FLAXLEY, a parish in Westbury-on-Severn district, Gloucester; near the river Severn, the South Wales railway, and the Gloucester and Hereford Junction railway, 2¼ miles N of Newnham. Post town, Newnham. Acres, 1, 375. Real property, £2, 252. Pop., 272. Houses, 51. The property is divided among a few. A Cistertian abbey was founded here, in the time of Stephen, by Roger Fitz-Milo, second Earl of Hereford; was endowed by Henry II. with an iron forge in Dean forest, and with several neighbouring manors; and was given, at the dis-solution, to the Kingstons. Flaxley Abbey, now the seat of Sir M. H.Boevey, Bart., was rebuilt in 1777, and retains some vestiges of the monastic edifice. Iron-works are still carried on at Abbott's Wood, the place of the forge given by Henry II.; and the iron produced at them, in consequence of being worked solely with charcoal, is held in much esteem. The scenery in Flaxley and its neighbourhood is picturesque. The living is donative in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £108. Patron, Sir H. H.Boevey, Bart. The church is recent, and in the decorated English style; and has a tower and spire. Charities, £50.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))