Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MATHERNE

MATHERNE, a parish in Chepstow district, Monmouth; on the South Wales railway, on the Poolmerick brook or Matherne pill, and adjacent to the river Wye at the boundary with Gloucestershire, 2 miles SSW of Chepstow r. station. Post town, Chepstow. Acres, 3,281; of which 430 are water. Real property, £3,592. Pop., 450. Houses, 82. The name Matherne is supposed to be a corruption of Merthyr-Tewdric, and to have been derived from Theodoric, a king of Glamorgan in the 6th century, reputed to have become a hermit and a martyr. The property is divided among a few. Monks Court was a residence of the Bishops of Llandaff till 1706; has a quadrangular form, with architectural features of the 15th century; and is now a farm-house. Poolmerick brook, or Matherne pill, rises near Newchurch; and runs about 7 miles south-south-eastward to the Severn, about a mile below Matherne church. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Llandaff. Value, £352.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Llandaff. The church is ancient but good; has some early English arcades, and a tower; and contains a tablet to the martyr Theodoric. There are an endowed school with £13 a year, and charities £13.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Matharn AP/CP       Chepstow RegD/PLU       Monmouthshire AncC
Place: Matherne

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