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The Story of Holy
Trinity, Bosbury
From Saxon
times the Bishops
of Hereford were
Lords of the
Manor of Bosbury.
When they visited
to hold court, to
collect revenues
and to hunt, they
stayed in the
manor house or
'palace'. Two of
them died here:
Athelstan in 1056
and Richard
Swinfield in
1316. Bosbury was
a favoured place
but the only
evidence of a
church from early
times is the
crude stone bowl
believed to have
been the font.
The oldest
part of the
present church is
the west wall. In
it can be seen
the outline of
the Norman
church, perhaps
of the early
twelfth century.
The church itself
was about as
large as the
present nave, but
about eight feet
(2.4m) lower. By
1200, side aisles
and a clerestory
had been added
and, perhaps a
little later, the
new chancel. The
main work was
probably done
during the time
of William de
Vere as bishop
(1186-1200). He
had rebuilt the
Great Hall of his
palace in
Hereford and
although it was
framed in timber
its outline and
dimensions were
strikingly
similar to those
of Bosbury’s new
church. The first
written record of
the church is a
charter of 1200
by King John. It
names the first
priest about to
be appointed and
speaks of him
holding office
“as fully and
freely as any of
his predecessors”
confirming that
there was already
a church her.
The massive
detached tower
was built in
about 1230-1240
and is one of
seven such towers
in Herefordshire.
Some were built
to carry bells;
Bosbury’s, with
its thick walls
and narrow
windows, appears
to have been
built as a refuge
during Welsh
incursions.
Further details
of the tower,
bells and clock
click here
Late in the
thirteenth
century the
palace was
rebuilt north of
the church where
Old Court Farm
now stands. The
gateway remains,
as part of the
hop kilns. It was
a favourite
palace of the
bishops and was
one of the seven
still used after
the mid
fourteenth
century: before
then they had had
21. Records exist
of a visit,
lasting51 days,
in 1291 by Bishop
Richard de
Swinfield with a
household of
about 40.
Rituals
became more
imposing and
architecture more
adventurous
during the
fourteenth and
fifteenth
centuries. As a
more fitting
setting for this
richer worship,
the narrow
lancets in the
east wall of the
chancel were
replaced with the
single large
perpendicular
east window. A
Rood screen,
separating
chancel from nave
and surmounted by
a Crucifix (a
“Rood”) became a
common feature.
Bosbury’s is of
the late
Fifteenth
century. It is a
very fine example
of fan vaulting
in timber.
In 1503,
after the bishops
ceased using the
palace, it was
leased to Thomas
Morton,
Archdeacon of
Hereford, and his
brother Sir
Rowland, newly
arrived in
Bosbury. There
were said to have
been brothers
(but more
probably were
nephews) of the
celebrated
Cardinal John
Morton. As
Archbishop of
Canterbury
(1482-1500) he
had been
responsible for
the great central
tower (“Bell
Harry”) there.
The Morton
chantry chapel
was formed in the
south aisle of
Bosbury church in
order that masses
might be said in
perpetuity for
the soul of Sir
Rowland’s wife
who died in 1528.
With the large
Perpendicular
windows and rich
fan vaulting it
draws its details
from “Bell Harry”
and also from
Bishop Stanbury’s
chapel in
Hereford
Cathedral for
which Thomas had
been responsible,
and it concedes
nothing to the
simple
Transitional
church with which
it can be said
only to have
collided.
Great changes
were impending.
Renaissance
architecture
supplanted
Gothic. The
Reformation led,
in England, to
the establishment
of a new church,
independent of
Rome, with its
scriptures and
liturgy in its
own tongue.
Roods, as symbols
of Popery, were
removed from
their screens and
chantry revenue
was confiscated.
Sir Rowland lived
to see these
things happen –
he died in 1553 –
but he was
allowed to divert
the chantry
revenues to the
founding of a
boy’s grammar
school, in 1540.
The building, now
much altered, is
in the northeast
corner of the
churchyard.
Next to leave
their mark on the
church were John
Harford (d1559)
and his son
Richard (d1578)
who became, in
turn, stewards of
the bishop’s
manor and are
reported to “have
enriched
themselves in
dealing with the
church property”.
Their memorials
are indeed rich.
These lie on
either side of
the alter and are
in the new
Renaissance
style. John’s
erected in 1573,
is signed by John
Guldo of
Hereford. That to
Richard and his
wife Martha
(d1601) facing
it, is similar in
outline but much
less refined and,
being later, is
very doubtfully
of the same hand.
Early in the
seventeenth
century the
church gained its
present lectern
and pulpit, both
Jacobean in
style. The pulpit
has been greatly
changed and
restored, but its
carvings of
Biblical themes
are believed to
date from the
late sixteenth
century.
During the
Civil War, in the
mid 1600s,
Parliamentary
troops, with
their Puritan
zeal for
simplicity in
worship, set out
to destroy all
Popish symbols
and undo
decoration. In
Bosbury they
broke all but a
few panes of
stained glass in
the Morton Chapel
and also the
stoup of holy
water in the
south porch.
According to
local tradition
they nearly
demolished the
preaching cross
in the
churchyard.
Over the
centuries, other
agents of
destruction and
of change also
played a part.
Lightning struck
the spire in
1638, the north
side of the
chancel arch
subsided in 1859,
a fire destroyed
the west of the
roofs of the nave
and south aisle
in 1917 and there
was probably some
neglect. Many
repairs and
alterations were
made in the
nineteenth
century,
including
replacing many
pews, tiling the
aisles and
chancel an
installing and
later removing, a
west gallery. The
church escaped
the drastic
over-restoration
fashionable in
the period, but
the chancel was
largely rebuilt
in 1871 and a
small north
transept was
formed to house
the new organ.
In 1921 the
baptistery was
moved from the
west end of the
nave to the south
aisle and the
present vestry
and inner porch
were formed. The
altar was moved
forward in 1980
and in 1987 the
Morton Chapel was
extensively
restored.
The church
has no memorials
to ancient
aristocratic
families – the
landlords have
been the bishops,
and since 1848,
the Church
Commissioners.
But to fighting
men, there are
two slabs in the
south arcade
marking the
burial of Knights
Templar. Their
order was much
involved in the
Crusades and they
maintained a
Preceptory (a
branch) at Temple
Court nearby.
There is one
memorial to a
casualty in a
nineteenth
century war: to
Arthur Clynton
Baskerville
Mynors, who died
in Natal in 1879.
The village war
memorial lists 60
men (from a
population of
about 850) who
fought in the
First World War
of whom 18 died.
Their names, with
those of six from
the Second World
War, are on the
panelling at the
west end of the
nave. This was
formed from part
of the old pews.
The east window
commemorates the
family of the
Revd Edward
Higgins who lived
for over 50 years
at Bosbury House.
It was made by
Wailes in 1882
and shows the
four Evangelists
and below them,
the Presentation
in the Temple and
the Blessing of
the Little
Children by our
Lord.
Four of the
recent memorials
have been to
women. The west
window (St
Cecilia and
Dorcas) is to Mrs
Ellen Hope
(d1880) donor of
the organ. The
panelling in the
lower part of the
chancel screen is
to the
progressive
novelist “Edna
Lyall” (Ada
Ellen Bayly
d1903) sister of
the Vicar at the
time. There is a
plaque to Mrs
Elizabeth Mutlow
Homes (d 1926) a
manager of the
Girl’s School and
the window behind
the pulpit (St
Michael) is to
Mrs Marian Buck
(d 1947) a
generous local
benefactor.
The organ was
built in 1871 by
Speechly and
Ingram of
Hereford and
improved by
Ingram & Co of
London in 1897. A
small north
transept was
formed to house
it.
"There
are three manuals
and pedals; the
action is
mechanical. The
tone is both full
and bright. There
are 28 speaking
stops: 11 on the
great, two on the
choir (with three
further dummy
stops without
preparation fro
additional pipes)
and four on the
Pedal. The swell
is enclosed with
a trigger foot
pedal to the
shutters. There
are three
composition
pedals to the
Swell and six to
the Great, which
also operate the
pedal stops. The
pedal board is
straight and
concave CCC to F,
30 notes. The
usual manual and
pedal couplers
are fitted and a
somewhat noisy
tremulant is
activated by a
foot pedal."
This organ
replaces a barrel
organ made by TC
Bates in about
1850, which is
now in private
hands. It has
three ranks of
stops: Principal,
Stop’t Diapason
and Open
Diapason. There
are 19 keys and
51 notes.
Originally there
were four barrels
each pinned to
play eleven
tunes. |
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Introduction
Earliest Times
Tower
Palace at Bosbury
14th & 15th
Century
16th Century
17th Century
Civil War
18th & 19th
Century
20th Century
Memorials
Organ |
