| Pembridge | |
|---|---|
 Market Place, with the open-sided Market Hall in the foreground and the New Inn beyond | |
  Pembridge Location withinHerefordshire | |
| Population | 1,056 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SO 391 581 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Leominster |
| Postcode district | HR6 |
| Dialling code | 01544 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Pembridge Parish Council |
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Pembridge is a village andcivil parish in theArrow valley inHerefordshire, England. The village is on theA44 road about 6 miles (10 km) east ofKington and 7 miles (11 km) west ofLeominster. The civil parish includes thehamlets of Bearwood, Lower Bearwood, Lower Broxwood, Marston, Moorcot and Weston. The2011 Census recorded the parish population as 1,056.[1]
Pembridge is the major part of theelectoral ward of Pembridge and Lyonshall with Titley. The 2011 Census recorded the ward's population as 3,124.[2]
Thetoponym "Pembridge" may be derived from theWelshPen-y-Bont, anglicised to its current spelling.[3] A more likely origin of the name Pembridge is that it is derived from the Old English Penebrug(g)e, which probably meant "Pena's bridge".[4]
In 1239, Pembridge was granted a royal charter to hold a market and two fairs: the Cowslip Fair held each May and the Woodcock Fair held each November. In theMiddle Ages they were important events for agricultural labourers across the county to seek work from landowners.[citation needed]
The village is noted for its historictimber-framed buildings. It is promoted to visitors as "the heart of theBlack and White Village Trail".[5]
In West Street, Swan House and School View are two parts of a single building. It was built in the 14th century ahall house, but had an intermediate floor inserted late in the 16th or early in the 17th century. It was further altered in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is aGrade II* listed building.[6] Also in West Street, Forsythia and West Leigh are two parts of another former hall house. It was built in the 14th or 15th century, and altered in the 17th and 19th centuries. It is a Grade II* listed building.[7]
In the Market Place, the core of the Post Office and Stores is another 14th-century house. It was remodelled in the 17th and late 19th centuries and is a Grade II* listed building.[8] Also in Market Place is the Market Hall. This timber-framed building, which has been dated by dendrochronology to c.1520, is not actually a market hall, but merely a covered market. Eight oak pillars support a roof tiled with stone slates. These pillars are supported on unworked stone bases except for one, which stands on the remains of the medieval cross base. It is a Grade II* listed building.[9][10][11]
In East Street is the former post office. It is a 15th-century house altered in the 17th and 19th centuries.[12]
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Pembridge had two sets ofalmshouses, each divided into sixtenements. Duppa's Almshouses in Bridge Street were endowed by Jeffrey Duppa and founded in 1661. They were augmented by his sonBrian Duppa,[13] aRoyalist who wasBishop of Winchester from 1660 until his death in 1662. Trafford's Almshouses in East Street were endowed by the Rev Dr Thomas Trafford,DD, and built in 1686.[14]
Elsewhere in the parish, Clear Brook is a mainly 17th-century house with a 16th-century rear wing.[15] The Court of Noke is an 18th-century country house, and the most notable brick-built house in the parish.[16]
Gavin Plumley has written about the history of the village inA Home for All Seasons (2022).[17][18]
Building of theLeominster and Kington Railway linkingLeominster andKington was started in 1855 and completed in 1857. It passed through Pembridge parish, wherePembridge railway station served the village. TheGreat Western Railway leased the line from the 1860s and absorbed it in 1898.British Railways closed the line to passenger traffic in February 1955 and to freight in late September 1964.[19]
Thesandstone bridge over theriver Arrow was grantedGrade II listed status in June 1987, giving it protection from unauthorised alteration or demolition.[20]
The chancel is the oldest surviving part of St Mary'sChurch of England parish church, dating from the 13th-century, although a loose Romanesque pillar piscina remains from the Norman church. Blocked arches on both sides of the chancel mark the entrances to former chapels. The splendidfont also dates from the 13th century. The major rebuilding of the church in a mature Decorated style has been dated c1320-30. The noble nave arcade is of six bays, with circular ogeed cinquefoiledclerestory windows above. The church has acruciform plan with 14th-centurytransepts and a vaulted north porch. There is arood stair turret entered from the South transept and topped externally with a pinnacle. The West door and the North door date from the 14th century and both retain original ironwork.
Thepulpit preacher's desk, lectern and communion rail are Jacobean. A northvestry was added in the 19th century, and the building was restored in 1871 by William Chick and in 1903–09 by Roland W. Paul. The church is aGrade I listed building.[21] On the North side of the chancel a pair of 14th century tomb chests, one with contemporary effigies of a knight and his wife, the other with a civilian and his wife. They date from 1360 to 1380 and depict Nicholas Gour, a Sergeant-at-law with his wife and his son, John Gour and his wife, a steward in the employ of the Mortimer family. There are also several memorial tablets, including three of the 17th century to the Sherborne family, and one to Thomas Trafford (d.1685).[22]
Pembridge is one of several Herefordshire parishes whose belltower stands separate from the church. All but the base of the tower is timber-framed: one of a number of partly or largely timber-framed belltowers in Herefordshire. The tower was built early in the 13th century, rebuilt with the addition of anambulatory in the 15th or 16th century, and further remodelled in the 17th century when its spire was added. It is a Grade I listed building.[23]
The tower has aring of five bells. John I Martin ofWorcester cast the fourth bell in 1658. Abraham IIRudhall of Gloucester cast the treble bell in 1735. James Barwell ofBirmingham cast or recast the first, second and tenor bells in 1898. St Mary's has also aSanctus bell, which was cast about 1800.[24]
The churchyard contains sevenCommonwealth war graves of service personnel, two fromWorld War I and five fromWorld War II.[25]
Ye Olde Steppes in East Street is both the village shop and a café and tea room.[26] It is in a 16th-century building that was enlarged in the 17th century and altered in the 19th century.[27]
There is a 17th-century pub, the New Inn, in Market Place.[28] Pembridge had a 16th-century pub, the Greyhound Inn in East Street,[29] but this is now the King's House restaurant. Also in the parish is theCider Barn bar and restaurant at Hays Head, which opens seasonally.
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