Gwernesney

(A description written in 1891)

The Parish of the Alders, so called from the trees of that kind once growing there in great profusion, is on the road from Usk to Chepstow, 2.1/2 miles east-by-north from Usk railway station on the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool section of the Great Western railway, 12 from Chepstow and 15 north-east from Newport; in the Southern division of the county, Hundred and Petty Sessional division of Usk, Pontypool Union, Usk County Court district; western division of the rural deanery of Usk, archdeaconry of Monmouth and diocese of Llandaff.

The church of St. Michael is a small building of stone, in the Norman style, consisting of a chancel, nave, south porch and a small western bell turret containing 2 bells: there are sittings for 60 persons. The register of Baptisms and Burials dates from the year 1758; Marriages, 1757. The living is a rectory, tithe rent-charge £68, net income £86, with residence and 25 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Duke of Beaufort, and held since 1871 by the Rev. James Blower B.A. of Jesus College, Oxford, who is also vicar of Llangeview. Parish Clerk and Sexton, Amos Davis.

Post: Letters by messenger from Usk at 7.30 a.m; dispatched thereto from the New Inn, Llangeview, where the messenger calls on his return, at 5.15 p.m. Usk is the nearest money order & telegraph office.

Schools:

The children attend the schools at Usk, Llandenny & Llangwm Ucha.

The Duke of Beaufort K.G. who is lord of the manor, and Edward James Phillips Esq. J.P. of Woodlands, near Pontypool, are chief landowners. The soil is clayey: subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat. The area is 543 A. OR. 16P; rateable value, £608.

The population in 1881 was 44.

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