Pembridge Mansions
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Pembridge 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
Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
valley in
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 village is on the
A44 road The A44 is a major road in the United Kingdom that runs from Oxford in southern England to Aberystwyth in west Wales. History The original (1923) route of the A44 was Chipping Norton to Aberystwyth. No changes were made to the route of the ...
about east of Kington and west of
Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...
. The civil parish includes the
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
of Bearwood, Lower Bearwood, Lower Broxwood, Marston, Moorcot and Weston. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 1,056. Pembridge is the major part of the
electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...
of Pembridge and Lyonshall with Titley. The 2011 Census recorded the ward's population as 3,124.


History

The
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...
"Pembridge" may be derived from the Welsh , anglicised to its current spelling. A more likely origin of the name Pembridge is that it is derived from the Old English Penebrug(g)e, which probably meant "Pena's bridge". In 1239, Pembridge was granted a royal charter to hold a market and two fairs: the Cowslip Fair held each May and the Woodcock Fair held each November. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
they were important events for agricultural labourers across the county to seek work from landowners. The village is noted for its historic
timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
buildings. It is promoted to visitors as "the heart of the Black and White Village Trail". In West Street, Swan House and School View are two parts of a single building. It was built in the 14th century a
hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...
, but had an intermediate floor inserted late in the 16th or early in the 17th century. It was further altered in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a
Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. Also in West Street, Forsythia and West Leigh are two parts of another former hall house. It was built in the 14th or 15th century, and altered in the 17th and 19th centuries. It is a Grade II* listed building. In the Market Place, the core of the Post Office and Stores is another 14th-century house. It was remodelled in the 17th and late 19th centuries and is a Grade II* listed building. Also in Market Place is the Market Hall. This timber-framed building, which has been dated by dendrochronology to c.1520, is not actually a market hall, but merely a covered market. Eight oak pillars support a roof tiled with stone slates. These pillars are supported on unworked stone bases except for one, which stands on the remains of the medieval cross base. It is a Grade II* listed building. In East Street is the former post office. It is a 15th-century house altered in the 17th and 19th centuries. Pembridge had two sets of
almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...
s, each divided into six
tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...
s. Duppa's Almshouses in Bridge Street were endowed by Jeffrey Duppa and founded in 1661. They were augmented by his son
Brian Duppa Brian Duppa (also spelled Bryan; 10 March 1589 – 26 March 1662) was an English bishop, chaplain to the royal family, Royalist and adviser to Charles I of England. Life He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, graduati ...
, a
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
who was
Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...
from 1660 until his death in 1662. Trafford's Almshouses in East Street were endowed by the Rev Dr Thomas Trafford, DD, and built in 1686. Elsewhere in the parish, Clear Brook is a mainly 17th-century house with a 16th-century rear wing. The Court of Noke is an 18th-century country house, and the most notable brick-built house in the parish. Gavin Plumley has written about the history of the village in ''A Home for All Seasons'' (2022).


Former railway

Building of the Leominster and Kington Railway linking and was started in 1855 and completed in 1857. It passed through Pembridge parish, where Pembridge railway station served the village. The
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
leased the line from the 1860s and absorbed it in 1898.
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
ways closed the line to passenger traffic in February 1955 and to freight in late September 1964.


Landmarks


Bridge

The
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
bridge over the river Arrow was granted
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
status in June 1987, giving it protection from unauthorised alteration or demolition.


Parish church

The chancel is the oldest surviving part of St Mary's
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
, dating from the 13th-century, although a loose Romanesque pillar piscina remains from the Norman church. Blocked arches on both sides of the chancel mark the entrances to former chapels. The splendid
font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
also dates from the 13th-century. The major rebuilding of the church in a mature Decorated style has been dated c1320-30. The noble nave arcade is of six bays, with circular ogeed cinquefoiled clerestory windows above. The church has a
cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...
plan with 14th-century
transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...
s and a vaulted north porch. There is a rood stair turret entered from the South transept and topped externally with a pinnacle. The West door and the North door date from the 14th century and both retain original ironwork. The
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...
preacher's desk, lectern and communion rail are Jacobean. A north
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...
was added in the 19th century, and the building was restored in 1871 by William Chick and in 1903–09 by Roland W. Paul. The church is a
Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. On the North side of the chancel a pair of 14th century tomb chests, one with contemporary effigies of a knight and his wife, the other with a civilian and his wife. They date from 1360 to 1380 and depict Nicholas Gour, a Sergeant-at-law with his wife and his son, John Gour and his wife, a steward in the employ of the Mortimer family. There are also several memorial tablets, including three of the 17th century to the Sherborne family, and one to Thomas Trafford (d.1685).


Belltower

Pembridge is one of several Herefordshire parishes whose belltower stands separate from the church. All but the base of the tower is timber-framed: one of a number of partly or largely timber-framed belltowers in Herefordshire. The tower was built early in the 13th century, rebuilt with the addition of an
ambulatory The ambulatory ( 'walking place') is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th century but by the 13t ...
in the 15th or 16th century, and further remodelled in the 17th-century when its spire was added. It is a Grade I listed building. The tower has a
ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...
of five bells. John I Martin of
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
cast the fourth bell in 1658. Abraham II
Rudhall of Gloucester Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 cast more than 5,000 bells. History There had been a tradition of bell casting in Gloucester since before the 14th century ...
cast the treble bell in 1735. James Barwell of
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
cast or recast the first, second and tenor bells in 1898. St Mary's has also a Sanctus bell, which was cast about 1800. The churchyard contains seven Commonwealth war graves of service personnel, two from
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and five from
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Amenities

Ye Olde Steppes in East Street is both the village shop and a café and tea room. It is in a 16th-century building that was enlarged in the 17th century and altered in the 19th century. There is a 17th-century pub, the New Inn, in Market Place. Pembridge had a 16th-century pub, the Greyhound Inn in East Street, but this is now the King's House restaurant. Also in the parish is the
Cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...
Barn bar and restaurant at Hays Head, which opens seasonally.


References


Further reading

* * *


External links


Pembridge Parish CouncilThe Pembridge Amenity TrustThe Arrowvale Group of ParishesMediaeval Pembridge
{{authority control Villages in Herefordshire Civil parishes in Herefordshire