Thursday it rained on and off most of the day but stopped for a brief few hours in the afternoon so I dragged D off to visit St Peter and St Paul, Eye which is a few miles from Berrington Hall.
The church has been on my "To Visit" list for ages due to its C16th Cornewall effigies and carved dragons.
The Name "Eye" is old English for "island" and the village is set between two streams. The church of St Peter and St Paul is located in the parish of Eye, Moreton and Ashton. It is 4 miles North of Leominster and the area is sparsely populated with just 178 residents. There are three Grade 1 Listed buildings, Berrington Hall, Eye Manor and the church.
St Peter and St Paul is built of Old Red Sandstone and is a large Norman church with Nave, Chancel, Aisles and side Chapel. The Church is mainly C13th and building commenced c1190 with the South Aisle being the oldest part of the church with additional building in c1220 and in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Tower was rebuilt by the Victorians in 1874 and the church was restored in 1872/3 by William Chick.
The lychgate dates from 1921
The C14th wooden North Porch.
Eye Manor next to the church.
Norman North Doorway
For once I was able to have a good look round a church - D was quite happy reading his book on Welsh History in the car although he did come in later to see the dragons and effigies. So be warned there are a lot of photos!!!
The stone font is late C13th or early C14th on a C19th stem.
Carved grotesque dragons set in the top panels of the oak benches. These were taken from the original C16th box pews when the church was restored in the C19th.
Memorials to the men of the parish who gave their lives in World Wars One and Two - the lychgate is also in their memory.
The nave looking towards the chancel
The organ was built by Brindley and Foster of Leeds to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887 and cost £220.
On the wall of the north aisle are two bronze figures - the angel at the top is in memory of Louisa Drinkwater Carver who died in 1949 and the kneeling girl in a wreath is a memorial to her sister Marjory Aspinal Carver who died in 1934. The Misses Carver lived at Eye Manor.
Also in the North Aisle an early C14th stone carving of an unknown man under the corbel.
Carved capitals by the entrance to the West Tower.
Window in memory of The Rev Wilfrid Buckley (1854 to 1935) who was vicar of Eye for 35 years. He was the final vicar to live at Eye Manor when it served as the vicarage. He also farmed two farms and his wife turned Eye Manor into an academy for young gentlewomen before they moved to the parsonage in Moreton Eye.
We bought some homemade pickled cucumber, piccallilli and damson jam from this stall.
Brass Memorials to the Buckle family.
The Chancel
The camera really struggled with low light in the church even though I'd turned loads of lights on. I was using ISO 6400 and f2.8 at times - I think I may have to resort in future to using the flash. My photo of the mid C16th pulpit was too dark and unusable so just a photo of one of the carvings.
Encaustic tiles by William Godwin of Lugwardine near Hereford - the company was founded in 1853.
Looking towards the North chapel from the chancel area.
Late C16th carving of St Peter and St Paul.
Stone effigy of a figure (angel?) holding a shield and beneath this a monument depicting the coat of arms of Blount and Cornewall. Also late C16th.
East window - stained glass by Hardman 1873 set in a C14th recess.
Stained glass portraying St Cecilia and commemorating the life of Ann Pipon, sister of Robert, 6th Lord Rodney, who died in 1879.
North Chapel
Stained glass in the North chapel in memory of Sarah Lady Rodney installed in 1884 by her children.
Marble wall tablet in memory of Stephen, Harold and Oswald, three sons of Lord and Lady Cawley who died in World War One. Only their eldest son survived to succeed as the 2nd Lord Cawley in 1937.
Memorial to John Cawley killed in action in World War Two
The oldest memorial in the church is this C16th effigy which it is believed portrays either Sir Rowland d1520 or Sir Thomas Cornewall (1444-1500). The knight is wearing chain mail showing much detail and at his feet is the Cornewall lion.
Alabaster tomb with effigies depicting Sir Richard Cornewall who died in 1533 and his wife Jane.
Millennium Window depicting the Virgin and Child is handpainted mouth blown glass by Jim Budd.
A marble memorial to Thomas Harley who built Berrington Hall which mentions the year he spent as Lord Mayor of London and as MP for the City and MP Herefordshire for 25 years.
Before we left I had a quick wander round the churchyard and exterior of the church.
Wild Arum berries
For once I think I spotted most of the features in the church only missing the C19th brass triple hanging lamp!
Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - thanks.)
Reference - Leaflet in the Church which was full of information.
13 comments:
lovely photographs of a very photogenic country church.
You mentioned that Eye is Old English for island. It reminds me of what has become a bone of contention between me and some local members of the RSPB, and helps give credence to my argument. I live very near the RSPB Ramsey Island nature reserve. Like many of the offshore islands here and some of the place names on the mainland it is believed to have its roots in Norse. When the RSPB took over the island they started saying that it was called Ramsey because over time it had contracted from a shortening of Raven's Eye, as according to them, the island was named after Ravens. However, the island used to be absolutely covered in wild garlic, also called Ramsons. Now, in my book, it doesn't take a huge leap to go from Ramsons as the name of the island. to Ramsey, which in my opinion is a contraction over time from Ramsons Eye to Ramsey. Furthermore, if the Vikings were going to name the island after any bird, surely it would have been the Puffin which used to be so plentiful on the island that they became a source of food.
oh dear. I seem to have written a mini blog in reply to you today.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much. A lovely long comment and full of interest re Ramsey Island. You make some very interesting points and I am sure your local knowledge is correct. Didn't your father too have something to do with the island? Ramsey does seem far more likely to come from Ramsons I totally agree :) Perhapts naming it after Ravens suited the RSPB!
Hah - the Norse and Ravens a much better selling pitch than Ramsons methinks!
What an interesting little church, and you have done it justice. Am I right in thinking that there was also a Cornewall link to Moccas church? Is that one you've been to yet? It has a lovely setting.
Bovey Belle - Thanks so much and yes I agree RSPB will think Ravens a good selling point.
I am not sure not been to Moccas church yet but I suspect those Cornewall's got around a bit. Sure I have come across them before.
It's a lovely church and your photos are excellent, catching all the details of both interior and exterior perfectly. Stained glass and carvings are wonderful. I always feel for those families who lost so many children during both world wars. Glad you were able to spend time looking around and those preserves do look tempting:)
Rosie - Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed the post and photos. Yes it is so sad to see of those world war losees so many families lost all their sons and it must have been totally heartbreaking. Children's graves are very sad too. They seemed to be in one area in Leominster cemetery and after reading a few to be honest I moved on it was too distressing. David fancied the picallilli especially as he fancies trying to make it himself and wanted to see what homemade was like. Damson jam will be handy as even using a sugar thermometer mine slightly overset last year!!!!
really good to see you back IN churches ;) BTW what is this rain thing? I've been sweltering!!
The Quacks of Life - Thanks so much Pete - I think it was only a few years after covid struck before I eventually plucked up in courage to go in one again. Hard to remember now! Trip to Eye was week before last before the heatwave. Its been sweltering here too and in Herefordshire the last week or so!!!!! Horrid weather - far too hot (as bad as rain!)
An amazingly detailed post, RR. Those preserves and jams look very tempting! According to the Pembrokeshire coast website, (some) people reckon 'Ramsey' came from the Norse name, Hrafn (which I reckon doesn't seem too far phonetically from our word, raven). Another contending theory perhaps.
Caroline Gill - Thanks so much - sorry it was a bit long!! Had some of the picallili today - it was very good. I think idea of Ramsey being named after Ravens comes from the RSPB (it seems to be a good selling point for them!!) but local history suggests it was named after the masses of wild garlic there. Rustic Pumpkin has written a good blog post on the subject (in the list of blogs I follow). As she says RSPB should make both interpretations clear really.
Hope you are keeping well Caroline.
Caroline - Her blog is called Country Ways and Cottage Days.
The church looks wonderful, I am glad you had time to explore it at your leisure :-)
CherryPie - Thank you - its not far from Berrington Hall.
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