Report

ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS OF ENGLAND

Report to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.

May it Please Your Majesty.

We, the undersigned Commissioners, appointed to make an Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions connected with or illustrative of the contemporary culture, civilization and conditions of life of the people in England, excluding Monmouthshire, from the earliest times to the year 1714, and to specify those which seem most worthy of preservation, humbly submit to Your Majesty the following Report on the Monuments in E. Herefordshire, being the fifteenth Interim Report on the work of the Commission since its appointment.

2. We tender to Your Majesty our respectful thanks for the gracious message which accompanied Your Majesty's acceptance of our Inventory of the South-Western Division of the County of Hereford.

3. We have pleasure in reporting the completion of our inquiries into the Eastern division of the County of Hereford, an area containing 1,629 monuments in 97 parishes, with an average of 17 monuments per parish.

4. Following our usual practice, we have prepared an illustrated volume containing a full Inventory of the monuments in this part of the County, which, under the advice of the Lords Commissioners of Your Majesty's Treasury, will be issued as a non-Parliamentary publication.

5. No alteration has been found necessary in the order and method of describing the monuments scheduled from that pursued in the description of the monuments in the SouthWestern division of the County. The detailed Inventory is introduced by the usual Sectional Preface.

6. As in previous volumes, the descriptions of monuments have been referred for revision to the incumbents of each parish, and to the principal owners of domestic buildings, and we are satisfied that no important monument dating from the earliest times to the year 1714 has been omitted.

7. Our special thanks are due to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Hereford, to Lt.-Col. Symonds-Tayler, President of the Woolhope Field Club, Mr. George Marshall, F.S.A., Mr. Alan H. Bright, F.S.A., Mr. G. H. Jack, F.S.A., the County Surveyor, Mr. W. E. H. Clarke, the Diocesan Surveyor, as well as to the incumbents of the various parishes and the owners of houses for valuable assistance in our investigations, and to Mr. D. G. Mcintosh for the loan of his volume of historical and descriptive MS. notes of the county. Our thanks are due also, in a particular degree, to Mr. W. H. Knowles, F.S.A., for investigations at the churches of Tarrington and Much Cowarne, with the help of the incumbents of these churches. In the former case, these researches led to the recovery of the plan of the destroyed apsidal end of the building.

8. We humbly recommend to Your Majesty's notice the following monuments in E. Herefordshire as "especially worthy of preservation":—

Earthworks

12. Breinton.

(9) Breinton Camp, a roughly oval mound adjoining the river.

13. Brinsop.

(4) Earthworks adjoining the churchyard.

20. Castle Frome.

(2) Motte and bailey lying E. of the church.

23. Colwall.

(34) Herefordshire Beacon Camp. A very fine and well-preserved example of a hilltop camp.

27. Credenhill.

(6) Credenhill Camp. A hill-top camp, perhaps the predecessor of the Roman town of Magna.

30. Dormington.

(6) Ethelbert's Camp. A hill-top or promontory camp with a triple rampart on the N.

31. Eastnor.

(1) Midsummer Hill Camp. An early Ironage camp covering the tops of Midsummer and Hollybush Hills.

(3) Red Earl's Dyke and Shire Ditch. A mediæval boundary still marking the division between the county and Worcestershire.

(4) Bronsil Castle. Rectangular moat with some remains of a 15th-century castle.

37. Fownhope.

(30) Cherry Hill Camp. A small hill-top camp.

38. Grendon Bishop.

(6) Westington Camp. Remains of a promontory fortification.

41. Kenchester.

(1) Roman Town. Site with remains of enclosure of the town of Magna.

48. Ledbury (Rural).

(44) Wall Hills Camp. A hill-top camp with an outer enclosure.

53. Marcle, Much.

(2) Mortimer's Castle. A motte and bailey earthwork.

(41) Oldbury Camp. Remains of an oval entrenchment.

68. Ross (Rural).

(6) Chase Wood Camp. Remains of a hilltop camp.

77. Sutton.

(33) Sutton Walls Camp. A large camp on a slight rise, traditionally connected with King Offa.

81. Thornbury.

(13) Wall Hills Camp. A roughly oval camp with a single bank.

85. Walford-on-Wye.

(13) Great Howle Camp. A small oval enclosure with an opening at each end.

95. Woolhope.

(36) Capler Camp. An elongated camp with a double bank on the S. side.

Ecclesiastical

8. Bodenham.

(1) Parish Church, dating from c. 1200, with interesting plan and effigy.

9. Bosbury.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 12th century, with detached tower, early 16th-century chapel and remarkable monuments.

13. Brinsop.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 12th century, with rich detail of that date and interesting fittings.

16. Bromyard.

(1) Parish Church. A cruciform church, dating from the 12th century, with enriched doorways.

19. Canon Pyon.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 13th century, with 15th-century stalls.

20. Castle Frome.

(1) Parish Church. A complete 12th-century church with remarkable font and monument.

28. Dinmore.

(1) Dinmore Chapel, dating from the 12th century. A chapel of a preceptory of St. John of Jerusalem.

32. Edvin Loach.

(1) Old Parish Church, a ruined late 11th-century building with remarkable herringbone masonry and other early features.

37. Fownhope.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 12th century, with central tower and remarkable carved tympanum.

41. Holmer.

(1) Parish Church. A complete late 12th-century church with curious concave splays to the windows and a detached tower.

47. Ledbury.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 12th century, with a 14th-century N. chapel and interesting monuments.

53. Marcle, Much

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 13th century, with a 15th-century central tower and interesting monuments.

54. Marden.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 13th century, with a 14th-century apsidal chancel.

67. Ross.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 13th century, with remarkable monuments and glass.

78. Tarrington.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 12th century and formerly apsidal, with some unusual detail of the period.

86. Wellington.

(1) Parish Church, dating from the 12th century, with a good W. tower.

92. Yatton.

(1) Yatton Chapel, a 12th-century building, now disused, with a good S. doorway.

Secular

7. Bishop's Frome.

(5) Lower Walton Farm. A timber-framed building dating from late in the 14th or early in the 15th century.

8. Bodenham.

(3) Broadfield Court. Remains of a stonebuilt manor-house of the 14th century.

9. Bosbury.

(4) Old Court Farm with the 14th-century gatehouse-range of a manor-house of the bishops of Hereford.

(6) Hill House Farm, a timber-framed house dating from late in the 16th century.

(7) Crown Inn, part of a late 16th-century stone house with panelling and overmantel of that date.

10. Brampton Abbotts.

(2) Rudhall House, dating from the 14th century, with a good early 16th-century wing and an early 17th-century entrance.

13. Brinsop.

(2) Brinsop Court. A courtyard house, dating from the 14th century, with a good open roof to the Hall and other early features.

14. Brockhampton by Bromyard.

(2) Lower Brockhampton. A moated timber house, dating from late in the 14th or early in the 15th century, with a later timber gatehouse.

15. Brockhampton by Ross.

(3) Fawley Court. A stone and timber-framed house dating from early in the 16th century.

16. Bromyard.

(3) Tower House. A good timber-framed house of 1630.

23. Colwall.

(5) Park Farm. A 16th-century timber-framed house.

25. Cowarne, Much.

(4) Parsonage Farm. A timber-framed house of c. 1600 with a two-storeyed porch.

26. Cradley.

(4) Parish Hall, formerly school-house. A timber-framed building of the 15th century.

(5) Barrow Mill. An early 17th-century timber house with a good staircase and porch.

47. Ledbury.

(2) St. Katherine's Hospital. A mediæval stone building with chapel and hall under one roof and a 15th-century timber house for the Master.

(3) Market Hall. An early 17th-century timber-framed building on posts, ascribed to John Abel.

(4) Ledbury Park. A large but much altered timber house dating from the 16th century.

(25) Feathers Hotel. A timber-framed building of the 16th century, added to in the 17th century, with a timbered front.

(69) Church House. An almost complete timber-framed house of c. 1600.

(74) 'Bishop's Palace.' A range of tenements incorporating the Hall of a 14th-century timber house.

(87) Talbot Hotel. A timber house built about 1596, with dated panelling.

48. Ledbury (Rural).

(2) Dingwood Park. A brick-built house of late 17th-century date with original ceilings.

(32) Wood House. A 14th or 15th-century timber building with remains of the original roof-construction.

51. Lugwardine.

(2) Lugg Bridge. A three-span bridge dating from the 14th century.

53. Marcle, Much.

(5) Hellens. Remains of a large late 16th-century brick house with an earlier wing.

(6) Hall Court. A timber-framed house built by John Coke in 1608.

(8) Vicarage. A largely unaltered brick house of 1703.

54. Marden.

(4) Amberley Court. An unusually complete example of a 14th-century house.

56. Mordiford.

(2) Bridge over the Lugg, one arch dates from the 14th century and the second probably from the 16th century.

62. Pencombe.

(3) Lower Marston. Remains of a timber building of late 14th-century date with a two-storeyed porch of that date.

65. Preston Wynne.

(2) Court Farm. A timber building of the 14th century retaining its original Hall and roof.

66. Putley.

(3) The Brainge. A brick house of 1703 with original panelling and staircase.

67. Ross.

(2) Market House. A stone building of late 17th-century date standing on open arches.

(18) Houses. Nos. 34–36 High Street, formerly the house of the Man of Ross. An enriched timber building of late 16th or early 17th-century date.

85. Walford-on-Wye.

(3) Hill Court. A large brick house of the end of the 17th century with original panelling, etc.

(5) Upper Wythall. A timber-framed house, dating from early in the 16th century, with panelling and ceilings.

87. Wellington Heath.

(2) Peg's Farm. A timber building of the 14th century with an original roof to the Hall.

93. Withington.

(4) Thing Hill Grange. An almost complete 14th-century house.

9. We offer our grateful thanks to Mr. Mill Stephenson, F.S.A., for the revision of the descriptions of Brasses, to Mr. R. E. Mortimer Wheeler, M.C., D.Lit., F.S.A., for the revision of descriptions of Roman Remains, and to Mr. O. G. S. Crawford, F.S.A., for revision of descriptions of Earthworks.

10. We desire to express our acknowledgment of the good work accomplished by our Executive Staff in the persons of Mr. A. W. Clapham, O.B.E., F.S.A., Mr. J. W. Bloe, O.B.E., F.S.A., Mr. E. A. R. Rahbula, M.C., F.S.A., Mr. G. E. Chambers, F.S.A., Mr. P. K. Kipps, Mr. A. T. Phillips, M.C., Miss V. M. Dallas and Mr. F. T. A. Power, M.C.

11. We regret exceedingly that owing to loss of staff and its continued non-replacement owing to Treasury ruling, and, a fortiori, to the refusal to entertain any immediate prospect of its expansion, it has not been possible to go forward with the pre-war intention of the Commission to train and place senior investigators in charge of separate areas with competent staffs under them to report the results of their inquiries to a central office in London for final editing and publication.

12. The next Inventory of the Commission will deal with the North-Western portion of Herefordshire, completing the survey of the County.

13. We renew an expression of thanks for the continued services of our Secretary, Sir George Duckworth, C.B., F.S.A., to whose good offices Staff and Commissioners are alike indebted.

All of which we submit with our humble duty to Your Majesty.

Signed

CRAWFORD & BALCARRES (Chairman).

DILLON

J. G. N. CLIFT

E. J. HORNIMAN

ARTHUR J. EVANS

M. R. JAMES

D. H. MONTGOMERIE

WILLIAM PAGE

CHARLES PEERS

HARTINGTON

E. V. LUCAS

E. E. DORLING

JOHN COTTERELL

GEORGE DUCKWORTH (Secretary).

9th December, 1931.