73 WALFORD, LETTON, AND
NEWTON (C.a.)
(O.S. 6 in. (a)II, S.W., (b)II, S.E., (c)VI, N.W.)
Walford, Letton, and Newton is a parish 11 m. N.W.
of Leominster.
Secular
b(1). House, two tenements on the E. side of a byroad, 340 yards S.S.W. of the cross-roads at Walford,
is of two storeys, the walls are timber-framed and the
roofs are slate-covered. It was built early in the 17th
century on an L-shaped plan with the wings extending
towards the W. and S. Inside the building is some
exposed framing and ceiling-beams. On the N. wall of
the kitchen is a large plaster panel (Plate 72) sub-divided
by moulded ribs with circles at the intersections; in the
minor panels are various modelled designs, including
the Prince of Wales' feathers, a fish with two birds, a
mermaid with a cock and a falcon, a vase of flowers, a
lion, falcon and vine stems; the round bosses have
rosettes. Above the fireplace in the same room is some
plaster-work in square panels with foliage-designs;
there is also some 17th-century panelling. Re-set
in the chimney-stack is a 12th-century capital, and loose
in the garden is a 13th-century foliage capital, both
probably from Wigmore Abbey.
Condition—Fairly good.
b(2). Cottage, 60 yards S. of (1), is of two storeys,
timber-framed and roofed with corrugated-iron. It
was built in the 17th-century and has some exposed
framing and ceiling-beams.
Condition—Poor.
c(3). Gatepiers, at Lower Letton, over 1¼ m.
S.S.W. of (1), are built of worked and carved stones
(Plate 17) from Wigmore Abbey; they include voussoirs
with beak-heads, an enriched roll-moulding, fragment
with interlacing cheveron-ornament and carved and
scalloped capitals, all of late 12th-century date, also
13th-century mouldings and a good capital carved with
stiff-leaf foliage.
c(4). The Moor, house, at the S.E. corner of the
parish, is of two storeys with attics, timber-framed and
weather-boarded and with tiled roofs. The western
part was built c. 1600, and the E. part added shortly
after. Inside the building are exposed ceiling-beams,
and the roof is of queen-post type.
Condition—Fairly good.
Unclassified
b(5). Mound, 270 yards S. of the cross-roads at
Walford, is about 94 ft. in diameter at the base and rises
about 9 or 10 ft. above the surrounding ground. The
ditch round the mound is interrupted on the S.W. side
by remains of a causeway.
Condition—Fairly good.
a(6). Mound, about 700 yards S.W. of the crossroads, at Walford, is about 56 ft. in diameter at the base
and about 3 ft. high. In Arch. Camb., 1874, p. 163, it
is stated that in 1736, in a tumulus at Walford, was found
"a vase-like vessel of Roman form, with a beaded
moulding around the swelling portion and around its
base but otherwise plain and without ornament. Its
dimensions are: height, 18 in.; diameter at the mouth
6 in., at the widest part 14 in., and at the base 12 in."
It seems probable that this mound is the tumulus
referred to.
Condition—Fairly good.