Herefordshire 2023 October Visit - Part 2: St John the Evangelist Shobdon (A Gothic Rococo church)

 

Thursday was dry and cloudy but with a distinct possibility of rain in the afternoon!  E was happy just relaxing at the caravan and B wanted to garden so I suggested to D who is always happy to go out and has developed quite an interest in Listed buildings that we could go to Shobdon church about 40 minutes away.  Its a place I have long wanted to visit both for its Gothic Rococo church in the Strawberry Hill style and the Shobdon arches which are some of the remains of the Norman Romanesque church that once stood there. 

Shobdon means "Sceoba's Hill" and the village is located as ground rises between the valleys of the Rivers Arrow and Lugg.  The church and Shobdon Court are a few miles from the actual village.

The very first church at Shobdon was a Chapel of Ease dedicated to St Juliana which was unusual at the time in that it was dedicated to a woman saint. It was probably built in timber.

At the time of Domesday the manor was held by Ralph de Mortimer. Hugh de Mortimer of Wigmore Castle gave the Shobdon estate to Oliver de Merlimond who was his chief steward and he built a castle and founded a Priory for Augustinian Canons in 1135. Soon after the Romanesque Norman church was built between 1136 and 1143 and consecrated by the Bishop of Hereford, Robert de Bethune.  In later years the priory moved to buildings nearer Wigmore Castle.

Sadly, I completely forgot to look for the remains of the flattened motte of de Merlimond's castle :( the bailey is apparently obscured from view by a meat processing factory next to the church).

The Shobdon Estate was bought in 1705 by Sir James Bateman who rebuilt Shobdon Court on a grand and large scale.  His son, Sir William, married one of the grand-daughters of the Duke of Marlborough and in 1725 he was a made a Viscount. He died in 1744. His son John became the 2nd Viscount and he was responsible for rebuilding the Norman church in 1749-52.  The furnishings of the church were fitted under the supervision of his uncle The Hon. Richard Bateman, a friend of Horace Walpole  and a member of his "Committee of Taste". Influenced by Walpole he was fond of Gothicism in the Strawberry Hill style.  The Nave Chancel and Transepts date from this period.

The Tower is battlemented in Early English style and was constructed in 1725-1736 replacing the original central tower which had collapsed in 1719.  This formed part of the rebuilding of the church mentioned above.

Ooh!  ogee headed windows galore!

According to Pevsner Shobdon posseses the finest C18th architecture in Herefordshire with "Rococo Gothic at its most elegantly fanciful"

The interior of the church and furnishings are the sole example of this unique Gothic style of Georgian architecture and furnishings following the example of Walpole at Strawberry Hill. The church is Grade 1 listed.

The tower contains old memorial tablets. For example this one to John Handiford died 1676.

Then we enter the church (finally you say :)  )  - yes it is all a little sugary sweet! but the furnishings are just amazing.

The pew ends have pierced quatrefoils above ogee arches.

Apart from the East Window the stained glass is by William Price the Younger and I thought it was rather lovely.

The West Gallery - I did try to go up there before we left to get a photo of the church from above but sadly the door was locked.

The three tiered polygonal pulpit.

Many of the mouments are to the Bateman family and this one by Nollekens commemorates John 2nd Viscount Bateman died 1802. At the top is a putto with portrait medallion in front of an obelisk.

Being a huge fan of Romanesque churches and especially the work of the Herefordshire School of Romanesque sculptors I find it very sad that the Norman church was rebuilt even if the new one is quite amazing.  However, the Romanesque font which was moved out of the church at the rebuilding as it didn't suit the furnishings! was returned early in the C20th from where it had been languishing in the gardens of the Court.  It is sadly weathered but there are four sinister lions on the base of the short stem by the Herefordshire School.  The carved lions remind me of similar ones I have seen at Leominster Priory and Castle Frome church.

For comparison here is a photo of the lion on the font at Castle Frome Church and the

lions on a capital at Leominster Priory.  Both were also the work of the Herefordshire School.

Church banners

Windows in the transepts contain Bateman heraldic glass.

East Window by Heaton Butler and Payne.

Victorian font in late C19th Decorated style.

The church architect is unknown - although various names have been suggested. All we know is that he was from London and there are elements derived from William Kent and Batty Langley.

There are a few fragments of glass from the original church displayed in frames in one of the transepts.  

The church interior was repainted in 2014 at the same time that major roof repairs were carried out.

Luckily the rain held off and after the visit to the church we walked up a tree lined avenue to see the Shobdon arches. These were erected as a folly around the time the church was built or just after and comprise the chancel arch and two doorways of the Norman Church. Sadly, having been exposed to the elements they are very weathered but you can still make out some of the carvings by the Herefordshire School which I'll write about in the next post.

All 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:  Guide Book to the Church

Pevsner "Buildings of England Herefordshire" Alan Brooks and Nikolaus Pevsner Yale University Press 2017

"Churches of Herefordshire and Their Treasures" John Leonard Logaston Presss 2005 ed