BRIDSTOW is a parish delightfully situated on the right bank of the river Wye, at the junction of the old and new roads from Ross to Hereford, distant 1¼ miles W.N.W. from the former town, 13 S.E. from the latter, and 9 N. from Monmouth; is in Wormelow hundred (lower division), Ross union, county court district, polling district, and petty sessional division. The population in 1861 was 717; in 1871, 678; inhabited houses, 149; families or separate occupiers, 154; area of parish, 2,200 acres; annual rateable value, £5,859. The Governors of Guy's Hospital, London, are lords of the manor and principal landowners. Soil, sandy loam; subsoil, red sandstone rock; chief crops, wheat, barley, roots, and pasture. The living is a vicarage in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Archenfield; value, £237, with residence and 52 acres of glebe; patron, the Lord Bishop of Hereford; vicar, Rev. Henry Wilson Tweed, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford, who was instituted in 1858. The church, called in the "Liber Llandavensis" Llannsanfreit, was consecrated in the year 1066, by Herwald, Bishop of Llandaff. It is dedicated to St. Bridget, a Welsh saint, and the whole fabric except the tower was rebuilt in 1861 at a cost of £2,040. It has nave, north and south aisles, porch, and chancel; the pulpit is of stone, embattled, pierced, and elaborately sculptured. An interesting Norman arch has been preserved in the new church, and forms the entrance to the chancel. A very ancient altar tomb, probably to one of the De Greys, and formerly in Wilton castle, has been removed to the chancel. There are five stained glass windows, and an organ built in 1865 by Nicholson, of Worcester. The earliest register is dated 1560. The national school affords accommodation for 130 children. It is under Government inspection; average attendance, about 60.

Wilton, or Wilton-on-the-Wye, is a pleasant village and hamlet in this parish, celebrated for the remains of its ivy-mantled castle. The site of this fortress is low, and totally different from all the other Wye fortresses (Clifford, Hereford, Goodrich, and Chepstow castles), which stand on very bold eminences. Wilton castle is reputed to have been founded about the time of the Norman Conquest; and in the reign of Henry I. was the baronial residence of Hugh de Lonchamp. In the fifteenth year of Edward I. it passed to the noble family of De Grey, from which they take their title. Its present demolished state was owing to the Royalist Governors of Hereford, by whose orders it was burnt to the are walls in the reign of Charles I. The castle passed in like manner from the house of Grey de Wilton to that of Chandos in 1614, and remained with them until purchased by the trustees of Guy's Hospital about a century ago. Wilton bridge crosses the river Wye about half a mile from Ross. It consists of six arches, and was built in the time of Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1599. The arch nearest to the village was destroyed by General Rudhall during the civil wars, and will be seen to be of rather different construction to the rest. There are several gentlemen's seats in this parish: Wilton Castle, occupied by Captain L.P. Walsh, R.A.; Moraston House, - Hadfield, Esq.; Dadnor House, Arthur Armitage, Esq., J.P., D.L.; Wyeville, Captain R.E. Browne; Wilton Hall, Captain Pryce Hamilton; Wilton Dale, Captain N.K. Collins, &c. &c. Wilton House is at present unoccupied.