Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Herefordshire

Ledbury is a small, yet bustling and vibrant market town in Herefordshire. It offers quite a lot of beautiful Tudor timber framed black and white buildings. Among them the Market House (PiP 3) on stilts, building started in 1617 and was completed in 1668. It is considered being one of the most beautiful examples in England and still hosts markets. But for me the most picturesque part of the town was Church Lane (main picture, PiP’s 1 and 2). A beautiful medieval cobble stoned street just behind the Market House, lined with stunning timber framed structures, offering tea rooms, a museum and at the end of the quaint street a beautiful church. It felt if I was stepping back in time.

The ‘Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin and St Ethelbert the King’ is the mother church of the diocese of Hereford and the seat of the bishop. Its history is stretching back to the 7th century and is one of the nine cathedrals of the ‘Old Foundation’, whose constitution remained undisturbed by the Reformation. The cathedral is a building of great antiquity - the date of its foundation is traditionally given as 696 - and beautiful ecclesiastical architecture. The building has examples of architecture from many periods: the stately nave from the 12th century; the graceful Lady Chapel from the 13th century; the central tower from the 14th century and the Stanbury Chapel from the 15th century. The cathedral is constantly changing. It has been in great peril several times during its lifetime: in 1786 when the west end collapsed and during the 1840’s when the Lady Chapel was in danger of falling. More recently a great deal of time and money has been spent on the stonework of the building. Hereford Cathedral with its impressive interior (PiP1)contains some of the finest examples of architecture from Norman times to the present day, including the 13th century Shrine of St. Thomas of Hereford (PiP2). It also offers the medieval map ‘Mappa Mundi’ and the unique Chained Library (PiP3).

The parish church at Kilpeck, officially Church of St Mary and St David, is one of the finest surviving examples of the Herefordshire School of stonemasons. It is remarkable that so little is definitely known of the history of the church; the date of its commissioning and dedication is not confirmed, but is probably from about 1140 and is little changed since. Until about 1840 there appears to have been nothing written about the church, when a privately commissioned and funded book “The Sculptures of Kilpeck” was written, where the carvings and views were first illustrated. If any church deserves the word “extraordinary” it is the church at Kilpeck. The church is famous for its Norman carvings in the local red sandstone, which are remarkable for the number and fine preservation, particularly round the south door with its double columns (PiP) and a row of 85 corbels, which run right around the exterior of the church under the eaves. Many of the elaborate corbels (PiP) have a distinctly un-Christian nature. Celtic, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon and pagan imagery vies with Christian iconography in a riot of dragons, warriors, monsters, animal heads, birds, beasts and obscene subjects. It is generally presumed that these corbels were intended to teach something, however many also seem to be simply entertaining or the ideas of the individual carvers.

Abbey Dore Court is a 18th century coaching inn with a Victorian (PiP 1) wing attached. It is situated within the renowned Abbey Dore Court Gardens: a mature, six acre, plant-lovers’ garden developed by the present owner Charis Ward with formal, wild and river areas set in the Herefordshire countryside. Just over the River Dore bridge is a further four acre meadow full of unusual trees. Abbey Dore Court Gardens - open to the public since 1976 - are made up of a number of very different parts. Just after the entrance one will find a relatively new area with bamboos, trees and shrubs and several borders add colour and interest. The walled garden has nine individual borders, divided by brick paths. Along the River Dore is a wild garden full of trees, shrubs and bulbs. The arboretum offers young and unusual trees but also two large sequoias.