Dorstone
Name was Torchestone in the 1085 Doomsday Book. Changed to Dorstone due to being next to the River Dore, analogous with dwr Welsh for water. Ekwall suggests: the tun of Deorsige's people. OE tun, a fenced complex of buildings, homestead or estate.
- Popular belief is that the Golden Well is the source of the River Dore. Another ancient tradition here was to bury cake and cider in the orchards.
- Rumour has it that St. Peter and St. Paul came to this area after being sent by (the British chief) Caractacus' daughter to evangelise her people. Note we have Gospel Pass above Hay on Wye, and Apostles Lane near Kington. Legend has it that St. Peter put a fish in the pool with a golden chain around its neck. Dorstone people couldn't capture it and it escaped to Peterchurch where it was taken.
- Ella Mary Leather recounts a scary ghost story about Jack of France, an evil man who terrorised the parish. On All Hallows Eve he was passing the Church and saw a light shining through the windows. Looking in, he saw what appeared to be a monk preaching to a large congregation and reading out the names of all who were to die in the coming year. When the preacher raised his head, Jack saw the Devil's face under the cowl and heard his own name. He went home, repenting of his evil ways, but too late! He took to his bed and died.
Church: St. Faith / Foi
- Same patron saint as Bacton Church near Dore Abbey
- St. Foi / Moi was a Celtic Saint who became equated with St. Faith in the later Medieval Period.
- The early church was rebuilt badly in 1826, and for a second time in 1889 when a tomb was discovered holding an ancient skeleton.
- The Lombardic script on the sill mentions a Johannes de Brito, and the year 1256. Lying with it, was an early pewter chalice and paten, which was stolen from the church in 2005 and never recovered.
- Two additional bells have been added to the four originals (the oldest dates from 1350 the others are 1634, 1650 and 1654). All have been restored and rehung recently for full circle ringing and it is also a Training Tower.
- The Prosser Powell family provided all the incumbents for the parish from 1664 until 1953.
Village Hall
- The old school c. 1642 was endowed by Revd. Meredith Maddy. It is now the Village Hall, and the Master's House is a private dwelling. To the west of it is the Castle site, with earthworks believed to date to the time of the Domesday Book (1085), when it was held by Drogo Fitz Poyntz.
The Pandy Inn
- A 'pandy' is a fulling mill where woollen cloth was pounded until it was felted.
- Auctions were held there as early as 1780.
- In 1845 there was a famous annual assembly when as many as 160 sat down to supper.
- By 1903, The Pandy was owned by the Revd. Thomas Prosser Powell, then the rector of the parish.
- In 1919 much of the Dorstone estate was sold, and The Pandy as Lot 16 was sold for £1,300. It was bought by the wheelwright, Ephraim Pikes, who kept it for only a few years.
Holy Wells & Springs
Where a spring rises or a river flows, there should we build altars and offer sacrifices'. Seneca (d. 65AD)
How miraculous it must have seemed to see a constant supply of clear, pure water bubbling up from the underworld, bringing with it the chance of survival. Actually, as at the spring in Bath, the water might be mineral rich and so possibly did have medical properties. It is easy to understand why springs became sacred sites and associated with healing. Pope Gregory (7th c.) advised early Christians to adopt popular pagan sites, replacing the original patron god or goddess with an equivalent or suitable Christian saint. In addition, and as a result, many of our oldest churches were founded near holy wells, which were then used for baptism.
There are 4 known sites of Holy Wells in this area:
- St. Peter's, Petechurch
- St. Clydawg's by the river in Clodock
- Cae Thomas' Well in the Olchon Valley
- St. Martin's on Ewyas Harold common
- Ffynon St. Issui / St. Isho's Holy Well near Patricio / Partrishow Church (not on Pilgrim Routes)
