Caldicot / Cil y coldExtract from Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire & South Wales, 1895.Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie, © Copyright 2011 CALDICOT is a parish, on the shores of the Bristol Channel, and watered by the Nedden brook, 1½ miles north-west from Portskewett and 1¼ miles north-east from Severn Tunnel station on the South Wales section of the Great Western railway, and 6 south-west from Chepstow, in the Southern division of the county, lower division of the hundred of Caldicott, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Chepstow, rural deanery of Netherwent (Middle division), archdeaconry of Monmouth and diocese of Llandaff. The church of St. Mary is an ancient building of limestone, with freestone dressings, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, but with some traces of earlier work, and consists of chancel, nave, north aisle and an embattled tower, placed between the nave and chancel, containing a clock and 8 bells, one of which is of pre-Reformation date: the porch has a staircase leading to what may have been a parvise: there is a figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, somewhat defaced, and at the side of the porch door a rudely-cut consecration cross, and in the wall is a very curious half-length recumbent figure: there are also two old incised slabs in the nave: the restoration of the church was completed in August, 1851: there are 450 sittings: there is a good modern lych-gate at the entrance to the churchyard. The register of burials dates from the year 1716; marriages, 1718. The living is a vicarage, yearly tithe rent-charge £180, average £132, gross yearly income £220, net £150, with 391 acres of glebe, and residence, in the gift of Keble College, Oxford, and held since 1893 by the Rev. Frederick William Clarke M.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge. The mission church of St. Bartholomew, at Highmoor hill, was built in 1876; it has a belfry with one bell, and will seat 100. The iron church of St. Michael and All Angels, at Severn Tinplate works, was erected by Mrs. Clarke, wife of the present incumbent, in 1894, and has a belfry containing one bell. There is also a room used for meetings &c. At Dewstow, about a mile from the village, there is said to have been an ancient chapel, dedicated to St. David, but of this there are no remains. There are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists and Bible Christians. The Caldicot Tin Plate Works, close to the South Wales railway, which runs through the parish, afford employment to a great number of hands. Herbert and Kemeys charities, producing £55 yearly, are distributed in money to the second poor. Caldicot Castle is a magnificent stronghold, formerly belonging to the De Bohuns, Earls of Hereford and hereditary High Constables of England: the general design is oblong, having a round keep on its own moated mound at the north-west corner, and horseshoe towers at the south-west and south-east angles, and a grand gatehouse in the centre of the south face; the keep, probably the oldest part of the building, is considered to have been erected by Milo Fitz Walter, who was high constable both of the Empress Maud and King Stephen, and died in 1144: the south front of the castle apparently dates from about the time of Edward II. and presents a grand and venerable appearance, but the great gatehouse in the centre of it and the postern tower opposite are of the time of Richard II; the latter bears the name "Thomas", as founder, on its gate jamb, probably referring to Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, son of Edward III. who was arrested by King Richard II. in person, and afterwards murdered by his order in 1397, and who married Alianor, co-heiress (with the wife of King Henry IV.) of the last De Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Essex and Northampton, whose name is sculptured on the foundation stone of an adjoining building: the whole was surrounded by a moat: the castle is said to have been rendered untenable as a military fortress in the time of Edward IV. but in 1613 it is described as having long been in ruins: the keep tower (somewhat similar in design to Hawarden) and the great gatehouse are considered to be the finest examples of military masonry remaining; the ribs of the vaulting of the portal and grand staircase are supported by sculptured heads, believed to be portraits but now much defaced, while the machicolations of the west turret and some of the lintels are carried on heads, the features of which are as sharp as when first erected, and it is believed that canopied sculptures enriched all the window heads, and that everything of the sort within reach was purposely mutilated on the attainder of Edward Stafford, last Duke of Buckingham, in 1521: William De Bohun, first Earl of Northampton, son of the 8th Humphrey De Bohun, Earl of Hereford, by Elizabeth, daughter of King Edward I. was born here; Henry V. must have been here, and Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, is said to have been staying here with his young wife, Margaret Beaufort, between his marriage and the birth of Henry VII. and from here Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, marched against King Richard III. in 1483, failing in consequence of the unprecedented flood in the Severn: in 1521 the property vested in King Henry VIII. who made it parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster, by whom it was sold in 1857, and is now owned by Mr. J.R. Cobb, who has roofed the gatehouse and resides there: Mr. Cobb allows inspection to persons interested in architectural antiquities on personal application. Charles Edward Lewis esq. of Moignes Court, is lord of the manor and principal landowner: Joseph Richard Cobb esq. and others are also landowners. The soil is light and sandy; subsoil, clay, gravelly and limestone. The chief crops are wheat and barley. The area is 1,875 acres of land and 1,220 of water; rateable value, £9,591; the population in 1891 was 1,293. Deputy Sexton, William Baynham. Post, M.O. & T.O., S.B. Express Delivery & Insurance & Annuity Office.- Moses John Squibbs, sub-postmaster. Letters from Chepstow arrive at 8.30 a.m.; dispatched at 4 & 6.15 p.m.; & on sundays at 10 a.m. Wall Letter Box, at Deepweir, cleared at 4.10 & 6.20 p.m.; on sundays, at 10.10 a.m National School (mixed & infants), enlarged in 1882, 1887 & 1894 for 300 children; average attendance, 195; John Edward Wright, master; Miss Annie Cooper, mist County Police Station, Arthur Wilcox, constable in charge Clarke Rev. Frederick William M.A. (vicar), The Parsonage COMMERCIAL. Lewis Charles, dairyman |
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