©Terry Richardson 2015

Location: On minor road 10 miles from Hereford, south of A465, in the village of Kilpeck. Car park by the Church.

Grid reference: SO 371324 Postcode: HR2 9DN
Guidebook available.

• Kilpeck Church is a jewel, described as ‘one of the most perfect Norman village churches in England...’ [in 'The Buildings of England: Herefordshire' by N.Pevsner].
• The graveyard was originally rounded denoting an even older religious site. The earlier bank can be traced on the north, behind the Church. It was evidently an important and ancient site.
• A charter, dated c.850 AD, in the Book of Llandaff, records the gift of the Church with a surrounding estate to Bishop Crecielis. It is described as the cil, or retreat cell, of Pedic in Ergyng, the old name for this area in the southern part of Herefordshire. This suggests an earlier dedication to an unknown Saint Pedic.
• The present building, in red sandstone, is a typical lay–out of nave, chancel and apse of c.1134–1145, though it may incorporate some Saxon masonry. The builder, Hugh de Kilpeck, was the lord who lived in the castle with his family and retainers.
  

  ©Terry Richardson 2015

• Later King John stayed in the castle to hunt in Trivel Forest, see: King John & Dore Abbey.
• The Church's glory is the wealth of decoration, all originally painted and it is the prime surviving example of the Herefordshire School of Sculpture. Much of it seems to have been produced about the time the Church was given to the Benedictine Abbey of Gloucester in 1143; a priory of this abbey was nearby.
• The chancel arch and the entrance doorway are wonderfully carved. Note the two soldiers guarding the entrance. They are wearing the typical padded, quilted, gambeson of the medieval soldier. These padded tunics have been shown to be useful against all but a direct arrow or blow.
• The sculptures on the south doorway, chancel arch and west window are magnificent. The many marvellous corbels, include a 'sheela–na–gig', probably a fertility symbol. This was missed, perhaps covered with ivy, when other 'improper' corbels were sheared off, probably in the 19th century.
• The massive font, is Norman or earlier. The Church also still has its original plug (not in the Church).
• The gallery is c.17th century.
• The Church stands between the remains of Kilpeck Castle and the six acre deserted medieval village whose main road still serves as an access road to the Church. Earthworks from these medieval village houses lie on both sides of the access road.
• The ditch on the west of the Church is the castle moat. The new graveyard beyond was excavated before internments took place as it lies inside the castle area.
• More examples of Romanesque Sculpture from the Herefordshire School can be seen in nearby Rowlstone Church, and in the Churches of Eardisley, Shobdon, Castle Frome, and in Rock, Worcestershire.