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.