LOCAL history enthusiasts had a rare opportunity to look at historic records in one of the churches where the events took place.

Registers of births, marriages and deaths were on display at All Saints, Viney Hill as part of the Heritage Open Days project.

The registers for All Saints and its sister church, St Paul’s at Parkend, were taken out of the archives for the day.

As well as the registers there was also an opportunity to learn more about the churches’ history, including the men whose names are on the First World War memorial at All Saints and to talk with members of the Friends of St Paul’s and All Saints.

Fred Bancroft, a churchwarden, said: “The registers were loaned to us by the Diocese of Gloucester who have them normally and we had members of the (Forest of Dean) local history society.

“They go back to 1825 for St Paul’s and about 1867 for All Saints.

“We had some people who found relatives they did not know about through the registers.”