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Church of Holy Jesus,
Church Road,
Lydbrook, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or had) a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in 1821, and we understand it is still open.

Here is a large "modern" (19th century) church in a commanding position on the side of the hill. The entry for Lydbrook in Kelly's Directory of 1923 tells us it was erected in 1851, and is "a building of stone in the Decorated style consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and a western tower containing one bell". It adds that a vestry was added in 1912, and that the stained east window was erected in 1908, by Richard Thomas esq. as a memorial to his family, and that in the south aisle in memory of the Rev. H.T. Hoitt M.A. vicar 1866-1908.

A Brief Account of the History of Lydbrook, on the Forest of Dean Family History Trust website makes interesting reading. It explains that an Anglican mission was established at Lybrook in 1821 by the Rev. Henry Berkin, who had been instrumental in building Holy Trinity at Drybrook in 1817. The chapel he built at Lydbrook was on the site of the present Vicarage, and - they say - the fourth to be built in the Forest of Dean. The first was Christ Church (1816); Drybrook was the second (1817), followed by St Paul's at Parkend (begun in 1819, consecrated at the beginning of 1822). [They do not mention Old St John's in Coleford, which was consecrated in 1821, but is no longer in use.]

The ecclesiastical parish of Lydbrook was formed in 1852, from the parishes of English Bicknor, Newland, Ruardean, and the townships of East and West Dean, seemingly encompassing all the former diversity of the Forest of Dean. The church is at Upper Lydbrook. Lower Lydbrook, on the banks of the River Wye, is a short distance from the well known beauty-spot, Symonds Yat.

More recently, and in the present day (2019), the Church of Holy Jesus is a member of the Drybrook, Lydbrook and Ruardean Benefice.

There may be more information available by by selecting one or more of the accompanying images on the right.

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church is located at OS grid reference SO6040715689. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Church of Holy Jesus, Lydbrook shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Lydbrook shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Lydbrook, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The definitive site to visit if you have an interest in “The Forest” - the Forest of Dean Family History Trust (null) (verified 2018-11-16)
• Information provided on the Drybrook, Lydbrook and Ruardean Benefice website. (verified 2019-01-27)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.