Holmer is on the northern edge of Hereford, alongside the Leominster road. It is effectively a Hereford suburb now, and the account in Littlebury’s Gazetteer describes the beginnings of the process of absorption. In 1861 the population of the civil parish of Holmer and Shelwick was 1,083. By 1871 it had grown to 1,905, and this rapid growth is explained by the “facility afforded for the erection of houses, allotments of land being easily obtained.” That account lists the growing of wheat, barley, fruit and hops among the activities of the parish, along with the manufacture of bricks and tiles. Even today Holmer parish is largely agricultural, and Hereford only impinges on the southern part of the village.
The church stands alongside the busy Leominster road, and consists of a long nave and chancel in one with a detached tower alongside the nave on the S side, and a parish room recently added at the W end. The S chancel doorway is of c.1200 but very plain. The S nave doorway and the nave and chancel windows are all early to mid 13thc. The S porch is later, of stone and timber. The lower storey of the tower is early 13thc, with plain lancets, while the upper storey is timber-framed and has a pyramid roof. The church was repaired and reseated by J. H. Evins of Hereford in 1859-60. The chancel S doorway is the only Romanesque feature.
