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- 1. St Giles, Acton Beauchamp, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church The church consists of W tower, nave and chancel, the latter two rebuilt in 1819 in Georgian style, but the original doorway was saved and inserted as S doorway of the nave. The W tower includes a S doorway with a lintel made from an Anglo-Saxon carved cross or gravestone, the most important pre-Conquest sculpture in the region. This is not described here, but photographs are included.
- 2. St John, Bolstone, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church (redundant) The only surviving Romanesque feature is a doorway incorporated in the N wall of the nave.
- 3. St Andrew, Bredwardine, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church The name Bredwardine (DS - Brocheurdie, DBH - Brodewordin) means the place on the slope of a steep ridge and in fact, the village stands on the western bank of the Wye, on the ground that rises to the top of Bredwardine Hill, over 291 m (700 feet) above sea level. Of the 12thc. church, only the aisleless nave survives, with two carved doorways (N and S), the traces of one plain doorway, now blocked, in the W wall and a font. There is some herring-bone masonry in the N wall and tufa was used for quoins and for doorways. The sculptured features are of red sandstone, except for the huge font, of breccia. For the rest, there is a tower of 1790, built on the north side of the nave, at its east end. The nave was lengthened and the chancel, which doglegs to the north, was rebuilt in the 15thc.
- 4. St Peter, Bromyard, Herefordshire, England
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Originally Minster, now parish church The building is cruciform, with a chancel, nave, transepts and a crossing tower; this last added in the 14thc. The church is essentially late Romanesque but much altered and restored in later times. The S aisle is an addition of c.1190 and the N aisle is early 13thc. The chancel was entirely rebuilt in the 14thc. The three Romanesque doorways predate these alterations and were re-set into the aisles and chancel. Duncumb (1812, 89) states that the fabric was 'completely repaired' in 1806. Williams (1987, pl. 2) illustrates an important 18thc. print showing the church from the SW but does not reveal its source. The font bowl predates the present church.
- 5. St Michael and All Angels, Castle Frome, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church The church is a simple two-cell building of local sandstone. The RCHME calls it 12thc., Taylor and Taylor 'Saxo-Norman, but probably post-Conquest', and Pevsner 'Early Norman'. This last view seems most appropriate. Four round-headed and deeply splayed windows are part of this early church: one is in the N wall of the chancel, two in the N wall of the nave and one (now blocked) in the S wall of the nave. There are also three original doorways and a chancel arch. The most outstanding feature, however, is the font described by Pevsner as, 'one of the masterworks of Romanesque sculpture in England. It would arrest attention in any country.'
- 6. St James the Great, Colwall, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church St James's has an aisled nave with no clerestorey, chancel with north vestry and organ room, and a tower at the west end of the nave, south of the south aisle. The nave arcades are of five bays; the south arcade dating from the 13thc., and the north from 1880. The chancel is entirely by Woodyer (1865), and the tower is 14thc. in its lower parts with a Perpendicular bell-storey and battlemented parapet. The only Romanesque sculpture is on a late-12thc. doorway reset in the south nave aisle, protected by a wooden porch built against the east wall of the tower.
- 7. St James the Great, Cradley, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church St James's was largely rebuilt in 1868-70, but some earlier features were retained. The nave has a N aisle by Perkins of 1869, with a six-bay arcade. The S doorway is 12thc., and the tower arch 12thc. too, but later. The tower is short and stocky, late 12thc., but fitted with diagonal buttresses and an embattled parapet around 1400. Re-set in its N wall is a relief decorated with a simple design that may be Anglo-Saxon. The chancel is by Sir G. G. Scott (1868) and the S porch dates from 1893.
- 8. SS Mary and David, Kilpeck, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church Kilpeck church is a three-cell building consisting of nave, chancel and rib-vaulted apse, all dating from the 12thc. At the west end of the nave is a wooden gallery including material dating from the 16thc. to the 19thc. There is no record to show when it was erected. The church is constructed of old red sandstone blocks; irregular in size and shape in the nave and chancel but of regularly coursed squared ashlar in the apse, which was refurbished by Cottingham in 1846 at the same time as its roofline was lowered. The walls are supported by flat, slender pilaster buttresses of ashlar, dividing the nave into three bays, the chancel into two, and the apse into one straight bay and three curved ones. There is no pilaster buttress at the NE angle of the nave, although traces of one remain at the top of the wall. Below, the angle is of long and short quoins and the nave wall to the N of the angle is of masonry different to that of the rest of the nave wall, sloping inwards so that it dies into the wall just below the level of the original nave window sills. This section of wall is on a slightly different line to the rest of the nave wall. Its interpretation, as a vestige of an earlier church on the site or as a later rebuilding, is discussed in section VIII. Over the west gable of the nave is a gabled double bell-cote; also part of the 1846 restoration.
- 9. St John the Baptist, Mathon, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church St John's is an aisleless church of c.1100 or slightly earlier, originally with an apse but now with a square-ended chancel, nave and W tower. There is herringbone masonry in the fabric, and N and S nave doorways of c.1100, the latter under a medieval timber porch. There is a blocked 12thc. window in the S nave wall at the W end. The S chancel doorway is plain but later 12thc., and there is a contemporary composition of two round-headed lancets with an oculus above in the chancel E wall. The W tower is late 14thc.
- 10. St Michael and All Angels, Moccas, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church The church stands on a mound near the south bank of the Wye, in parkland belonging to the Moccas Court estate. It is a three-celled, aisleless apsidal building. The walls are of calcareous tufa with some grey and red sandstone dressings. The church is a well-preserved and complete building of one date, with only a few later additions. The principal sculptural enrichments are the two doorways of the nave, in situ.
- 11. Holy Rood, Mordiford, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church Mordiford is a village 4 miles SE of the centre of Hereford, built around a crossing of the river Lugg at a point less than half a mile before it joins the Wye. The land is flat to the W, in the floodplains of the two rivers, but to the E is a series of wooded hills, partly cleared for arable or rough pasture, or replanted as orchards. The church stands at a crossroads in the village centre, alongside the bridge, which dates from the 14thc. in part, and the Old Rectory, an imposing red brick building of the 1750s. The church of the Holy Rood was greatly modified in the 19thc.; first after a flood in 1811 and then in a restoration of 1868-70 by F. R. Kempson of Cardiff. The medieval church had a nave and a chancel with a central tower. After the flood the tower was taken down and a replacement built at the SW angle of the nave, but the late-13thc. E and W tower arches remain. From the S side of the nave at the E end projects the Hereford pew, of uncertain date. A N aisle with a four-bay arcade was added to the nave in 1868-70, and a polygonal N vestry was added to the chancel at the same time. The latter has a plain late 12thc. doorway re-set in its NW face. The only other Romanesque sculpture here is the S nave doorway, now squeezed between the tower and the Hereford pew and protected by a lean-to porch.
- 12. St Peter, Peterchurch, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church Peterchurch is a large village in the Golden Valley, built along the road from Hay-on-Wye to Hereford and Ross-on-Wye (the B4348) on the E side of the river. The church stands just off the main street, alongside the river. St Peter’s was originally a Norman church with an apsidal E end, a central tower and no transepts, but in the 13thc. the tower was removed and a new one built at the W end. An unusually tall and slender recessed stone spire was added c.1320, but the top two-thirds of it were removed by W.E. Anderson and E. A. Roiser of Cheltenham in 1947-49 when it became unsafe. Funds were collected for its rebuilding, but there was never enough and in the meantime the stump of the old spire also became unsafe. When Pevsner saw it, the stump of the spire remained, with large lucarnes. In the early 1970s a decision was made to replace the spire with a fibreglass copy, 186 feet high. The new spire was installed in large sections, using a crane and the original weathercock was mounted on the top. This later fell off in a gale. What remains, then, is a church with four compartments: apse, chancel, tower bay and nave, and a W tower with a spire. The 12thc. apse is semicircular in plan with a semi-dome vault and three lancets with decorated heads and an ornamental external stringcourse. The chancel has round-headed lancets in the N and S walls. The tower bay originally had two round-headed lancets on each lateral wall, but the W ones on each side were replaced with larger, two-light windows in the 15thc. The nave retains one 12thc. lancet on the S and three on the N. The N nave doorway is 13thc., under a porch of 1867-70 in a 14thc. style; the S is 12thc., without a porch. The tower dates from the 13thc. to the early 14thc., and has diagonal W buttresses. Inside there is no tower arch; simply a 13thc. doorway into it from the nave. In addition to the repairs to the spire noted above, the church underwent a restoration in 1867-70 by T. E. Williams of London, involving reseating and repairs including the rebuilding of the S nave wall and the porch. Romanesque sculpture is found on the two original tower arches, the apse arch, the apse windows and stringcourse, the N nave doorway and the font.
- 13. St Peter, Rowlestone, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church The original Romanesque church in red sandstone is modest in size. It consisted of an aisleless nave and a chancel without an apse. To this was later added an impressive 16thc. W tower. The S doorway and the chancel arch are, in Pevsner's opinion, 'the very best and most characteristic pieces of the Herefordshire school of carvers'. By contrast, the Romanesque font is so modest that Pevsner fails to mention it. Both the S doorway and the chancel arch are in situ.
- 14. St James, Stanford Bishop, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church St James's has an aisleless nave, chancel and west tower. The nave has N and S doorways of c.1200, the south under a porch with a round-arched entrance, dated to the 14thc. by RCHME. There are plain c.1200 lancets in the chancel S wall and the nave N wall. Nave and chancel share a single roof, although the chancel is slightly narrower. The short tower is capped by a pyramid roof. Romanesque features are the two nave doorways and the font base.
- 15. St Mary Magdalene, Stretton Sugwas, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church Stretton Sugwas is 4 miles W of the centre of Hereford, just off the A438 Brecon road. Although it is far enough outside the city to be largely unaffected by its expansion, the village lies between a new bypass and the former RAF base at Credenhill, now the headquarters of the 22nd SAS Regiment, so its ancient communications are massively disrupted, including a Roman road that runs westward from Hereford through the village centre . A mile and a half to the NW is the important Iron Age hill fort of Credenhill. The old church was situated at the N end of the village; its site is now in the grounds of Stretton Court Hotel. The present church was built in 1877-80 on a site outside the village to the S, 0.7m SW of the old church. The architect was William Chick of Hereford, who used some pieces taken from the old building. Chick’s church consists of a nave with a S porch and a two-bay N aisle, with a tower at the W end of the aisle, and a chancel with a N organ room. The ground storey of the tower is a vestry, entered through an external W doorway, or through a S doorway inside the church. Stretton Sugwas is justly famous for the great tympanum of Samson and the Lion, brought from the old church and set over the S entrance to the vestry. The S and W doorways are also 12thc. as is the font. The church is of sandstone except for the timber-framed upper part of the tower, based on Holmer.
- 16. St Mary, Tyberton, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church Tyberton is a small village in SW Herefordshire, midway between Hereford and Hay-on-Wye. It lies E of a wooded ridge separating the flood-plain of the Wye to the NE from the valley of the Dore to the SW. Tyberton is one of a chain of settlements on the E side of this ridge, including also Blakemere, Moccas, Bredwardine, Shenmore and Cublington.The church stands in the centre of the village, in the grounds of Tyberton Court immediately to the W. Tyberton Court was built by John Wood of Bath for William Brydges in 1729, but the church is slightly older, dating from 1719-21. The house was demolished in 1952. A chapel was noted at Tyberton on Elizabeth I’s reign, but by 1652 it was described as being in poor repair. Improvements, including a new steeple, were made in 1655. By 1711, when William Brydges inherited the estate, it was in a poor state again, and by 1718 the decision had been taken to replace it. The present church is a red brick building consisting of a nave with S porch, chancel and W tower. The chancel is square-ended outside with no E windows, but inside is a false apse with a semi domed ceiling and elaborate carved panelling on the walls, by Wood and dating from 1728. The S nave doorway from the medieval church was used in the 18thc. building, and is the only piece of Romanesque sculpture here. There was a restoration in 1879 when the nave and chancel windows were replaced with inappropriate lancets, and repairs were carried out by Roiser and Whitestone of Cheltenham in 1969-71.
- 17. St John the Baptist, Weston Beggard, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church Weston Beggard is five miles E of the centre of Hereford, on rising ground on the N side of the river Frome. There is little of the village except the church, a few nearby houses and scattered farms at a distance. The land is wooded and hilly, with arable, pasture, orchard and hop cultivation. The church consists of a nave, chancel and W tower. Nave and chancel are narrow, and the nave has a S doorway of the late 12thc., and a chancel arch with features of a similar date. The chancel (including two wall tombs), S porch and W tower are all early 14thc., and most of the nave and chancel windows are stylistically of this date, but replaced in the 19thc. There was a restoration in 1825-27 when a gallery was added, and another by T. Nicholson of Hereford in 1880-81, when the S nave wall was rebuilt and many windows were replaced.
- 18. St John the Baptist, Yarkhill, Herefordshire, England
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Parish church Yarkhill is 6 miles E of the centre of Hereford, and lies on the river Frome. The compact little village is on rising ground on the N bank of the river, among woodland and pasture. The church is on the eastern edge of the village centre, and to the S, by the river, is a moated site. St John’s is a stone church with nave, chancel and W tower. The S nave doorway is of c.1200, and the tower arch and the lower storey of the tower are of a similar date. The upper storey of the tower 15thc., probably of 1466, and has a battlemented parapet and a modern tiled pyramid roof. In a major restoration of 1862 by C. R. Ainslie and T. Blashill of London, the church was practically rebuilt except for the tower and the chancel walls, and a S porch and N chancel vestry added. The church possesses three fonts: a 12thc. one with a scalloped bowl; a 13thc. one, and a 17thc. one with a fluted bowl. It also contains two small mortars of uncertain date, probably post-Medieval. The S doorway, tower arch and the oldest font are described here.
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