Another Visit to Herefordshire - Part 5: St Michael and All Angels, Croft

 

St Michael and All Angels at Croft predates the present castle. The first church was built in the C12th and the present church dates back to the C14th and the church was enlarged in the C15th.

The bell turret with the ogee shaped cupola was added in the C17th.

The plain octagonal font, according to Pevsner, is probably C14th.

The tiles date back to the C15th/early C16th and are from Malvern and Monmouth with one dated 1486.  They are mostly heraldic.

The Chancel

Looking down the nave from the chancel

East Window by Hardman 1916

This stunning monument is to the memory of Sir Richard Croft, Sheriff of Herefordshire, MP for Herefordshire in 1471 and the Governor of Ludlow Castle He was created a knight after the Battle of Stoke in 1487 and died on 29th July 1509.  The tomb is also for his wife Eleanor who died 1520.  She was the daughter of Sir Edmund Cornewall of Burford, Salop, and widow of Sir Hugh Mortimer of Kyre.

The tomb chest has standing angels holding shields beneath crocketed canopies.  According to Pevsner the tomb was inexpertently reconstructed when it was moved from the former north chapel.

The recumbent effigies have a lion at the feet of Sir Richard and a lion cub and puppy at the feet of Eleanor's effigy.  

It is a pity I am not taller or I could have taken better images of the effigies!

Against the rear wall there are saints in two tiers. The lower tier has St Anthony and St Roche and the upper tier shows St Sitha and St Margaret.

The Mortimer Connection

The Croft family were friends and allies of the Mortimers of Wigmore (Marcher lords).  A traditional story suggests that a member of the Croft family with the Mortimers helped with the escape of Lord Edward from Hereford Cathedral in 1265.

Sir Richard Croft (see tomb in photos above) was a important supporter of Richard, Duke of York and joined his son Edward at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross where they defeated the Lancastrians led by Owen Tudor.  

(A bit of background to this - when Edmund IV Mortimer died in 1425 without a son his Mortimer inheritance passed to his sister Anne's son who was Richard Duke of York.  His son Edward, the future King Edward IV was proclaimed King and crowned after the battle of Towton.  Sir Richard Croft was a close friend of Edward after he became king and his wife Eleanor was governess to the King's son.)

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 of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Reference:

"Buildings of England Herefordshire" by Alan Brooks and Nikolaus Pevsner, The  University Press, 2017

Kenilworth Castle

 

Last week D and I visited Kenilworth Castle.  B wanted a lift to and from the pub to meet friends for lunch and it was easier to spend a few hours at Kenilworth Castle which is close to the pub than drive all the way home and back again! The castle was busy and it appeared to be the week of school trips :( By 2.15 though after we had eaten lunch the grounds were much quieter.

The first castle at Kenilworth was  built in the 1120's by Geoffrey de Clinton (the Royal Chamberlain) who had been given the land by Henry I. He built the Great Tower (Norman Keep) and founded Kenilworth Priory.

In the early C13th King John added an outer circuit wall and built a dam to retain a large lake.  The castle was now strongly defended and withstood a siege in 1266.

John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, built the Great Hall and its apartments.

C15th Lancastrian kings visited to hunt and Henry V built a retreat at the end of the lake called "The Pleasance in the Marsh".

In 1563 Queen Elizabeth I gave the castle to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. He turned the castle into a palace fit to entertain her building apartments for her use and creating a privy garden for her.

After the Civil War fortifications were removed and in 1650 Leicester's Gatehouse was used as a residence by Colonel Hawkesworth, a Parliamentarian officer.

In 1958 Lord Kenilworth gave the castle to the people of Kenilworth and it has been managed by English Heritage since 1984.

Mortimer's Tower was built by King John around 1210 and it may have later acquired its name from Roger Mortimer, one of the Marcher Lords, who held a tournament at the castle in 1282.

The stables were built in Tudor times and today house a tearoom and a very interesting exhibition.

The Great Tower or Keep

Leicester's Building which contained the apartments built for Queen Elizabeth I on her visits.

Leicester's Gatehouse built in 1571/2 by Robert Dudley.

The Queen's Privy Garden was a private garden created for Elizabeth I by Robert Dudley in 1575.

The garden was recreated by English Heritage in 2009.  The design was based on a description by Robert Langham in the C16th who had somehow managed to sneak into the garden.  Archaeological surveys and historical research were also carried out and used to help plan the garden.

The fountain is the centre piece of the Elizabethan garden. The new fountain, like the original, is made of white Carrara marble from Tuscany, Italy.  The central column has two Athlants (Atlas figures) which support a sphere that discharges jets of water. The octagonal base has panels carved with scenes from the "Metamorphoses" - (Ovid's narrative poem).

The Aviary

Lunn's Tower

We had lunch sitting outside the Stables. Timothy enjoyed his cake :)

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 of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Reference : English Heritage Guidebook to Kenilworth Castle and English Heritage website pages.