Knill 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 ...

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.

History

Recorded 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 as ''Chenille'' (from the Old English meaning 'Place by the hillock'), the small village of Knill is just inside the Herefordshire border with

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, south west of

Presteigne Presteigne (; : the church of St. Andrew) is a town and community (Wales), community on the south bank of the River Lugg in Powys, Wales. The town is located on the England–Wales border, which surrounds it to the north, east and south. Nearby ...

and set within " The Marches" as these borderlands are known. The ancient boundary between

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

and the Welsh,

Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke () is a large linear Earthworks (Archaeology), earthwork that roughly follows the England–Wales border, border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa of Mercia, Offa, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon king of Mer ...

, runs along the ridge above the village with the modern border running along the 'Hidden Valley' floor. The population of the village in the 1861 census was 84 but has declined to figures in the 20s. The parish church of St Michael dates from the 12th century and is a Grade II* listed building. Inside are the

funerary hatchment A funerary hatchment is a depiction within a black lozenge-shaped frame, generally on a black (''sable'') background, of a deceased's heraldic achievement, that is to say the escutcheon showing the arms, together with the crest and supporters ...

s of the Walsham family, who formerly lived at Knill Court, a large country house that was destroyed by a fire in 1943. Knill is one of two

Thankful Villages Thankful Villages (also known as Blessed Villages; ) are settlements in England and Wales from which all their members of the armed forces survived World War I. The term Thankful Village was popularised by the writer Arthur Mee in the 1930s; in '' ...

– those rare places that suffered no fatalities during the Great War of 1914 to 1918. There is thus no

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in the village but in the parish church there is a carved stone plaque on the wall, with the inscription:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN THANKSGIVING TO HIM FOR
THE VICTORY GRANTED TO US IN THE
GREAT WAR OF 1914–1918
AND FOR HIS MERCIES IN BRINGING
SAFELY HOME THE MEN OF THIS PARISH
WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY OVERSEAS

References

External links

St Michael & All Angels church
Villages in Herefordshire {{Herefordshire-geo-stub