• The nearby Demesne Farm indicates part of the estate that belonged to the Knights Templar, the estates originally totalled over 2,000 acres in extent; the revenue funded their fighting
• The Knights Hospitaller (full name: Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem)
• This Order already had more estates in the area than had the Templars. Their Commandery at Dinmore was founded before 1170, and was the third largest Commandery in the country. Dinmore was the officiating headquarters of all lands of Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, in the dioceses of Llandaff and Hereford, including lands in Herefordshire, South Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Glamorgan and Monmouthshire.
• At Garway they rebuilt the nave of the Church as a rectangle, but kept the chancel arch.
• The Dovecote, the round building with tiers of niches for pigeons to roost near the Church, is a very rare survival. The Latin inscription over the door Translates as: ‘In the year 1326 Brother Richard built this columbarium'. Other features survive including bee boles, showing the monks produced honey.
• It is possible to trace some boundaries around the complex by looking at surviving stone walls, maps drawn from geophysical surveying and field–names. This wonderful site needs more investigation.
• Note also the plant St. John's Wort (Old English: wyrt / herb), a herb useful for wounds, said to be used by the Hospitallers in many ways...
• worn on person, to ward off witchcraft/sorcery, hung on doors and windows to keep evil from house
• internally for depression, nervous disorders, stomach, gallbladder, bed-wetting, intestinal problems
• externally (relieves pain) wounds, sprains, bruises, rheumatism, lumbago, may be useful for AIDS
• leaves flavour salads & liqueurs, flowers give red and yellow dyes.
• but take care it can cause dermatitis!
• In 17^th century the nave and the tower were joined by a slype / corridor, using some of the Norman stone. As a result Garway Church now has a curious shape to it as the alignments do not match!

St. Margaret's Church

• A hidden gem in a beautiful area. The easiest route to it is from Bacton Church, the road running in the old ditch around the deer park of Newcourt, Blanche Parry's childhood home.
• A 12^th century Church which contains one of the greatest ecclesiastical treasures of the southern Marches (Wheeler page 243). The crisply carved pale oak Rood Loft is superb. It has been dated to c.1520 and is considered a specifically Welsh type (Pevsner). Wheeler considers the carver to have also worked at Michaelchurch Escley Church and possibly at Kenderchurch too.
• The carved features include delicate, lacy ornament and foliage freezes. Once seen this glorious Rood Loft is not easily forgotten. It is a miracle of survival, probably due to its rarely visited location.