Nearly forty years ago Nikolaus Pevsner wrote: “There are not many counties in England of which it can be said that, wherever one goes, there will not be a mile which is visually unrewarding or painful.” Traffic in Hereford itself is horrendous nowadays, and things may have changed marginally elsewhere in the county, but the Golden Valley, the valley of the River Dore, still reflects all that he and many others have written, extolling the delights of this most secret place. The Dore rises not far from Hay-on-Wye and joins the Monnow at Pontrilas, near the mediaeval fortress of Ewyas Harold, built by William FitzOsbern in the late 11th century.

With its associated stream, the Escley Brook, it flows south-east parallel to the upper reaches of the Monnow itself, its gently wooded hillsides dominated by the towering outline of the Black Mountains to the west.It is a magical valley, its name possibly deriving from the Welsh “dwr”, meaning “water”, or possibly the French monks of Dore Abbey’s mistranslation of “d’or”, French for “gold”.

The churches of the area are justly celebrated. All of them are open and welcoming to visitors and obviously greatly loved by parishioners. They have one unifying element: most of them are of Norman origin, reflecting the power of the Barons who protected England from the marauding Welsh. Three in particular, can be attributed to the same builders: Kilpeck, Moccas and Peterchurch. The first two are small three cell buildings of nave, chancel and apse, whilst Peterchurch is on a larger scale with a fourth cell suggesting there was once a central tower. All have details in common, either a moulded string course round the apse or flat vertical buttresses. Rowlstone, with its square east end, is linked also to Kilpeck by virtue of its sculptured south doorway, but the jewel of the valley is what remains of the great Abbey of Dore. No county, wrote John Betjeman, has a church as wonderful as Abbey Dore, whilst Simon Jenkins describes it as “a corner of France dropped into an English meadow….a most sublime spot.” Yet to my mind it is quintessentially English.

*****

ABBEY DORE, St. Mary (formerly DORE ABBEY)

Dore Abbey was founded by twelve monks from Morimond, the least known of the five great Cistercian houses in France, in 1147. Morimond had daughter houses in many parts of Europe, though Dore was the only one in England. Perhaps Robert, Earl of Ewyas, met the Abbot of Morimond on the Second Crusade, and offered him land in Herefordshire. What remains today are the crossing, transepts and chancel of the monastic church, together with a seventeenth century tower, all built of red sandstone. The nave was pulled down at the Dissolution in 1537, together with all the conventional buildings, and the remainder fell into gradual disrepair, until it was restored by Viscount Scudamore in the 17th century.

Scudamore obtained the services of John Abel to design new roofs, the screen which separates the transepts from the chancel and other furnishings, as well as the glass which adorns the east window. The minstrels gallery was placed against the west wall in the first decade of the 18th century. Further periods of neglect followed, and the furnishings were once again repaired and re-ordered, this time by a local architect, Roland Paul, beginning in 1901, and it is noticeable that much love and pride is bestowed on the great church today.

The great feature of Dore Abbey is the sumptuous Early English chancel and the eastern piers, each with fourteen shafts, the triple lancet widows, and the double ambulatory, each of its four pillars having eight shafts. This composition has been mentioned in the same breath as the east end of Wells Cathedral by more than one writer, and no praise could be higher. Only the profusion of architectural fragments which litter the floor of the ambulatory are an eyesore, though not so the magnificent bosses, rescued from the nave roof, which can be examined at close quarters: the Coronation of the Virgin, Christ in Majesty, a monk kneeling before St Catherine, and another kneeling before the Virgin. Many retain traces of colour. I first came here nearly half a century ago, but Dore Abbey is a church to be visited again and again; the rewards just get greater and greater..

*****

BACTON, St. Faith

A small church close by Abbeydore, with nave and chancel in one. Notable for the alabaster effigy of Blanche Perry, a maid-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, before whom she kneels. The long inscription ends thus: SO THAT MY THYME I THUS DYD PASSE AWAYE A MAEDE IN COURTE AND NEVER NO MANS WYFFE SWORNE OF QUENE ELLSBETHS HEDD CHAMBER ALLWAYS WYTHE MAEDEN QUENE A MAEDE DYD ENDE MY LYFFE

*****

BREDWARDINE, St. Andrew

The nave is early Norman, with herring-bone masonry on the lower part of the north wall, originally with doorways north and south. The former is blocked, but the latter remains, complete with an enormous lintel, carved with rosettes. It also shares a heavily rolled moulding with the south door at Rowlstone. The chancel was rebuilt in the 14th century at an angle to the nave, and contains two large tombs. On the north side, the damaged effigy of a knight, possibly Walter Baskerville, who died in 1369, and on the south a finely carved alabaster effigy, thought to be Sir Roger Vaughan, who succeeded Baskerville to the Lordship of the Manor, and was killed at Agincourt in 1415. The tower was added in 1790, on the north side of the church, possibly replacing a Norman central tower.

Bredwardine stands close to the River Wye, at the foot of a steep hill, and is a renowned beauty spot. The diarist Francis Kilvert was Rector from 1877 until his death two years later.         

*****

CLODOCK,   St. Clydawg

Christianity came to Clodock early in the 6th century, when Clydawg, son of the King of Ewyas, was murdered during a hunting expedition.   He was buried near the riverbank, and a column of fire was seen to rise from the grave, prompting the local Bishop to order an oratory to be built on the site. The walls of the present church date from Norman times, and the living became the responsibility of Llanthony Priory, a short distance across the Black Mountains.   The internal furnishings date almost entirely from the reforms of Archbishop Laud, retaining the original altar and three sided rails, three decker pulpit with  tester and a complete set of  box pews.   There is a large west gallery of about 1700, complete with the original music desk.  Like St. Margaret’s, Clocock remained under the jurisdiction of St. David’s until transferred to the Diocese of Hereford in 1858.

In the churchyard there are nearly 900 gravestones, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries, all in their original positions.   By all accounts some 1600 burials were recorded in the parish between 1813 and 1850.   Where did they all come from?

*****

KILPECK, St. Mary & St. David

Even if it were not adorned by some of the best and most original sculpture in England, Kilpeck would still be marked down as one of the finest and most complete Norman village churches, and of all the churches in Herefordshire it receives the most visitors. It is built of red sandstone and consists of nave, chancel and apse, with just a bell-cote added later. The exterior is punctuated by flat buttresses, and a corbel table runs all round. But it is the carving that makes Kilpeck famous, for it represents the finest remaining work of the so-called Herefordshire school of carvers, whose work began at Shobdon in 1140 and moved to Kilpeck in about 1145.

Far removed from the mainstream of Norman sculpture, the carvings show the influence of the Vikings, Saxons, Celts, Franks and Spaniards, and display a vigour and originality not found elsewhere. On the corbel table we find sacred motifs (the Lamb and Cross), animals (notably a lovable dog and rabbit), wrestlers, a female exhibitionist (a Sheila-na-gig) and many other comic-strip figures. The south door is sumptuously decorated. The tympanum shows a Tree of Life, whilst the outer order of the arch is decorated with linked medalions containing dragons and birds.

The shafts consist of thick snake-like bodies, with two long wiry figures, whose pointed caps and tight clothes have the parallel folds like ribs that are characteristic of the School. There is decoration on the west front, too. The window has shafts of beaded bands of interlace, and three magnificent dragons heads protrude from the wall. Many of these motifs recur at other Herefordshire churches, and occasionally in neighbouring Shropshire and Worcestershire, though not elsewhere.

The interior is equally exciting. The apse is rib-vaulted, and the ribs are decorated with zig-zag, as is the chancel arch, but each vertical pillar of the arch has three carved figures, one above the other, including St. Peter and St. Paul, a most unusual feature, again suggestive of the innovative local school of carvers. Pevsner, in fact, makes an interesting suggestion that the church may have been begun in about 1135 and that ten years later the Shobdon workshop moved in to decorate Kilpeck when their work there was done.

*****

MADLEY, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

An unusually large and beautiful church. The rare dedication refers to the statue of the Virgin which was housed in the crypt during the Middle Ages, making Madley a centre of pilgrimage. This crypt, with its central pillar, has recently been restored. The present church dates from three distinct periods of building. Of the original Norman cruciform church only the north transept remains as what is now the north porch. About 1220 it was largely pulled down to make way for a new nave with aisles, chancel and tower, whilst a hundred years later the chancel was again rebuilt in the French style, with a sumptuous polygonal apse. The crypt was also built at this time, and shortly afterwards the Chilston Chapel, in effect an outer south aisle, was added.

The most memorable features of the church all date from this last rebuilding. The east window has reticulated tracery whilst its two companions have the latest geometric tracery. There is a profusion of ball-flower decoration both inside and out: on the sedilla and in a frieze immediately below the eaves. It also appears on the elegant windows of the Chilston Chapel. The east window contains some beautiful stained glass, the most notable being three panels from an early 14th century tree of Jesse, including perfectly preserved panels depicting Ezekiel and King Josias. The choir stalls, complete with simple misericords also date from the 14th century, whilst the huge Norman font (c.f. Bredwardine and Kilpeck) is said to be one of the largest in England.

*****

MOCCAS, St. Michael

Take away the bellcote and two 13th century windows and Moccas remains the perfect Norman village church: nave, chancel and apse. Not that any village remains nearby today, for the church is situated alone in the grounds of Moccas Court, built in 1775 close to the River Wye, to designs by Robert Adam. The first church at Moccas was founded by the Welsh Saint, St. Dubriciuth, and rebuilt on high ground in the second quarter of the 12th century to designs familiar from Kilpeck and Peterchurch, though in fact Moccas may have come first. The apse has the moulded string course below the window line similar to the other two, but no pilasters. The nave has two Norman doorways with badly eroded tympana.

That on the south has a tree of life flanked by human figures and animals (c.f. Kilpeck). The north windows contain two complete and beautiful stained glass canopies of the 14th century, and in the centre stands an early 14th century tomb-chest surmounted by the effigy of a cross-legged Knight, which has been badly re-tooled.

*****

    

PETERCHURCH, St. Peter

At first glance the most distinctive feature of St. Peter’s is the tall broach spire, made of fibreglass and lowered on to the tower by helicopter in 1972. It is gleaming white and visible from miles around. Hopefully it will mellow with age. The main body of the church is an unusually large and important Norman structure consisting of four parts: a nave, an apse and, apparently, two chancels. As one of these is square, it presumably supported a central tower at one time. Pevsner describes the sequence of arches as memorable, two surmounted by saltire crosses and one decorated with zig-zag. The roof of the apse is painted blue with golden stars, another memorable effect. Externally the apse is similar to Kilpeck, with a roll moulding below the windows and flat pilasters. The view would be greatly improved if some of the trees and shrubs close to the apse were removed.

*****

ROWLESTONE, St. Peter

On high ground between the River Monnow and Dulas Brook, St. Peter’s was originally a simple Norman building of about 1130, of a nave and chancel, although it has been suggested that there may have been an apse (c.f. Kilpeck, Moccas). The present east wall was reconstructed in the 15th century, when the large north window was also inserted into the nave, and the tower with its pyramid roof added in the 16th century. The importance of Rowlestone lies in its carved decoration, executed by the same sculptors who worked at Shobdon and Kilpeck. The Christ in Majesty in the tympanum above the south doorway is surely one of the master’s finest works, almost identical with the lost Majesty at Shobdon.

The figure is in a halo, with the knees wide apart and the feet together, and the skirt having the tense, stringy folds characteristic of the Herefordshire School. The four supporting angels fly upside down, making a highly accomplished composition. The heavy roll moulding above the door is supported on capitals decorated with birds and a Green Man.

The chancel arch is equally impressive. The same birds are there (an obsession with the Herefordshire carvers) and figures of winged angels and haloed figures. Those on the south are set upside down. Could this have been carelessness, as Pevsner suggests, or a reference to the legend that St. Peter was crucified upside down? Above both capitals the abaci are carved with further bird motifs, echoed once again in the two 14th century iron candle brackets in the chancel. Rowlestone Church deserves to be much better known; many of those who visit Kilpeck, not five miles away, have never heard of it.

*****

ST. MARGARET’S, St. Margaret

The thrill of St. Margaret’s is best summed up in the words of John Betjeman. “My own memory of the perfect Herefordshire,” he wrote in 1958, “is a spring day in the foothills of the Black Mountains and finding among winding hilltop lanes the remote little church of St. Margaret’s, where there was no sound but a farm dog’s distant barking. Opening the church door I saw across the whole width of the little chancel a screen and loft all delicately carved and textured pale grey with time.” Set in a large churchyard which in summer resembles a wild flower meadow alive with grasshoppers and butterflies, St. Margaret’s consists of a nave and chancel with an oversized weatherboarded turret.

It is basically Norman with later additions, but everything pales into insignificance before the screen, described by Pevsner as one of the wonders of Herefordshire. It is really a loft resting on two carved posts, their delicate, lacy ornament surrounding two little niches near the top. The delicate carved foliage on the front of the loft is in well nigh perfect condition, and the coving has ribs meeting at right angles, with tiny carved bosses at each junction. The screen is similar to several in Wales, including that at Patrishow, not far away across the Black Mountains, and similarly remote. Until 1852, St. Margaret’s, together with other churches in the Hundred of Eywas, was in the Diocese of St. David’s. It has recently been sympathetically re-roofed, and despite its remoteness it is always open and holds regular services as well as an annual Flower Festival.

St. Margaret’s is one of the few places which are as thrilling to visit for the twentieth time as for the first, although it certainly doesn’t get any easier to find! Its peace and serenity remain as potent today as they did fifty years ago.

*****

TURNASTONE, S. Mary Magdelene

A small mediaeval church standing less than half a mile from Vowchurch, on the road to Michaelchurch Escley. The nave and chancel are all in one, crowned by a handsome ceiled wagon roof with bosses. The south doorway is late Norman, decorated with very rustic carved capitals. At the west end is an attractive little weatherboarded. bell turret with a pyramid roof. There are two monuments of note: an incised slab of 1522 to Thomas Aparri and his wife, their portraits embellished by a little satyr in a big hat playing a pipe, and a copiously decorated tablet with figurines to Mrs Tranter, of 1685.

*****

VOWCHURCH, St. Bartholomew.

The nave and chancel, which are continuous, like its neighbour at Turnastone, were consecrated in 1348, but incorporate the remains of an earlier building. At the west end is a timber bell turret, dated 1522. The interior is a shock. To support a new roof timber posts were set against the stone walls to support the tie beams, queen-posts and collar beams. It looks as if a barn was built inside the original walls in 1613, and at the same time the carpenters added the chancel screen, the only division between nave and chancel. All this woodwork is stained black, and claims that John Abel (1577-1674) was responsible for this work are surely misplaced, for it cannot begin to compare with his work at Abbeydore and various market halls throughout the county.

Tom Muckley, July 2007

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