Wilcrick is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 within the administrative boundary of the city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 of Newport

Newport

Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...

, South

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

 Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, just to the west of Magor

Magor, Monmouthshire

Magor - meaning 'a wall' - is a large village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, between Chepstow and the city of Newport, and adjoining the Caldicot Levels beside the Severn estuary. Magor lies close to the M4 motorway, which has a nearby motorway service area sharing its name...

. It is within the historic county of Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire (historic)

Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....

.

The name translates from the Welsh as "bare hill". Three farms are located in the village: Church Farm, Newhouse Farm and Tump Farm.

Archaeology

To the southeast of the village is Wilcrick Hill which was a hillfort, of which the earthworks remain. Archaeological evidence, in the form of a small Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 settlement found preserved under peat at Barland's Farm, suggests that the occupiers probably moved inland, from the lower lying and wetter Caldicot Level

Caldicot and Wentloog Levels

The Caldicot and Wentloog Levels are two areas of low-lying estuarine alluvial wetland and intertidal mudflats adjoining the north bank of the Severn estuary, either side of the River Usk estuary near Newport in south east Wales...

, with their grazing cattle, when water-levels rose in the autumn, possibly to the hillfort which overlooks the site

Nearby, a nearly complete 3rd century Romano-British

Romano-British

Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...

 oak boat was found beside a buried stone and timber quay in 1993, during the building of a distribution depot at the nearby Europark. This suggests that much higher water levels prevailed on the Levels at the time.

The church

The parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 is dedicated to St. Mary, with the minister historically being also the minister for Llanmartin

Llanmartin

Llanmartin is a parish in the city of Newport, Wales.- The community :It consists of several groups of communities within the parish, which is centred on the parish church dedicated to St. Martin which gives the name "Llan" as in church or Holy Ground and Martin being the saint of the church...

. The only ministers not appearing also as ministers there were Peter Ameline, rector of Wilcrick in 1535 and Edmond Jones instituted to Wilcrick on 16 July 1631. After that the names and dates of ministers for both parishes are the same. The church has a bell of 1726 cast by the Evans foundry of Chepstow

Chepstow

Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...

.

Historian J.A. Bradney describes the church as comprising nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 and chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

, with a bell turret at the west end and containing "nothing of interest except an ancient font

Baptismal font

A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...

". The whole edifice was rebuilt in 1860.

External links

• Monumental Inscriptions for Wilcrick