Shobdon 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, about 15 miles north of

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, six miles 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 ...

, and 2 miles southwest of the Mortimer's Cross. According to the 2001 census, the parish population was 769, consisting of 386 males and 383 females. The population had increased to 816 by the time of the 2011 census. The parish includes the hamlets of Hanbury Green, Uphampton, Easthampton and Ledicot.

History

In the 17th century the manor of Shobdon was owned by the Bateman family, who lived at

Shobdon Court Shobdon Court was an 18th-century English country house in the village of Shobdon, near Leominster, Herefordshire. Although the main house has since been demolished, the service wing and the stable block have been converted to residential use. S ...

, constructed c1710 and remodelled in 1861. The Bateman Arms pub is named after them. Shobdon church is

St John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on h ...

, north of the village. It has a direct connection to

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

's Strawberry Hill in

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

and the members of the "Committee of Taste" which strongly influenced its design. Its intact interior and matching furniture are the sole example of this Walpolean Gothick style of Georgian church architecture and furnishing. On 4 November 2013 was culminated 12 years and £1.25 million of repairs to restore this "Strawberry Hill Gothic" Church. Shobdon Church is an important work of architecture. Nearby is the Shobdon Arches folly, which are the original interior arches of the church that were removed in 1756, being placed at the top of the adjacent hill as a folly where they still stand. The Shobdon Arches consist of a central chancel arch and two Norman doorways. The weathered carvings are the work of the Herefordshire School of sculpture, which dominated in the western counties during the mid-12th Century. Tympana were once probably part of the original doorways.

Amenities

The village has a primary school with approximately 82 children attending. When the children leave Shobdon Primary they mostly progress to

Wigmore High School Wigmore High School is a mixed secondary school in Wigmore, in the county of Herefordshire, England. Previously a foundation school, in 2007 Wigmore High School federated with Wigmore Primary School, and now includes nursery school provision. ...

, although some go to either Weobley High School or Lady Hawkins' School. Co-located with the Primary School is Shobdon Village Hall which consists of a community room and kitchen, and shared access to the school hall. Occasional fundraising activities are undertaken by the village hall committee. The biggest user of the village hall is Shobdon Arches Preschool. At the western end of the village is Pearl Lake caravan park, which has a number of permanent caravans as well as access for tourers. This is adjacent to Pearl Lake, the largest natural body of water in Herefordshire. To the south is

Shobdon Aerodrome Shobdon Airfield is an airport south of Shobdon village, and west of Leominster, Herefordshire, England. RAF Shobdon Shobdon started as a British Army camp. It acted as a reception point for casualties received from Southampton being distrib ...

, formerly a Second World War RAF glider training facility, now used for commercial and recreational helicopter flying, fixed wing power flying and glider flying. Shobdon Aerodrome was constructed in 1942 and used as a glider training base. Pilots who trained here took part in both the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

and Operation Market Garden at

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Shobdon Festival

Every third year Shobdon church hosted a flower festival. This was expanded into an annual food, drink, flower and flying festival which is held on the last weekend in June. The eleventh anniversary Festival was held at Shobdon Airfield on the weekend of 27–28 June 2015.http://www.shobdonfoodandflyingfestival.co.uk
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Climate

The temperature is usually between and .

References

External links

* * http://www.shobdonchurch.org.uk/ {{authority control Villages in Herefordshire Civil parishes in Herefordshire