CHURCH.
The church of Woolaston was recorded
in the foundation grant by Walter de Clare to
Tintern Abbey in 1131. (fn. 91) Following a dispute with
Llanthony Priory, lords of Alvington manor, it
was determined between 1146 and 1169 that Tintern
should receive all parish dues from Woolaston,
Aluredston, and Alvington except tithes of the
demesne of Alvington, and that in return the abbey
should serve the chapel of Alvington. (fn. 92) The abbey
was licensed to appropriate the church of Woolaston
with the chapelry of Alvington by William de Vere,
Bishop of Hereford (1186-98), and the dependence
of Alvington was confirmed in 1244; (fn. 93) Alvington
remained a chapelry of Woolaston in 1969.
The appropriation of Woolaston church was
questioned by later bishops. Although the abbots of
Tintern normally presented vicars, the earliest
named being Abraham c. 1200, (fn. 94) the bishop granted
the living c. 1253 to William de Agathe as rector
because the abbot had failed to present. William
held the rectory for life, but at the next vacancy a
vicar was instituted; (fn. 95) two 15th-century incumbents
were also described as rectors. (fn. 96) Following the
dissolution of Tintern Abbey the advowson and
rectory were granted in 1537 to Henry, Earl of
Worcester, (fn. 97) who held them at his death in 1549. (fn. 98)
Henry, Lord Herbert, held the tithes of Woolaston
in 1651, (fn. 99) although clergy were instituted as rectors
in 1625 and 1692, (fn. 1) and in a tithe dispute in 1694 it
was settled that the great tithes should be paid to
the incumbent as rector. (fn. 2) The decision was apparently
not accepted until Robert Griffith secured judgement in 1718 against two parishioners for failing
to pay great tithes, on the evidence that he had been
instituted as rector in 1711. (fn. 3) His successors were
similarly instituted and the institutions themselves
were apparently not challenged until c. 1844 when
W. M. Noel of Alvington, with the aid of George
Ormerod the antiquary, submitted evidence to the
diocesan authorities, who agreed that at the next
vacancy the matter should be investigated. (fn. 4) No
inquiry seems to have been carried out, however,
and later incumbents were called rectors. The
advowson, which had descended with the manor, was
sold in 1872 by Henry, Duke of Beaufort, to S. S.
Marling. (fn. 5) Sir Percival Scrope Marling presented in
1931, and after his death in 1936 the right passed to
the Diocesan Board of Patronage c. 1940. (fn. 6)
In 1261 the Archdeacon of Hereford, on a mandate from the bishop, made a visitation to induct
Richard of Newnham, an action which was challenged
by Tintern Abbey. Witnesses reported that although
the archdeacon made an annual visitation no bishop
had visited the church. (fn. 7) Richard de Swinfield in
1289 and John Trefnant in 1397, however, carried
out episcopal visitations at Woolaston. (fn. 8)
In 1274 Tintern Abbey agreed that the vicar
should receive 40s. and all altar dues, mortuaries,
tithes of gardens and curtilages, and tithes of
Aluredston mill, (fn. 9) and in 1535 the vicar was receiving a pension of £2 from the abbey. (fn. 10) The
vicarage was worth £20 with £2 and a load of good
straw from Woolaston Grange in 1584, and £25
in 1650, (fn. 11) and in 1705 it was stated that no augmentation had been made since 1660, although the
great tithes were then being paid to the incumbent. (fn. 12)
The valuation of the vicarage c. 1710 at £25 (fn. 13)
probably excluded the tithes, for after Robert
Griffith won his tithe case in 1718 the value of the
benefice was greatly enhanced. The living was
worth £120 in 1750, £150 in 1798, and £548 in
1856. (fn. 14) The benefice of Lancaut was annexed to
Woolaston from 1711 until its transfer to Tidenham
in 1932. (fn. 15) There were c. 5 a. of glebe until an additional 42 a. south of the church were allotted to the
rector at inclosure in 1815. (fn. 16) All but 8 a. was sold
c. 1908. (fn. 17) The parsonage house, which had an orchard
attached, was rebuilt c. 1250, (fn. 18) and in 1705 and
1727 it was a small house of two bays, (fn. 19) which was in
need of repair in 1739. (fn. 20) The rectory was rebuilt or
remodelled in 1814. (fn. 21) It consists of a three-story
central block with two semi-circular bay windows
rising to the full height of the building, faced in
rough-cast with cornice, parapet, and chamfered
quoins. Two-story matching wings flank the central
block, the west one added in 1820 and the east one in
1860. (fn. 22)
Philip Cliffield and William Cliff, who were both
Dean of Bangor, exchanged the living twice in
1396 and 1397. (fn. 23) Cliffield was careless about forms of
worship and on one occasion was absent for five to
six weeks when no services were held. (fn. 24) Perhaps for
that reason Tintern Abbey withheld his portion in
1385. (fn. 25) Cliff was non-resident in 1397, having
obtained a licence to study at Rome for five years. (fn. 26)
Three Lollard sympathizers were recorded in
Woolaston in 1472 and 1509. (fn. 27) Roger Wynter, vicar
1537-57, resided at Staunton which he also held.
Although he was presented in 1548 for failing to
declare the Ave Maria he was conservative in
outlook and in 1551 was required to acknowledge
Protestant beliefs. (fn. 28) His curate at Woolaston, John
Mathew, was regarded as very nearly satisfactory in
doctrine. (fn. 29) John Ball, vicar 1562-4, was chaplain
to the Countess of Worcester and neither resided
nor provided a curate, so that the parish hired a
curate to say services, and Ball was deprived in
1564. (fn. 30) His successor Henry Elkstone (1564-c. 1579)
failed to preach sermons and instruct in the catechism in 1576, and administered the sacrament only
at Christmas. (fn. 31) There was no minister in 1650, (fn. 32) but
in 1653 Nicholas Cary took the living and still held
it four years later. (fn. 33) Robert Griffith (1711-37) published his sermons; (fn. 34) Robert Penny (1769-82)
compiled antiquarian notes used later by George
Ormerod, (fn. 35) and John Price (1782-1813) was Bodley's
Librarian and resided occasionally. Price received
the living through his friendship with Henry, Duke
of Beaufort (d. 1803), (fn. 36) and of the following rectors.
Charles Bryan (1813-59) was related to Thomas
Bryan of Badminton (fn. 37) and William Somerset (1859-
1902) was the son of Lord William Somerset and a
cousin of Henry, Duke of Beaufort (d. 1899). (fn. 38) He
was a noted sportsman who had the shooting rights
over the Beaufort estate, (fn. 39) but his financial difficulties left his successor W. F. A. Lambert unable to
claim any sum for dilapidations in 1902. (fn. 40) Somerset
held the degree of LL.B. and, like a later rector
W. L. P. Gould (1931-69), practised as a doctor. (fn. 41)
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the church
was served by a succession of parish clerks from the
same family, Samuel Smith, his son Samuel, and
Charles Smith. (fn. 42) In 1851 morning and afternoon
services were held, attended by congregations of 100
and 200 respectively, and there were 73 Sunday
school children. (fn. 43)
At Aluredston c. 1255 Roger de Derneford, who
held the manor from Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk,
obtained licence for a priest to celebrate in the chapel
of Aluredston, (fn. 44) and Roger Bigod's presentation of
Thomas Lenebant to the living of Woolaston in
1257 may have been connected with the chapel. (fn. 45)
By 1289 there was apparently a graveyard attached
to the chapel, and repairs to the roof were carried
out in 1291-3. (fn. 46) No record of it has been discovered
after the acquisition of the manor by Tintern Abbey
in 1302. The medieval chapel at Woolaston Grange
has been mentioned above. (fn. 47)
The church of ST. ANDREW (fn. 48) is of Old Red
Sandstone and comprises chancel, nave, south
aisle, north tower, and south porch. Before the 19th
century it appears to have been a cruciform building
of 12th-century origin with an aisleless nave, the
north transept forming the base of the tower. The
south aisle was formed in 1829 when its western
half was built to fill the space between the south
transept and the south porch; both the former
transept and the extension retain their separate
roofs with gable-ends to the south. The church was
extensively restored in 1859 and few ancient
features have survived. (fn. 49)
The 12th-century south porch was rebuilt in
the 19th century, probably in 1859. Its original
outer doorway had a wide depressed semi-circular
arch supported on shafts with scalloped capitals,
features which were closely imitated in the 19thcentury rebuilding. Above it were two small square
two-light windows, and traces of either a niche or
third window. (fn. 50) The inner doorway, also renewed
or much restored, has similar shafts and a depressed
semi-circular arch of two orders ornamented with a
billet moulding. The only original window in the
church is that at the west end of the nave which is of
three lights and contains cusped interlacing tracery
of c. 1300. Elsewhere the windows are of 14thcentury design except in the rebuilt north wall of
the nave where they consist of two-light lancets.
The north tower, of three low stages, was rebuilt
entirely or in part early in the 19th century, (fn. 51) to
replace a low tower, perhaps of the 13th century,
with a short wooden steeple; (fn. 52) the battlements
were added after 1844. (fn. 53) The trussed rafter roof
of the nave may date from the 14th century, as may
the plain octagonal font bowl. (fn. 54) There are a few
19th-century wall monuments in the church,
chiefly to members of the Hammond and Woodroffe
families. Outside the south porch is the base and
broken shaft of the medieval churchyard cross.
In 1509 there were altars dedicated to St. Mary
and King Henry in addition to the high altar. (fn. 55)
The chancel was in need of repair in 1560 and
lacked glazing in 1572. (fn. 56) The church was in tolerable
condition in 1825 when it contained 400 sittings
including free accommodation in a gallery. (fn. 57) In
1829, under the direction of John Briggs, the western
extension of the south transept was built to form a
south aisle, and two galleries, a pulpit, and a reading
desk were erected. (fn. 58) The more extensive restoration
of 1859 was initiated by Henry Morgan of Tidenham
and carried out by J. W. Hugall of Hugall and Mayle
of London. (fn. 59) The south arcade of four bays was
then rebuilt, its plain stone piers being replaced by
twin shafts of polished marble with foliated capitals.
The stone chancel arch was given similar shafts,
their design copied from the cloisters at Tongres
(Belgium), not without contemporary criticism. (fn. 60)
It was probably at the same time that the 14th
century moulding of the priests' door in the south
wall of the chancel was removed to the gateway in
the churchyard wall leading to the parsonage.
Repairs to the roof and bell-frame were necessary
in 1903, when heating and an organ were provided; (fn. 61)
the north vestry also dates from 1903. (fn. 62) The former
south transept, which at one time contained the
rectory pew, was converted into a Lady chapel in
1954, and an 18th-century wooden pulpit from
Clay Coton (Northants.) replaced the stone Victorian
one in 1966. Recent benefactions by the Revd. W.
L. P. Gould and his family are recorded on plaques
in the church, including gifts of glass in the north
and south chancel windows in 1963 and of a 19thcentury screen formerly in the church of the
Venerable Bede, Sunderland, in 1966. (fn. 63) The tower
contained four bells c. 1703, and there were five in
1969, one of which is attributed to a Gloucester
founder c. 1500. (fn. 64) The others are dated 1633,
probably by John Palmer the elder of Gloucester. (fn. 65)
1696, 1774, and 1775, the last two cast by Abraham
Rudhall of Gloucester. (fn. 66) Owing to the weakness of
the bell-frame only two have been rung since c.
1903. (fn. 67) A communion cup and cover of 1576 were
exchanged in 1867 for a plated metal chalice, paten,
and flagon. (fn. 68) The registers begin in 1688. (fn. 69)
Lands left for obits were valued at 2s. a year c.
1547. (fn. 70) The property consisted of 1 a. in Thornwell
field and ½ a. in Clanna field and was granted in 1549
to William Sawle and William Brydges, with the
rent reserved for the church. (fn. 71) In 1683 the first,
known as Church Acre, was used for the repair of
Woolaston church. (fn. 72) In 1828 the income was
used for the school, together with that from the
½ a., in 1969 distinguished by merestones, which
had formerly been devoted to the repair of
Alvington church. (fn. 73) In 1969 the rent from Church
Acre was devoted to the repair of Woolaston
church. (fn. 74)