Weekend in Herefordshire: Edvin Loach Churches and Motte and Bailey

 

For the first time all 4 of us went together to the caravan for a couple of nights last weekend.  We picked up E en route Friday tea-time as B had given her a lift to work in the morning.  Sadly, the journey was a complete nightmare and what should have taken 90 minutes took 4.5 hours!  There was a huge traffic jam on the M5 between the M42 and the Droitwich exit due to a multiple pile up between Droitwich and Worcester.  2.5 hours later we  were eventually able to get off at Droitwich and arrived at the caravan at 9.40 a.m. feeling somewhat hungry and frazzled!  While stuck in the queue I just had to keep reminding myself that at least we hadn't been involved in the pile up.

Timothy wanting to know "how much longer it will take us to get there!"

On Saturday afternoon we visited two churches at Edvin Loach. They were very hard to find and on an unclassified road I think! We eventually found them more by luck than anything else.

The ruins of the earlier church and the current 19th century church (both St Mary) are located on the bailey of a motte and bailey with the motte being just to the the north west of the newer church).

Views from the churchyard and car park were lovely.

As you enter the churchyard you can see the ruins of the old church which is now in the care of English Heritage.  The nave and chancel are Norman and the west tower was probably built in the 16th/17th centuries.  It has a two light mullioned west window made of timber.  A lot of tufa was used in the construction and there are especially large blocks in the 11th century parts of the ruins.

The simple south doorway with a plain tympanum and a rather large lintel!

There is a lot of herringbone Norman masonry in the nave.

There were several ancient yews in the churchyard.

Tomb of Samuel Drew who died in the 19th century.

Views toward the Clee Hill in Shropshire

To be honest I was rather sad that the Norman church had been replaced by the Victorian St Mary built by GG Scott in 1859/60.  I'm not sure why the old church was replaced.  The chancel of the new church is located in a 3-sided apse and much of the church is in a late 13th century style.

Although the church looked locked it was actually open and even D came inside albeit briefly!

West steeple with tower and stone broach spire and the banded fish scale roof covered in lichen.

I loved these stained glass roundels in the porch.

The fittings all date from  Scott's building of the church with  a plain octagonal font on 8 shafts and a polygonal stone pulpit.

These bells were a lot older than the church. The one on the right is dated 1674 and the one on the left is from the 1340's.  Both came from nearby Tedstone Wafre.

Chancel - the altar rails have an open notched lattice pattern.

The 3 apse windows are by Hardman, 1871.

The motte just to the north west of the churchyard. I called to D to go and explore but he had already gone back to the car :(

The final photos below were all taken by D.  The mistle thrush in the final picture was foraging in grass near the caravan.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera and those taken by D with the Canon SX50 bridge camera.

Reference: Pevsner Buildings of Herefordshire (latest edition)