Garway is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in south-west

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, England. The population of the civil parish was 430 at the 2011 census. It is set on a hillside above the

River Monnow The River Monnow () marks the England–Wales border for much of its length. After flowing through southwest Herefordshire, England, and eastern Monmouthshire, Wales, its confluence with the River Wye is approximately south of Monmouth. The ...

about 6 1/4 miles (10 km) northwest of

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

. It is a sparsely populated area, mainly agricultural in nature. There are several small centres of population including Garway itself, Broad Oak, The Turning and Garway Hill.

Garway church

The church is on the western edge of the parish and is dedicated to

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

. The earliest record of a monastery on the site is in the seventh century, but it is with the arrival of the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

in 1180 that the history of the church at Garway becomes clearer. The Knights Templar built a hut in honour of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Brooks and Pevsner, in the 2012 revision to the ''Herefordshire'' volume of the '' Buildings of England'', describe St Michael's as "uncommonly interesting". The excavated foundations of part of the round church (unearthed in 1927) can be seen clearly on the north side of the present church, and the original carved chancel arch, heavily decorated and in the Norman style, survives. Most of the current church, which is no longer round, is probably 13th century including the massive defensible tower which was once separate from the main church building. There are numerous carvings both inside and outside the building including a green man, a sword believed to be Templar, a fish and a snake.

Garway Dovecote

Garway Dovecote, on private land near Garway Church, has an inscription dating it to 1326. Both the dovecote and the church are Grade I listed buildings.

Media

The dovecote featured in the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

series '' Bonekickers'' on 8 July 2008. Garway is referenced in ''The Fabric of Sin'', a novel by Phil Rickman, and in Bernard Knight's chapter in ''King Arthur's Bones'' by The Medieval Murderers.

Gallery

Garway Dovecote (Geograph 1184164 by Pauline Eccles .jpg, Garway Dovecote Garway Church - Green Man.jpg, Garway Church Green Man carved In sandstone Garway Church - geograph.org.uk - 46182.jpg, St Michael's Church with its castle-like tower Great Demesne, Garway - geograph.org.uk - 3254219.jpg, Great Demesne, Garway

References

Sources

External links

Church and community site including Garway Church
includes location map

shows plan of church
Photograph of Garway Church

Floorplan of the Garway Complex

Villages in Herefordshire {{herefordshire-geo-stub