England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Richards Castle St Bartholomew

The Parish

The parish of Richards Castle is unusual in sitting shared across 2 counties, the northern half of the parish being in Shropshire whilst its southern half lies in Herefordshire, it also has 2 churches, the original parish church lying in the latter county whilst the newer church of All Saints is in Shropshire. Richards Castle is located roughly 4 miles south of the town of Ludlow and stands on the B4361 road which links Ludlow with Leominster. Obviously by bearing the qualifier "castle" there is an example of the border castles created by the Saxons to defend the English/Welsh border, Richard was Richard FitzScrob,  an associate of Edward the Confessor who built said castle in c1050, today the earthworks are still visible but little masonry survives, nevertheless a site worth visiting especially as St Bartholomew's church sits to its east. Richards Castle is spread across several settlements, the main settlement sitting on the B4361 is a simple crossroads village, to the north sits Batchcott where the new church resides and beyond that towards Ludlow is Overton, from the main settlement to the castle and church a string of properties lie along a northwestward running lane. At the time of this transcript Richards Castle was a farming parish with roughly equal parts arable and pastoral augmented with substantial wooded areas managed for typical woodland products. Richards Castle is drained eastwards by a small stream which quickly meets the River Teme, the Teme continues eastwards and then southeastwards to Worcester where the Severn is met, water turns south eventually to meet the sea through the Bristol Channel. Richards Castle has diverse altitude, the main settlement being at 100 metres above the sea whereas the commanding height of the castle stands at 180 metres with fine views eastwards across the Teme valley, land increases still further in height into Herefordshire reaching a high point of 323 metres just east of Elton. When the two acreages are combined into Richards Castle it forms an extensive parish covering just over 4,800 acres which would have supported a population of around 650 parishioners. In Domesday times Richards Castle was an important settlement of 74 households comfortably placing it in the top 20% of settlements by population, largely held by Robert Gernon it offered 20 ploughs and a mill as its assets.

The Church

St Bartholomew's church sits just east of the motte site of the castle but within the former bailey, it is accessed from Wheatcommon Lane. The church has been declared redundant following the completion of All Saints and since 2001 has been managed by the Churches Conservation Trust. The church is unusual in having a detached bell-tower separate from the main body. The main body has a 12th century nave from the Norman Romanesque period which is the oldest fabric in the structure. To this 12th century nave the chancel,  a northern transept (believed to have been a chapel for Knight's Templars) and the southern aisle were added in the 14th century all in the Decorated style of the first half of that century. The detached bell-tower is slightly earlier with a tentative date of c1300 on the cusp between Early English Gothic and Decorated and probably best described as Transitional, it comes with a pyramidal roof but until the 19th century may well have carried a spire. Whilst many of the church's windows were replaced during the 17th century Pevsner, for once, does not document a Victorian restoration. From the village on the B4361 Castle Road heads northwest becoming Wheatcommon Lane, where the latter performs a right-angled bend there are some cottages with a parking area, the church sits to the rear of the cottages accessed around their side by a track, the site is open and uncluttered with no obstacles whatsoever for the photographer.