Garway
Means the Church of Guoruoe / Guorboe. There is a spring, which used never to run dry (though now unreliable the well is visible), in the south–east corner of the churchyard and this may be why a Church was founded here. A c.615 AD Llandaff Charter records the King of Ergyng giving the land to the local Bishop 'in the midst of which he erected a building in honour of the Holy Trinity, and there placed his priest Guoruoe' (Zaluckyj, pages 270–271). It is rare to find not only when a Church was first built but also the name of its first priest.
Church: St. Michael
- Originally to St. Guorboe.
- Garway is one of a several churches that were Medieval religious foundations and include Craswall, Dore, Ewyas Harold / Dulas and Hentland.
- The Knights Templars acquired the site at Garway for their Preceptory and rebuilt the nave of the Church in their traditional round style, copying the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Temple Church in London preserves this shape. This is the burial place of William Marshall, married Isabel de Clare, heiress of Earl Richard (Strongbow) of Striguil / Chepstow in 1189. He was created Earl of Pembroke & Striguil (1199), and was also lord of Longueville in Normandy, Earl of Leinster and Regent for King Henry III's minority (1216-1219).
- The rounded Church nave can still be seen in Garway in the revealed foundations outside the Church and in the Chancel arch (stand under this and you can see the curve). The separate tower, note the thick walls, was a defensive structure built c.1200. There is excellent information about this site, see also Reference Books below.
- The Templars' full title was The Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, to protect the Holy sites and pilgrims.
- Owing allegiance only to the Pope, they also served as bankers to the wealthy, providing letters of accreditation to allow travellers to draw on money at their preceptories in other countries. Not a safe proposition when kings were in debt to them and this led the King of France to move against them. He had Templars in France arrested on Friday 13th October 1307 (we still say Friday 13th is unlucky!). The Pope, under French influence, allowed the Order to be abolished in 1312. Executions eventually followed and included the burning, in 1314, of the Grandmaster Jacques de Molay, who had visited Garway in 1294. The repercussions were less violent in England as King Edward II seems to have given some protection. Most of the Templar land in England and Wales was either taken by the Crown or given to the Knights Hospitallers.
- Their purpose was to protect.
- 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
- the leaves flavour salads & liqueurs, flowers give red and yellow dyes.
- but take care it can cause dermatitis!
- In 17th 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 12th 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.
