Kilpeck Church - Part 2: Kilpeck Castle and Church Interior

After looking round the exterior of the church (please see Kilpeck Church - Part 1) we had a quick look round the interior of the church and then decided to go for lunch at the nearby Kilpeck Inn and return later for a proper look at the church inside and a visit to the castle.

The food was very good - first of all a Ploughman's (sorry I forgot to take a photo until I was half way through eating it!) followed by a sticky toffee pudding with icecream and a panna cotta with Herefordshire strawberries (at this stage I failed to take a photo at all which was a shame as the puddings were beautifully presented!).

The pub used to be called The Red Lion

This lovely spaniel belonged to the pub I think - it was very keen to get a share of our food!

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We drove the short distance back to the church and parked by a lovely old cottage

View of the castle from the churchyard.

Kilpeck Castle consists of a motte and bailey with outworks.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066 the Manor of Kilpeck was given to William FitzNorman by William the Conqueror. Work began to build the first castle which was a wooden structure. William Fitz Norman was also the King's Forester for the Royal Forest of Dean and nearby Treville Forest. Kilpeck village grew and the castle was rebuilt in stone as a polygonal shell keep along with a stone walled bailey, a walled medieval town and later the church was added by William's son Hugh de Kilpeck. King John visited the castle in 1211, 1213 and 1214. In 1259 Kilpeck was granted a charter for a weekly market and the town thrived until the 14th century when it declined as a result of an absentee landlord, several poor harvests and the Black Death.

In the English Civil War the castle was garrisoned for the king and then captured by Parliamentary forces in 1645 who demolished the castle to prevent further re-use. Today it is a Scheduled Monument.

The ruins you can see today are the remains of sections of the 12th century castle walls.

The views from the top of the mound are stunning.

We lingered for quite a while mainly due to the fact that we had arrived at the same time as a party of ramblers and I wanted to wait until they had left so I could savour the atmosphere of the place.


I eventually returned to the church while D

decided to explore further and walk round the mound.

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Another photo of that incredible door!

Church interior

The chancel arch and remains of some of the old rood screen. The carvings are different in style to those of the South door possibly because they were made by a different stone mason or carved at a later date.

The outer rim of the arch has a zigzag design which (like the design on the South door) would have symbolised water. The inner rim contains a repeating pattern of an x shape. During medieval wars large tree branches would have been arranged in a cross shape to create a barrier from the enemy. In the arch they represent a barrier between the evil of the world and God's goodness.

Now at this point I really should have paid more attention to the guide book when taking pictures of the stone carved men in the columns as I managed by the look of it to miss taking a photo of the only figure that can be identified which is a carving of St Peter carrying a key (one of the keys of heaven). Four of the figures have tonsures (a bald spot shaved at the top of the head) - the hair style of a Norman holy man. Two of the figures have Celtic hair which was longer at the back with a comb over it and shorter at the front. Two of these figures hold either a brush for shaking holy water over people or possibly a palm branch suggesting they were martyrs.

The top of the column has a tree of life design (similar to the South door)and grapes represent communion wine. In medieval times the chancel arch would have been painted.

The pulpit is Victorian and was probably installed in 1846 (the same time as the pews) during the restoration of the church.

A very old water stoup which before the Reformation would have been placed at the entrance to the church filled with holy water so as people arrived they could use the water as a reminder of their baptism and cross themselves.

The carving of two large hands at the front of the stoup holding a large stomach is probably pre-Christian ( it could even be pre-Saxon) and could be a fertility carving. If you click on the photo to enlarge you might be able to the heads of snakes or possibly dragons. Early Christians would often use symbols of the old religion in their churches and would give them new meanings. The stoup pre-dates the church.

Now at this stage I have to admit to being a little confused! One source suggests what could be a Knight's Templar tombstone is hanging on the wall under the gallery (first photo below) whereas another source suggests the tombstone is in the chancel and is circular (the second photo). But to me (and I am no expert!) the second photo looks similar to a consecration cross (there again could it be a Templar's cross?). Whichever is the tombstone there is a suggestion that Hugh de Kilpeck was a Knight's Hospitaller - so could he have been buried in the church?

The apse is the holiest part of the church and was often built on the site of a previous church or pagan site.

Again the four zigzag lines in the rib vaulting may represent flowing water. The carvings of four heads must have special significance as they are positioned over the altar. Durham Cathedral has similar carvings and they are called cat's masks. The heads are cut quite shallowly and so differ from other carvings at Kilpeck. It is possible they were some of the earliest carvings in the church and may not have been by the Herefordshire School.

The Font which is early Norman or Saxon was made from one piece of stone which probably came from the Hay area. It is not in the style of the Herefordshire School. The font is now supported on stone pillars from the castle ruins. The remains of hinges can be seen as in 1236 the Archbishop of Canterbury decreed that all church fonts should be covered and locked to prevent witches stealing holy water for use in black magic.

The highly decorated stopper was used on the font and this is carved in the style of the Herefordshire School - it may have replaced an earlier stopper. It was stolen at one time but later recovered.

Interior views

I loved the dried hops strung along the Minstrel's Gallery. The history of the gallery is a bit of a mystery - it could be Elizabethan or even Jacobean.

The stained glass windows in the apse were donated in 1849 by Reverend Archer Clive and designed by August Pugin. One window shows King David and one shows David with Goliath's head.

The churchyard is egg-shaped and raised which suggests the site was a pre-Christian sacred site. Ancient yew trees may have been planted by druids as a way of protecting springs of holy water. It is believed an underground spring runs along the length of the church. Yew trees due to their longevity were associated with everlasting life.

Sadly, I didn't have time to explore the church and tombstones as much as I would have liked so I have just included a few photos.

Finally, au revoir to the church and

another photo of my favourite corbel :)

Some of you may recall how fascinated I am by the idea of ley lines (tracks made by ancient man using mounds, ancient burial sites such as barrows, moats,beacon points, ancient castles, ponds, wells, churches etc) as suggested by Alfred Watkins in his book "The Old Straight Track". The existence of the motte and bailey castle so close to the church made me think of leys and lo and behold Kilpeck is mentioned in Watkins's book. There are 30 castle sites in Herefordshire and one fifth have a church close by and in line with them including Kilpeck. I really must get out my Herefordshire OS maps and see if I can find a ley line including Kilpeck.


Garway church (a Knight's Templar church) is fairly close but unfortunately we just did not have time to visit there as well. I could easily spend weeks in Herefordshire exploring some of its churches.




A photo D took on the way home of another interesting looking church at Much Dewchurch.

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Apologies I thought this post would be shorter but I suspect it is as long as Part 1!!!!!!




Note to Rosie - am still trying to work out which Merrily Watkins book I am thinking of!!! Fabric of Sin contains references to Garway church so perhaps I am getting the two churches muddled up. Still haven't found the book where Lol dresses up as Green Man although I too remember the story. Will keep you updated!

Edit - Rosie - "Springinsfeld" see comment below has very kindly come our rescue - the book we were thinking of is "All of A Winter's Night"! I presume I couldn't find much on Kilpeck in the Merrily's Borders book because it predates this title! Mystery solved! :)


References:

Website to Kilpeck Church

"The Parish Church of St Mary and St David at Kilpeck by James Bailey

"From Big Bang to Beasties and Beyond - a Guide to Kilpeck Church for the young and the young at heart" Written and illustrated by Diana Thomas

"The Old Straight Track" Alfred Watkins



*D - Photos taken by my son with the Canon SX50 HS bridge camera

Rest of pictures taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera