England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Pembridge St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Pembridge lies in northwestern Herefordshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Radnorshire, and hence with Wales. Pembridge is located roughly 7 miles west of the market town of Leominster and sits on the A44 road that links Leominster with Kington and onwards into Wales. Pembridge, at one time of sufficient importance to have been granted a market in 1239 which has since lapsed, is nowadays merely a large village almost entirely built around a crossroads of the A44 with both northward and southward running lanes. Pembridge is an attractive village with many properties of the distinctive "black-and-white" appearance characteristic of the district. As a regional centre for trade and for the provision of specialist trades Pembridge supplemented that income largely from the wool & cloth trade. The wider parish is utilised primarily for the local beef herds of Herefordshire cattle with a substantial acreage also devoted to orchards serving the local cider industry, Pembridge's Dunkerton's Cider providing a local attraction in the form of its Cider Shop. Modern developments came and left Pembridge, the branch railway line linking Leominster & Kington having closed and been largely dismantled. Pembridge sits on the southern banks of the River Arrow which drains the parish eastwards, meeting firstly the Lugg at Leominster and then, after turning southwards, the Wye to the east of Hereford, from here a long journey to the outer Bristol Channel follows arriving through the port of Chepstow. Pembridge is sited at 110 metres above the sea in its valley setting, away from the valley land rises only gently to around 150 metres some 3 miles to the southwest in gently rolling terrain. Pembridge parish was one of the more extensive in its county, covering just under 6,300 acres it was more reminiscent of an upland parish in size, within that extensive acreage would have been supported a population of close to 1,300 parishioners. In Domesday times Pembridge was a holding of one Alfred of Marlborough, a modest rural place offering 15 ploughs supplemented by a mill.

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The Church

St Mary's church is unusual in its setting and also in its layout, it hides away behind the properties of the villages main market square and is accessed by a narrow footpath up a flight of steps and it is equally unusual in having a separate detached belfry away from the main body of the church. There is some small evidence of the church having been here since Norman times, sitting in the northern porch is a Norman Romanesque style pillar piscina from the 12th century, free floating and not part of the main structure. Also early are the blocked arches which once led into Early English Gothic chapels to both north and south both clearly of 13th century origins. The main body of today's church is however, of the first half of the 14th century and a fine example of the Decorated style that flourished for that half century. The typical nave & chancel are augmented by both aisles and transepts that only lacks a western tower, although the western frontage is more showy than is customary to partially compensate. The showpiece of the church is, however, its detached bell-tower and belfry standing to one side of the church, Pevsner likens its structure both to the stave churches of Scandinavia and to the towers of Essex. Originally built in the 13th century it was largely rebuilt in its present form during the late 1660s, the first of many restorations continuing up to the present day. The main church body was also the subject of many restorations with that of the chancel in 1871 and a general restoration of 1909 being the most important. Parking for the church is possible in Bearwood Lane albeit limited. As already stated the church is approached on foot from the former market square where a small white sign indicates the way up a flight of steps "to the 14th century church & belfry", a short stroll along an enclosed path leads to the churchyard which is open and uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.