Herefordshire 2023 (8) - Part 2: St Michael and All Angels (Exterior) and Motte and Bailey Kingsland

 Sunday was dry in the day and I read on Twitter of a Flower Festival at Kingsland Church which sounded lovely. I planned to go to the Festival and then return to tidy and pack but in the end we packed up and left and went to Kingsland on the way home even though it was in the opposite direction! We've driven through Kingsland several times but never stopped to explore.

Kingsland was probably the site of the palace of King Merewalh of the Magonsaetan. It was also the site of the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in 1461 when Edward, Earl of March, defeated a Lancastrian army under the command of Owain Tudor. Following the battle  Edward marched to London and was crowned Edward IV reigning until he died in 1483.

St Michael and All Angels which is a fairly large church was built around 1300 when the Early English style was being replaced by the Decorated style.  

The West Tower has buttresses and windows of paired lancets with y tracery on the ground floor. The top of the tower is Perpendicular.

We went to have a look at Kingsland Castle which you can see from a public footpath although you can't access the site itself. The castle is a motte and bailey which is 5 metres high and has a diameter of around 27 metres.  In the 1530's, according to Leland, a Norman stone keep was still to be found on the summit.  There are two baileys with ditches to the NE and SE.  The castle may date back to the 1130's when Philip of Braose was given the estate of Kingsland by Henry I.

The Mortimer Connection

The Domesday Book records Ralph (I) Mortimer has having owned some land in the manor of Kingsland.

King John is said to have slept at Kingsland Castle which had been rebuilt after the Anarchy.

The castle and manor came into the possession of the Mortimers due to Roger (III)'s marriage to Maude de Braose in 1247.  In 1282 Roger died at Kingsland and Maude and her successors oversaw the building of St Michael's church.  

Near the castle are fish ponds dating back to the Mortimer period.

D and I walked back and had a look round the church exterior and churchyard.

C14th/C15th timber porch

Octagonal based shaft of a C14th or C15 cross.

I thought the clawed feet on this  pedestal tomb for a member of the Gethin family were unusual. We will hear more about the Gethin family in the next post.

If we had been going back to the caravan I would have been tempted by some of these plants for sale.

Next to the church porch is the tiny Volka chantry chapel which I'll write more about again in the next post.

A lot of photos already! so I'll leave the church interior and flower festival to 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:

Pevsner "Buildings of England Herefordshire" by Nikolaus Pevsner and Alan Brooks Yale University Press 2012

"On the Trail of the Mortimers" by Philip Hume Logaston Press

"Churches of Herefordshire and their Treasures" by John Leonard Logaston Press

Herefordshire 2023 (8) - Part 1: Tenbury Wells, Castle Tump, Burford House and Hatfield

 

We've made another trip back to Herefordshire - just for 3 nights this time.  We went on the Thursday and came back on the Sunday.

Timothy on the journey there.

This is the Whittington Tump which you can see as you leave the motorway at Worcester South and for me a sign I am nearly back!

In the afternoon we did the usual click and collect at Leominster.

The weather forecast was suggesting that Friday would probably be the only dry day so it seemed wise to go out. We wanted to stay local as we wanted to be able to get back quickly to watch the continuation of the Andy Murray match.  I suggested Ledwyche Meadows at Burford House as D wasn't with us when we walked there last time.

Burford House and pools

Then we hit a slight problem there was a sign saying you now have to pay at the nursery shop rather than just leaving a voluntary donation. This provoked somewhat of an argument as D and I wanted to pay what was really a reasonable admission price for such lovely gardens and meadow but B argued we might not have long there if it appeared the Murray match was starting and it wasn't worth it!

Well B won the argument so we had a quick look round the nurseries

This scabious was covered in Small Tortoiseshells

I suggested we should try and find the Tenbury Community Orchard which I was sure was about a mile away opposite a layby as I had seen a sign when we turned round there once after missing the entrance to Burford House.

Well all we could find was this orchard which was not the community one I don't think. The day was really not turning out how I planned and to crown it all it was very hot!

So back to Tenbury Wells. We stopped off at Tesco as B wanted to buy something and I had the brain wave of walking to Tenbury Tump.

There is a public footpath to the tump and gosh I struggled to get over the stile I really hadn't realised how bad my knees had become.It wasn't getting over the stile that was the problem but stepping up onto it :( I have never had problems with stiles before!

Anyway, it was good to get closer to Castle Tump which is an early Norman motte castle and causeway 150 metres west of Teme Bridge.  It is one of several constructed along the River Teme to control crossing places. It is 25 metres in diameter, 3.6 metres high and has no ditch.  There is a legend that King Caractacus who fought the Roman expansion of Britain was buried here. As I believe he ended his life in exile in Italy I think that is well and truly a myth! But these old legends can be so charming.

*D

So back to Tenbury Wells - there was still no sign of the match starting so we went a wander up the High Street in search of icecream.

Burdock growing by the River Teme

With all these fish in the river no wonder we have seen Kingfishers on the River Teme!

*D

This is Teme House which was built in 1837 as the work house for the Tenbury Poor Law which comprised of 19 parishes.  The system ended in 1929 and from 1937 until 2001 the building was used as Town Council Offices.

Bridge over the River Teme

We bought ice creams here and then it was a rush back for the tennis.

Hatfield

The Octopus Tree

The Herefordshire Oak

The Constable Tree

We took a bee box that I found in the garage at home. Its now in a pot on a stake and I'll take a photo next visit.

Hollyhocks are flowering better than last year.

I've long wanted to grow Teasels but I am not sure if it will flower in the first year.

Meadow Grasshopper I think.

*D

*D

We watched and listened to bats several nights and I suspect a different species appeared on the final night.

Saturday was rainy so we only ventured as far as B and Q in Leominster to buy a terracotta pot and wooden post for the Bug house. I also treated myself to a pot of mini alliums.

Sunday the final day as we were going home in the evening we went to a Flower Festival at Kingsland Church - a new church for me and I'll write about about that in the next two posts.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 and those marked *D were taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - many thanks)