Gazetteers
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and their past. The following gazetteer extracts refer to Dilwyn.

A Topographical Dictionary of England: Samuel Lewis - 1831 Edition

DILWYN, a parish in the hundred of STRETFORD, county of HEREFORD, 2| miles (N.E. by N.) from Weobley, containing 1026 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's books at £6. 2. 6., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Hereford. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. A chapel formerly stood at Little Dilwyn. A school is endowed with a house, orchard, and garden, given by Lacon Lambe, Esq., and with nine acres of land by Thomas Phillips, Esq., which, with annual donations of £2. 2. each from the vicar and Samuel Peploe, Esq., constitutes the master's salary. There are also a Sunday and a working school supported by voluntary donations and collections. Here is thought to have been formerly a monastic establishment to which were annexed certain lands, called College lands, previously belonging to the priory of Wormsley.

A Topographical Dictionary of England: Samuel Lewis (editor) Year published 1848

DILWYN (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Weobley, hundred of Stretford, county of Hereford, 2 miles (N. E. by N.) from Weobley; comprising the townships of Church-Dilwyn, Fawley, Haven-with-the-Headland, Luntley, Newton with Hurst, and Sollars-Dilwyn; and containing 1060 inhabitants, of whom 373 are in Church-Dilwyn. Here is thought to have been a monastic establishment, to which were annexed certain lands, called College lands, previously belonging to the priory of Wormsley. The parish comprises by admeasurement 6067 acres, of which 128 are wood, and the rest nearly equally divided between arable and pasture; the surface is diversified with hills, but of no great elevation; the soil is partly clay and partly gravel. The low grounds are watered by two or three small brooks that rise in the parish, which is intersected by the road from Leominster to Weobley. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 2. 6.; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Hereford. The great tithes have been commuted for £696, and the vicarial for £440; the glebe comprises 41 acres. There was a chapel formerly at Little Dilwyn. A school is endowed with a house and garden, given by Lacon Lambe, Esq., and with nine acres of land by Thomas Phillips, Esq.

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales: John Marius Wilson (editor) Years published 1870-72

DILWYN, a village, a parish, and a sub-district in Weobly district, Hereford. The village bears the name of Church-Dilwyn; stands 2½ miles NNE of Weobly, and 3 SSE of Pembridge r. station; and has a post office, of the name of Dilwyn, under Leominster. The parish includes also the townships of Sollars-Dilwyn, Fawley, Luntley, Haven-with-the-Headland, and Newtown-with-Hurst. Acres, 6, 067. Real property, £9, 722. Pop., 1, 069. Houses, 238. The property is much subdivided. The living. is a vicarage in the diocese of Hereford. Value, £381. Patron, the Bishop of Hereford. The church is mainly Norman; consists of nave, chancel, and aisles, with large tower and wooden spire; and was recently in disrepair. There are a Primitive Methodist chapel, and charities £35. The sub-district contains eight parishes. Acres, 20, 552. Pop., 3, 701. Houses, 804.

Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire: Littlebury - Years published1876-7

DILWYN, or CHURCH DILWYN, is a large parish and village situated on the main road between Leominster and Hay. Distant 2 miles N.E. of Weobley, 6 miles S.W. of Leominster, 12 miles N.W. of Hereford, and 16 miles N.E. of Hay, Is in Stretford and Wolphy hundreds, Weobley union, petty sessional division, and polling district, and Leominster county court district. The population in 1861 was 1,069, in 1871, 1,099. Inhabited housed, 235. Families or separate occupiers, 246. Area of parish, 6,067 acres. Annual rateable value, £8,655. Major Daniel Peploe Peploe, M.P., of Garnstone castle, is lord of the manor and a considerable landowner. The other principal landowners are Lacon Lambe, Esq., John W. Wilson, Esq., Henry Moore, Esq., Mrs. H. Evans, Messrs. Thomas Bowen, George Bray, Samuel Griffiths, Henry H. Hope, etc. The soil is clayey and loamy. Subsoil, clay and gravel. Hops are much cultivated, with wheat, beans, barley, roots, and some fruit of a superior quality. There is good pasture, and the land generally is very fertile. Dilwyn lordship formerly belonged to the De Gamages.
The parish is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Weobley. Living, a vicarage, value, £440, with residence and 45 acres of glebe. Patron, the Lord Bishop of Hereford. Vicar, Rev. Thomas Morgan, M.A., of Jesus College, Cambridge, who was instituted in 1873. The present church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was erected during the last quarter of the 13th century, and is therefore nearly 600 years old. It consisted of nave with north and south aisles, chancel, sacristy, a western tower and spire, and north south porches. About a century later, the north transept was added, and the existing fine south porch replaced the previous one. During the next century (the 15th), the Early English roof of the nave gave place to the now existing, and the church was enriched by the setting up of several screens of carved wood. There are charities of £14 yearly value. A new national school-room, with accommodation for 78 children, was erected in 1872 at a cost of £400. The old room has been converted into an infant school and classroom. The master's residence has been improved and harmonised with the new building. School accommodation is now provided for upwards of 180 children. Ebenezer Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in 1835 and rebuilt in 1857; Salem Primitive Methodist chapel, at Stockmore, was erected in 1864. At Upper Chadnor court in this parish was a chapel dedicated to St. Helen. It has long since been destroyed, though the site can still be identified. Luntley court, a farmhouse in the occupation of Mr. John Burlton, is an interesting timber-framed structure, with pigeon house bearing date 1673.