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CWMYOY is a parish in a valley, with lofty hills on either side, watered by the river Honddu, along the western bank of which is the high road to Abergavenny, 3 miles south-east from Llanvihangel station, and 3 west from Pandy station, both on the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford section of the Great Western railway, and 7 north from Abergavenny, in the Northern division of the county, hundred, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Abergavenny, rural deanerv of Abergavenny (North-Western division), archdeaconry of Monmouth, and diocese of Llandaff.
The parish is nearly 8 miles long and 1 mile broad. The church of St. Martin is an ancient building of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 6 bells, dating from 1672. The church was completely restored during the years 1885-8, at a cost of �1,000: there are 250 sittings. The register dates from the Year 1708. The living is a vicarage, with Llanthony Abbey annexed, joint net yearly value �220, in the gift of Charles Savage Landor esq. and held since 1897 by the Rev. Plaskitt Charles Lewis, of Queen's College, Birmingham. There is a Baptist chapel. Llanthony Priory, a very extensive monastic ruin, stands in the vale of Ewias, 3� miles north and 11 miles from Abergavenny, at the base of the Hatterall Hills and near the Black Mountains; it was founded by Hugh de Lacy and Ernisius, chaplain to Queen Maud, for canons regular of the Order of St. Augustine, and Ernisius became the first prior: the church, begun 1103, was finished in 1108, and dedicated to Saints Mary, John the Baptist, and Florence. The remains include two western towers, of Early English date, portions of a nave of eight bays, with aisles, 172 by 48 feet high and 50 wide; the south and west sides of the central tower, once 100 feet high; detached portions of the transept, 100 by 31 feet, and a. choir and presbytery, 72 by 28 feet, with slight remains of lateral chapels: the whole length being 252 feet; the north arcade of the nave is perfect, and the south transept nearly so; the cloister court, south of the nave, is fairly complete, and has on the east side a vaulted stype, and next it the north and south walls of the chapter house, which had a semihexagonal apse: on the west side of the cloister are buildings in part erected on the ancient cellarium, a vaulted structure of seven bays, with a passage between it and the church; on the south side a portion of the wall of the frater (refectory) is yet extant ; of the monuments once existing in the church, only fragments now exist, the most considerable being a coffin-slab of the 13th century, bearing in low relief a cross and floriated ornament ; part of another slab displays the feet of an effigy, with foliage, and on another are the arms of a cross between a chalice and a clasped book, and a small portion of a marginal inscription in black-letter. About150 yards west of the cellarium stands the great gatehouse of the monastery, probably of early 14th century date, which consists of two vaulted bays, divided by large and small arches, now destroyed; the south entrance is now blocked, but above the arch is a graduated triplet, the two outer openings of which are cusped: the boundary wall may be traced further west, and there were fish ponds on the south. In 1136 the abbey became a cell to the New Abbey of Llanthony in Gloucestershire, to which the original fraternity then migrated, but the priory was subsequently rebuilt, and is supposed by some to have become a separate foundation. At the Dissolution there were five canons, and yearly revenues worth �99. The church of St. David, a portion of the ruins of the ancient abbey, is annexed to the living of Cwmyoy: it is a building of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel and nave, with a western turret containing one bell: it was thoroughly restored in 1896, at a cost of about �800, and affords 100 sittings. In the hamlet of Bwlch Trewyn stands Trewyn House, a noble mansion, built in 1695, and now the seat of Philip Bartholomew Barneby esq., B.A.. The said P. B. Barneby esq. and Charles Savage Landor esq., a son of the well-known author, are lords of the manor and principal landowners. The soil is light loam; subsoil, stone. The land is chiefly in pasture. The area is: Cwmyoy Upper, 4,721 acres of land and 20 of water, rateable value �1,027, and Cwmyoy Lower, 3,481 acres of land and 26 of water, rateable value, �3,226. The population in 1891 was Cwmyoy Lower, 181, and Cwmyoy Upper, 145. BWLCH TREWYN is a hamlet, 1� miles southeast, in this parish. The area is 632 acres of land and 4 of water; rateable value, �7I2. The population in 1891 was 108. FWTHOG is a hamlet of the parish of Cwmyoy, formerly in Herefordshire, but was transferred to Monmouthshire on 29th Sept., 1893, under Order of Local Government Board, dated 18th May, 1803. Fwthog is situated 3 miles from Llanvihangel station on the Hereford, Abergavennv and Newport seetion of the Great Western railway. Here is a Baptist chapel. The principal landowners are Richard Baker Gabb esq. of Abergavenny, and E. T. Husbands esq. of Dinterwood, Ewias Harold. The soil is sand and gravel; subsoil, chiefly rock. The chief crops are barley, oats, potatoes and swedes. The area is 1,054 acres, rateable value, �518; the population in 1891 was 71. Letters through Abergavenny; the nearest money order & telegraph office is at Crickhowell The children of this place attend the schools at Llantillio Pertholey and Llanthony The Parish Clerk of St. Martin is John Gunter, and the Clerk of St. David is John Cullum. POST OFFICES Post office, Cwmyoy - Henry Nelder, sub-postrnaster. Letters arrive from Abergavenny at 8.20 a.m.; dispatched at 4.10 p.m. week days only. Postal orders are issued here, but not paid. The nearest money order & telegraph office is at Llanvihangel Crucorney, 3 miles distant Post Office, Llanthony Abbey -John Cullum, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Abergavenny at 9.35 a.m.; dispatched at 2 p.m. week days only. Postal orders are issued here, but not paid. The nearest money order & telegraph office is at Llanvihangel Crucorney, 7 miles distant. Wall Letter Box, Queens Head, cleared at 3.45 p.m., week days only. SCHOOLS A School Board of five members was formed 24 May, 1877, for Lower Cwrnyoy ; B. E. Hodgens, Abergavenny, clerk to the board Board school, Cwmyoy (mixed), for 50 children; average attendance, 42; Francis Cornwall, master. National school, Llanthonv Abbey, for 45 children, average attendance, 22; Mrs. Ida Mostyn Phillips, mistress
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