How Caple is a village and

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 the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

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 ...

. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 census was 118. To the east of the village, on the main B4224 road, is the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Crossway. How Caple is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086.

How Caple Church

How Caple church is more than 800 years old. The earliest parts of the church date to around 1210 but Roman artefacts suggest the existence of an even earlier temple. Rebuilding of the nave, chancel, and tower happened in 1693 The church’s features include an alleged plague stone outside, chancel

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

s dating to the 1200s, a 14th century lavacrum, a

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

from 1918 depicting the last supper, and a

diptych A diptych (, ) is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by a hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world was a diptych consisting of a pair of such plates that contained a ...

, possibly made in Germany, depicting eight religious scenes and acquired for How Caple church in 1870 from the Netherlands. Howcaplereredos

Between the chancel and the body of the church is a rood screen attributed to

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle, the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London church ...

. The art historian

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

includes How Caple church in his “ The Buildings of England” Series, noting the acanthus decoration of the font that is now in the entrance, and confirming the main font as “Late Norman with haphazard vegetable and geometrical motifs” The church has become popular for weddings.

The Gregory Chapel

The southern transept was built in 1693 by Sir William Gregory the lord of How Caple manor. Sir William, a local man, rose to become Speaker of the House of Commons. He helped to bring in the

Habeas Corpus Act 1679 The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 ( 31 Cha. 2. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England passed during the reign of King Charles II. It was passed by what became known as the Habeas Corpus Parliament to define and strengthen the ancient prerogati ...

. The chapel has a stained glass window made by

Frederick Preedy Frederick Preedy (2 June 1820 – 28 March 1898) was an architect and glass painter in England. Life Preedy was born in Offenham near Evesham in Worcestershire and died at his son's home in Croydon. During his early life, his family moved f ...

How Caple Court and the Lee Family

One of the main benefactors of the church and village in the last hundred years have been the Lees, owners of How Caple Court. Changes they have made to the church include a reordering of the main entrance from the southern porch to the west door.

Notable people

Quentin Letts Quentin Richard Stephen Letts (born 6 February 1963) is an English journalist and theatre critic. He has written for ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Mail on Sunday'', and ''The Oldie''. On 26 February 2019, it was announced that Let ...

, writer and journalist. Lives with his family in How Caple.

References

Civil parishes in Herefordshire Villages in Herefordshire {{Herefordshire-geo-stub