PETERSTONE is a parish, on the Bristol Channel, 2¼ miles south from Marshfield station on the South Wales section of the Great Western railway, which is in this parish, and 6½ south-south-west from Newport in the Southern division of the county, hundred of Wentloog, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Newport, rural deanery of Newport, archdeaconry of Monmouth and diocese of Llandaff. The church of St. Peter is an ancient building of stone with Bath stone dressings, in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and a western tower with pinnacles and spire, containing 6 bells, four of which are dated 1726: the original church was rebuilt in the 12th century by Mabilee, daughter of Sir Robert Fitzaymon, a Norman knight who lived at Cardiff Castle: the tower is a fine example of Penpendicular work: the church was restored during the years 1889-91 at a cost of over £2,000, raised by subscription, in memory of the Hon. Lady Walker, wife of Sir George Walker, of Castleton, under the direction of Messrs. Bodley and Garner, architects, London; one of the bells was also recast at a cost of £12: the church has 1,000 sittings.

The register dates from the year 1707, and under the date March 1, 1870, contains an entry of the burial of Joseph Jones, farmer, at the age of 104; there is a parish terrier about three centuries old. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £70, net £57, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Bristol, and held since 1846 by the Rev. Samuel Evans, of St. David's College, Lampeter, who is also vicar of and resides at Marshfield; the rectorial tithes, £142 yearly, with 100 or more acres of glebe land, are held by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. There is a Baptist chapel, built in 1865.

Near the parish church are the traces of an old floating dock and a market house with store houses &c. showing that an extensive trade must have once been carried on here: many of the old inhabitants of the parish remember that the foundations of various old houses were used to make the present roads: the ancient town with many of its inhabitants was destroyed by marine floods which broke through and destroyed the badly kept embankments. Colonel F. Lockwood, Lord Tredegar and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor, and with Halswell Milborne Kemys-Tynte and John Heath Stubbs esqrs. are the principal landowners. The soil is rich loam; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are pasture, corn and beans. The area is 4,123 acres of land and 1,000 of water; rateable value, £6,226; the population in 1891 was 135.

Parish Clerk, William Rees.

Letters through Cardiff, via Castleton, arrive about 10 a.m. Castleton is the nearest money order & telegraph office. Pillar Box, at Marshfield station, cleared at 5.20 p.m.; not sundays.

A School Board of 5 members was formed 21 March, 1873; John French Williams, Peterstone, clerk to the board; Edward Rees, Peterstone, attendance officer.

Board School, built in 1875 for 48 children; average attendance, 27; Benjamin P. Jones, master

Baker James, farmer, Orchard farm
Edmunds Thos. farmr. Chapman fm
Edwards James, Railway hotel
Hughes Edward, farmer, Sluice house
Jones, Ann (Mrs.), frmr. Carn-y-wyngo
Jones Jn. farmer, Pengam farm
Jones William, farmer, Sluice farm
Morris David, farmer, Church farm
Rees Philip, farmer, Red house
Rees Philip, jun. Six Bells P.H
Rees Thomas, farmer, New house
Rees William, mason
Smith Henry, farmer, Blue house
Thomas Edward, farmer, Tin-y-pill
Williams Dan, farmer, Millditch
Williams David, farmer, Broad Street Common farm
Williams Emma (Mrs.), frmr. Gout frm
Williams Thomas, farmer, White ho
Williams William, Roger, farmer & assistant overseer, Glyn-y-rossog
[Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire & South Wales, 1895]