles south.

WYESHAM is a Hamlet half-a-mile south of May Hill.

Post, M.O., T.O.., S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office, Redbrook - David Williams. receiver. Letters arrive from Monmouth at 7 a.m; dispatched at 6 p.m.

Schools:

National School, Wyesham, built in 1873, for 100 children, average attendance, 100; Mrs. S C Bowen, mistress

National School, Buckholt, built in 1840, for 60 children; average attendance, 35; Mrs. Rhoda Mason, mistress

(extracts from Kelly's 1891 Directory of Monmouthshire, transcribed by J. Doe)

 

 

 

 

 

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