Blanche Parry

Kingstone

This was a tun, enclosed estate, owned by the King, a Royal manor. According to the 1085 Domesday Book, compiled under King William the Conqueror, King Edward the Confessor held it before the Norman Conquest. It included Trivel (Treville) Wood: The villagers who lived there before 1066 carried (the produce) of the hunt to Hereford and did no other service .. (See: also Kilpeck Church). See: Delphine Coleman 'Kingstone, The story of a Herefordshire Village from Domesday to the present time', 1996.

Church: St. Michael & All Angels

The church, mainly Norman, widened in the early 1300s, has one of the 87 Norman fonts in Herefordshire, huge and plain and made of breccia, like Madley and Kilpeck.
Late 12th c south doorway with later additions in Transitional and Early English styles.
In the late 19th c, many villages had a Holy Thorn, (see earlier) apparently originating from the Glastonbury Holy Thorn. People came from miles around on Christmas Eve to see the tree bloom at Kingstone Grange.

Bull Ring

Named after the ring where bull baiting and bear baiting took place
It was licensed for certain from as early as 1741.
The Manorial Court meetings were held there.
Church meetings often ‘adjourned to ye Bull Ring'.
‘A main of cocks' was fought there in 1793 and 1796. 'The Main' usually featured over thirty birds, which fought each other head to head until only one was left standing.
In the early 20th century, a 3–day May Fair was held regularly in the orchard.

Arkstone Court

Anne Morgan, the granddaughter of Blanche, Lady Troy by her first marriage, was born here. Anne married Lord Hunsdon, cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. Lady Troy was the Lady Mistress who brought up the Tudor children, Elizabeth and her brother Edward VI. See: Richardson, 2018, pages 26–27, 37–46.
Also: Lady Troy, Queen Elizabeth I's Lady Mistress..

Clehonger

Name means a 'clayey slope'.

Church: All Saints

The ancient church is now far distant from the main part of the ever-expanding modern village.
The monuments are very fine, spanning 400 years.
Note the one to Sir Richard Pembrugge (Pembridge) 1343 with his 14th century armour, large shield and hound at his feet.
The altar tomb for a lady - probably Sir Richard's wife - has two angels holding her pillow.
Two beautiful brasses show Sir John Barre and his wife Joan (1483/1484) with her fabulous Butterfly headdress.
The ornate wall monument is for the Aubrey family (1671)
Clehonger also had a Holy Thorn (see earlier), and one man was so annoyed with the damage done to his garden by onlookers, that he began to cut it down. However, when blood flowed from the trunk of the tree he was so afraid that he left the tree alone!