St. Michael’s Church, Glascoed – Glascoed People & Places

This summary of the history of the church is taken directly from one of Llanbaddoc Community Council’s circular walks leaflets. It’s worth looking at these and taking the walks – you’ll see some interesting sights on your travels and the leaflets are full of little snippets you’ll enjoy reading. This one is from the Walk 3 leaflet: Glascoed and St. Michael’s church.

“The Chapel of Ease, Glascoed, dedicated to St Michael, was built about 1861 with limestone from a local quarry. During the curacy of Warren Richards, a bell thought to have come from Italy, was found in a scrap-yard at Panteg and installed in the church. Glascoed formed part of the ancient parish of Usk and the Glascoed commons were part of the “waste” of the Lordship of Usk. They are now in the ownership of the Llanbadoc Community Council.”

The chapel was actually established earlier than 1861; Articles from the Monmouthshire Merlin show that the church was actually built in the late 1840s – it was commissioned and opened for worship on Tuesday 21st August 1849. The land had been given by Mr John Morgan of Hill Farm, to build the church – according to the article, he had offered any part of his lands to be used for the purpose, as much land as was necessary.

The churchyard opened on Thursday 23rd January 1862, as reported in the Usk Observer, with the first burial taking place (of Thomas Hickey) on 22nd February 1863.

The church was originally part of Usk parish, although is now part of the Heart of Monmouthshire Mission area. At the time of publishing, the chapel is only open for worship on certain Sundays – it’s best to check the link below or church noticeboard to find current service times. I’m sure that you’ll receive a warm welcome.

LINKS REFERRED TO IN THE ARTICLE

Guides for Walks around Glascoed: https://www.llanbadoc.org/commons-and-walks
Michael’s Glascoed: Heart of Monmouthshire Mission area. https://homma.org/

LINKS TO RECORDS AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

The following records are worth examining for St. Michael’s (some also cover the mother church at Usk):

Baptisms
Marriages
Burials
Monumental Inscriptions

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

Monmouthshire Merlin; 1847 and 1849. Establishment of place of Worship at Glascoed.
Usk Observer 1862. “Opening of the Glascoed Churchyard.”