England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Clehonger All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Clehonger lies in south central Herefordshire about 4 miles west of the city of Hereford. Clehonger is a large and rather dispersed village which sits on the junction of the B4349 (Hereford to the Golden Valley) and B4352 (Hereford to Hay on Wye) roads. Most of present day Clehonger lies in modern developments to the south of the junction whilst there is a second smaller settlement a little over a mile east around the church. Clehonger would have been a farming village at the time of this transcript, typically for Herefordshire it would have been dominated by the grazing of cattle. Clehonger is drained northwards by a small tributary of the Wye, the Cage Brook which soon joins the latter for its long journey through Hereford to reach the Bristol Channel through the port of Chepstow. Clehonger is sited at close to 100 metres above the sea in fairly gentle terrain, land being at or below that height for many miles. Clehonger parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering a little under 1,900 acres it would have supported a population of around 400 parishioners. In Domesday times Clehonger was held by one Ilbert Fitzturold and was largely described as waste with only 3 ploughs to merit a mention. 

The Church

All Saints' church sits over a mile to the east of the present focus of the village, on the western side of Church Road which leads northwards from the B4349 towards the Wye valley. There are traces of an early 12th century church, scattered remnant such as chevron moulding reused in the rebuilt chancel, traces of a Romanesque style window in the nave and the southern doorway. The church was modified significantly in the 13th century, the western tower in the Early English Gothic style from the early part whilst the southern arcade and the transepts date from the mid 13th century. A Perpendicular top stage was added or replaced on the tower as a further change but it wasn't until Victorian times that further significant alteration occurred. A sustained campaign from 1847 through to 1850 saw many changes wrought, notably the rebuilding of the chancel and addition of the southern porch. The church is set back from Church Road behind a circular green with adequate parking outside, a lychgate grants entry to the churchyard which is free from photographic obstructions.