Kilpeck Church and Castle

The portal of Kilpeck Church
The portal of Kilpeck Church.
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he parish church of SS. Mary & David, Kilpeck, in the Diocese of Hereford, is situated 8 miles to the south-west of the city, in a remote spot off the Abergavenny road. The name "Kilpeck" is derived from the Welsh, "Kil", a monastic cell or hermitage, and the name "Pedic", or "Pedoric." This "Cell of St. Pedic" dates back to the dark ages when, in 650 AD, it was given to the Diocese of Llandaff. Nothing remains of the original structure, which may have been little more than a simple hut, befitting the austere life of a Celtic Saint. Evidence of an Anglo Saxon church can be seen incorporated in parts of the existing building and other, older buildings, possibly megalithic, lie beneath the entire structure.


The manor of Kilpeck was given by William the Conqueror to his kinsman William fitz Norman, who began the castle, the ruins of which stand next to the church. Here the remains of a massive keep look out along the northern escarpment of the Black Mountains, deep into Wales. It was William's son, Hugh, by this time styled De Kilpeck, who built the present church. It was completed by the middle of the 12th century and has been very little altered since that time.
Kilpeck Church 12th century circular apse.
Kilpeck Church 12th century circular apse.
We know almost nothing about the builder responsible for the unique stone carvings found throughout the church. It is said that Oliver de Merlimond, steward to the Lord of Wigmore, Hugh Mortimer, went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostello and, on his return, built a church at Shobdon. Hugh of Kilpeck, who was a kinsman of Earl Mortimer, employed the same builders on his church at Kilpeck. The decorative style in both churches is clearly of the same school of stone carving. The Shobdon church fell into ruin long ago and today forms part of an ornamental park, dating from the 18th century. The carvings at Shobdon have been severely weathered, while at sheltered Kilpeck they remain almost intact. Much of the work here is unique in Britain and it is in Kilpeck that the style of carving known as the "Herefordshire School" can be most fully appreciated.


Detail of a Welsh Warrior
Detail of a Welsh Warrior.
One's first impression of the sandstone carvings is how different they are from the geometric motifs that characterise much Norman stonework . Everything is organic, almost pagan in its imagery. In places it appears Celtic, elswhere Nordic. Oriental symbols are present.The portal, shown in the illustration above, is the most immediate and striking example of the work. Over the top is a Tympanum, typical of the Herefordshire School, containing the Tree of Life. The pillars are adorned with a pair of snakes with their tails in ther mouths, symbolising the unending cycle of life and death. At the top of the right-hand pillar is the Green Man, fertility symbol of Springtime.


Above the tympanum can be discerned an Angel, symbol of the Western Church and to its left, a Phoenix, symbol of the Eastern Church. Among the medalions to the left of the chain at the top of the arch are four examples of the Kilpeck bird. A pair of fishes, the Piscean Zodiacal sign, can be seen at the top-right. The left-hand pillar is adorned with the so-called "Welsh Warriors", two soldiers carrying swords and wearing Phrygian caps with quilted or mailed jackets and, above them, a Lion and a Dragon. The door itself is furnished with wrought iron hinges about which little is known, save that they are identical to those on the Norman church at Peterchurch. The handle is deemed to be of different metallic composition and said to be Damascus steel.


The portal of Kilpeck Church by kind permission of the artist, Kim Nelson. Eighty-nine stone corbels protrude from the tops of the exterior walls of the romanesque structure. Over seventy bear extraordinary carvings, with few repetitions among them and few appear to have any religious significance. Among those may be Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and the Agnus Dei or Lamb of God. But also present is a deer hung upside-down, perhaps being carried home after the hunt. Other carvings feature a dog, a very Celtic-looking hare, a ram, a bear, a man playing a reebok (an ancient stringed instrument). Two wrestlers can be identified and a juggler, in a typical pose found in such figures in both southern France and Spain.


One of the corbals almost certainly depicts the Sheelah-na-gig, a Celtic fertility symbol. This "exhibitionist" figure is similar to those found throughout S.W. France and they are not uncommon in England. Many occur in the neighbouring county of Shropshire, there is one in Salisbury and another in Lincoln. Often they are damaged, or located less conspicuously, like the wooden gargoyle of this type in All Saints Church, Hereford. Another rarity is the cat-like face found on one of the corbals. Could this be Palug, a fearful mythological creature described devouring "nine score warriors", in an 11th century Welsh epic poem?


Also of note is the west window with its intricate rope-work ornamentation on the pillars and arch. Two more Green Men can be seen capping the pillars. The interior also, contains further examples of rich carving, in particular the evangelical figures composing the chancel arch and the Cat Masks on the keystone of the ribs of the vaulted roof in the Apse, which are similar to figures found in Durham Cathedral.

The Castle

The castle of Kilpeck, of which little remains, is very ancient. As a stronghold, it was part of an 8th century fortified Saxon enclave in Welsh lands, set up here in the time of Offa as an outpost in the defence of Hereford. The defensive ditches of this six acre site are still visible but it is probable that the village itself was abondoned after the Black Death, in the 14th century.


The castle was rebuilt in the Norman fashion by William fitz Norman and it continued to serve the same purpose. For several generations, the Norman Lords of Kilpeck were also styled, "Keeper of the Haye of Hereford", a "haye" being a wooded area, fenced to enclose deer. For 300 years, William and his successors in title discharged their duties to their king "against the Welsh." William's grandson Hugh built the church and donated it to the Abbey of St Peter's, Gloucester, in 1134 AD. The monks of Llanthony Abbey had been driven from their valley by raiding Welshmen and Hugh was one of the principal Herefordshire lords who helped them settle in the new Lanthony Abbey at Gloucester. In the same year, Hugh founded a Priory on his lands at Kilpeck which also went to Gloucester.


Hugh was succeeded by his son Henry de Kilpeck. Henry is on record as having been fined by King Stephen for a trespass in the King's forest of Treville. Henry died in 1196 AD and was succeeded by his son John.


At the commencement of John's lordship he had in his Balliwick all the forests of Herefordshire. King John showed great favour to John of Kilpeck whom he is said to have described as "The Greatest Knight in Christendom." Shortly after the death of John of Kilpeck, his widow Juliana paid to the king sixty marks and a fine Palfrey for the privilege of marrying whom she pleased. Her infant son and John's heir, Hugh, was left a ward of William de Cantilupe, a great border baron. At about this time, the king visited Kilpeck on a number of occasions, in 1211, 1213 and 1214. Hugh, when of age, became Keeper of the forests of Herefordshire, he held Little Taynton in Gloucestershire by Sergeantry of Keeper of the Haye of Hereford. In 1231 AD, Hugh de Kilpeck was one of eight lords empowered to negotiate peace with Llewelyn Prince of Wales.


Having no son, he left his estates to his daughter Isabella, wife to William Waulerand, Sheriff of Wiltshire. Their son Robert became the next Lord of Kilpeck. Robert was also Sheriff of Gloucestershire and fought for Henry III at Evesham. He was Governor of the Crown castles of Cardigan and Carmarthen and was a Baron of Parliament. Dying in 1272 without a direct heir, he left his castle at Kilpeck to his sister's son Alan de Plukenet. Alan was a warrior Knight who also fought at Evesham but is better known for his works of peace. He created by land drainage the parish today known as "Allensmore" and was a great benefactor of Dore Abbey where, on his death in 1299, he was interred.


Alan was succeeded by his son, another Alan, who was also a Baron of Parliament. He was a great agriculturalist. From King Edward I, he was granted a Charter to hold a weekly market on his lands at Kilpeck. He is commemorated in the name a farm, "Alan's Hill." When he died, in 1313 AD, he was succeeded by his sister Joanna who only survived him by two years. Joanna was buried in Hereford Cathedral and is remebered there in a lovely memorial in the Lady Chapel, "Joanna Countess of Hereford and Lady of Kilpeck." Her husband, William de Bohun, granted Kilpeck Castle to James Boteler, later created Earl of Ormond, probably the last lord of Kilpeck to actually live in the castle.


The castle remained in the hands of the Earls or Ormond until the 5th Earl lost his head and his castles following the battle of Towton Moor, in 1442. The new King Edward IV granted Kilpeck castle to "my faithful soldier" Sir William Herbert, later created Earl of Pembroke. Such were the times that Earl Pembroke sufferef a similar fate, captured near Banbury in 1497 by a band of insurgents, he was carried to Northampton and there beheaded.


By the time of the Civil War, 1641-49, the castle was in the hands of Sir Walter Pye who garrisoned the stronghold on the side of the King. Captured by Cromwell's men in 1645, it was subsequently demolished by order of Parliament. Enough remains of the keep to inform us today of the former extent of this historic pile. The whole complex, Castle, Church and Mediaeval Village, is one of the most important rural mediaeval sites in England.


With acknowledgements to:


See also Kilpeck Church.