The Kilvert Society

Francis Kilvert was a Victorian parson, serving as curate to Rev Richard Lister Venables, vicar of Clyro in the 1870s. The society exists to keep alive an interest in the diaries and in the countryside Kilvert loved.

Clyro was where he began his journal. Francis lodged at the house opposite the Swan Inn (now the Baskerville Arms). Committee member, Mr Colin Dixon, led a walk up Jacob's ladder, just behind the village, a steep climb through woods where Kilvert once met a drunken man. The following day, Evensong was celebrated at St Mary's Credenhill, visited by Kilvert during the last year of his life. He died at the untimely age of 38 having been married for just over a month. The service was conducted by the Rev Clifford Knight. The organist was Mrs Iris Bowles and the Choir of St Mary's led worship. Tea followed at Wyevale Garden Centre. The society meets four times a year for seminars and visits with an annual dinner held in April at the Swan at Hay. A visit to Wootton, Oxfordshire is planned for September, to the house where Kilvert's wife Elizabeth Rowland lived and a visit to Bristol, where he was ordained, is planned for February 2006. Further information is obtainable from Mr Barry Smith, membership secretary, 25 Prospect Road, Abergavenny, Monmouthsire NP7 5DU, telephone 01873 857520.