Dorstone is a village within the Golden Valley, Herefordshire,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. There is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

with restaurant. The Golden Valley area offers

hillwalking Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultiva ...

and

horseback Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the u ...

riding countryside and is noted for its scenery. It is within the catchment area of Fairfield

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. Dorstone was once the location of Dorstone Castle. A mile to the south the fragmentary remains of Snodhill Castle can still be seen. From 2014 to 2018, the

Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with protect ...

(Historic England) put £150,000 into scientific and historical study of the Snodhill Castle site, plus an additional £500,000 grant to the Snodhill Castle Preservation Trust to complete clearing and restoration of the remains of Snodhill Castle, with the site opening to the public as of May 2018.

St. Faith Saint Faith, Saint Faith of Conques or Saint Faith of Agen (; ; ) is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire and r ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in Dorstone was reputedly built by Richard de Brito, one of the

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

s who

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

, as

penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. The word ''penance'' derive ...

for the murder. He also built the Pandy

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

in Dorstone to house the workmen who built the church. During

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

rebuilding of the church in the 1890s a tomb to another de Brito was found which contained a

pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. In the past, it was an alloy of tin and lead, but most modern pewter, in order to prevent lead poi ...

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

. This was housed in the church for many years, but was stolen in 2006. The Dorstone History Society seeks to study the

and the village – which stretches back to

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

times as suggested by the local Arthur's Stone, an ancient monument. This is said to be the spot where King Arthur slew a giant who left the impression of his elbows on one of the stones as he fell. An annual

sloe gin Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and Prunus spinosa, blackthorn fruits (sloes), which are the drupe fruit of the ''Prunus spinosa'' tree, which is a relative of the plum. As an alcoholic drink, sloe gin contains between 15 per c ...

competition is held in Dorstone. Each year the winner is crowned the "Grand Master of the Sloes".

Railway

The

Golden Valley Railway The Golden Valley Railway was a railway company which constructed a branch line from Pontrilas in Herefordshire, England, to Hay on Wye. Pontrilas was on the Great Western Railway main line between Newport and Hereford. The Golden Valley Railwa ...

branch line to

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye, or simply Hay (; or simply ), is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a book town, "town of books"; it is both the National Book Town of Wales and the s ...

was opened on 1 September 1881 as far as Dorstone and later extended to

. The new line involved considerable additions to the track layout and buildings where it joined an existing line at the junction station of

Pontrilas Pontrilas (') is a village in south Herefordshire, England, half a mile from the border with Wales. It is in the parish of Kentchurch and lies midway between Hereford and Abergavenny. In 2011 the main village contained 66 residential dwellings ...

. The last passenger train from Dorstone was on 23 August 1951.

Gallery

File:Dorstone Church - geograph.org.uk - 289501.jpg, Dorstone Church File:Dorstone Castle - geograph.org.uk - 45963.jpg, This impressive motte and bailey is thought to date from 11th to 12th centuries Image:The last ticket.jpg, One of the last original tickets railway tickets

References

External links

Dorstone
Villages in Herefordshire {{Herefordshire-geo-stub