Place:Abenhall, Gloucestershire, England

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Abenhall is a small village in the English county of Gloucestershire, lying on the road between Mitcheldean and Flaxley in the Forest of Dean District. The parish was once part of the Hundred of St. Briavels (known as Dene at the time of the Domesday book in 1086). It included the settlement of Plump Hill, which is actually more populous than Abenhall itself. Plump Hill is on the Mitcheldean to Cinderford Road as it climbs into the high Forest.

Originally a mining and iron-making centre like much of the surrounding area, the village is notable for its 14th century Church of St Michael, which is built of local red sandstone and has ornate contemporary carvings relating to the Forest of Dean's principal industries. These include a shield bearing the arms of the Freeminers on the west wall and a mid-15th century octagonal font, that has tools of miners and metalworkers incised on its sides.

The civil parish of Abenhall was abolished in 1935 and the area became part of the parish of Mitcheldean at the same time as name of the rural district changed from the East Dean and United Parishes Rural District to the East Dean Rural District.

Registration Districts

Westbury-on-Severn (1837 - 1937)
Forest of Dean (1937 - 2006) (as Mitcheldean)
Gloucestershire (2006 - ) (as Mitcheldean)

Research Tips

• Gloucestershire Archives in Gloucester is where paper and microfilm copies of all records for this part of Gloucestershire are stored. It would appear that the local source for the whole current parish of Mitcheldean is at Mitcheldean itself.

Online sources which may also be helpful:

• Volume 5, Chapter 3 of the Victoria County History of Gloucestershire found in the website British History Online expands on the subjects of freemining and foresters throughout the Hundred of St Briavels. The chapter includes maps of the various communities and their relationships to one another. There is an article specifically on Abenhall.
• GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish in the county. The emphasis here is on ecclesiastical parishes (useful before 1837)
• A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 and tables of the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. Respect the copyright on this material.
• The FamilySearch Wiki for Gloucestershire provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
• A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county