Woolhope Church - St. George's

St George’s Church stands on a site which dates from pre-history. According to Alfred Watkins it stands on at least two ley lines, and the alignment with Mordiford and Hampton Bishop churches and All Saints in Hereford, easily seen on an OS map, is indisputable.

The structure of the church is largely Norman, from the second half of the 12th Century. The 13th Century tower commands the valley named after Wulviva who, with her more famous sister Godiva, gave the land to the Dean and Chapter of Hereford.

The sisters are commemorated in a striking 'Arts & Crafts' period window in the North aisle.

Norman work is seen in the North arcade, a window in the Sanctuary and a carved head under the tower, but much of the present fabric, internal woodwork and fittings date from a major restoration in the 1880s under the benefaction of the Booker family of Wessington Court. The organ by William Vincent of Liverpool (1862) is particularly fine as are two remarkable coffin-lids from the 13th and 14th centuries and the beautiful “Elizabeth Window’ by Kempe in the South Aisle.

The church is approached from the south by a long path from the timbered ‘Skallenge’ (lych gate), dating from 1581. A preaching cross with a medieval base adjoins the path, and this older section of the churchyard contains some notable ‘tea caddy’ tombs and others from the Georgian and early Victorian periods.