KENTCHURCH is a large parish and village, situated on the river Monnow, which here divides the counties of Hereford and Monmouth. It is distant 13 miles S.S.W. of Hereford, 14 W. of Ross, 11 N.W. of Monmouth, and about 2 S.E. of Pontrilas station on the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford branch of the Great Western railway (West Midland section). It is in Webtree and Wormelow hundreds, Dore union and petty sessional division, Ewyas Harold polling district, and Hereford county court district. The population in 1861 was 325; in 1871, 381; inhabited houses, 67; families or separate occupiers, 89; area of parish, 3,286 acres; annual rateable value, £4,020. Edward Scudamore Lucas, Esq., is lord of the manor and principal landed proprietor. The soil is clayey, sandy, and loamy; subsoil, chiefly rock; produce, wheat, barley, beans, oats, and pasture.

Kentchurch is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Archenfield; living, a rectory; value, £340, with residence and 6 acres of glebe; patron, the Lord Chancellor; rector, Rev. William Edward Sellon, B.A., of Exeter College, Oxford, who was instituted in 1858. The church (St. Mary's) was rebuilt in 1858-59 at a cost of £1,390. It has nave, chancel, tower (containing five bells) with low spire, porch, font, harmonium, and several handsome monuments and tablets. A monument to the Scudamore family occupies a side chapel, and has two full-size reclining figures and nine smaller figures at the base, the whole surmounted by the Scudamore arms. The church underwent some improvements in 1869. The earliest register is dated 1650. There is a national school for boys and girls, endowed by John Bevan, Esq., in 1729, with a house and garden, and the interest of £150. It is under government inspection, and has a certificated mistress, with an average attendance of about 24 children. The school-room has been recently repaired at a cost of £50. The parochial charities amount to about £20 yearly.

Kentchurch Court, the seat of Edward Scudamore Lucas, Esq., J.P., D.L., but at present occupied by Morgan Williams, Esq., is an ancient mansion. In Leland's Itinerary it is called Penchirche, and affirmed to be the seat of the eldest house of the Escuedamours. The park is between 3 and 4 miles in circumference, and contains some fine timber, and is well stocked with deer. Kentchurch is divided from Grosmont, Monmouthshire, by the river Monnow, one of the best trout streams in England. Pontrilas is a hamlet and small village forming part of Kentchurch parish, with a railway station on the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford railway, about 2 miles N.W. of Kentchurch village, and midway between Hereford and Abergavenny. The proposed "Golden Valley railway" will commence by a junction with the Great Western at Pontrilas station, and will run parallel with the river Dore to Dorstone,. a distance of about 11 miles. The Pontrilas chemical works are carried on by Mr. Rees of Abergavenny. Llanhaithog was formerly an extra-parochial place.