Kempley
| Kempley | |
| Gloucestershire | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's Church, Kempley | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SO671295 |
| Location: | 51°57’48"N, 2°28’48"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 280 (2011) |
| Post town: | Dymock |
| Postcode: | GL18 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Forest of Dean |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Forest of Dean |
Kempley is a village in the west of Gloucestershire, close to the border with Herefordshire. It lies 17 miles north-west of Gloucester and 17 miles south-east of Hereford. The nearest market towns of Newent and Ledbury are five and eight miles away respectively.
The small village (140 residents) has two notable churches: the redundant mediæval church of St Mary and the modern church of St Edward the Confessor, each of which has a claim to artistic notice.
Churches
St Mary's
- Main article: St Mary's Church, Kempley
St Mary's Church has in its chancel the most complete set of Romanesque frescos in northern Europe including a 'Christ in Majesty painting created in about 1120. On the walls of the nave are further images, including a wheel of life, showing the life cycle of man. These are worked in tempera painted on dry lime mortar, unlike those in the chancel which are true frescoes.
St Mary's Church is owned by English Heritage and maintained by The Friends of Kempley Churches.
The Church has the oldest roof of any building in Britain, dating from 1120-1150[1] and has an unusually well-preserved interior. In the early months of the year, from late February to early March, the churchyard is very beautiful, often being covered in wild daffodils.
St Edward's
The Church of St Edward (1903), described by Betjeman as "a mini-cathedral of the Arts and Crafts movement", was built from local materials by local labour, under the direction of Randall Wells, clerk of works at All Saints, Brockhampton-by-Ross. The church was planned by the Lord of the Manor and major landowner, William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, because St Mary's was too far away from the main centres of population in the parish at Kempley Green and Fishpool, and liable to flooding. The walls of the church are in Forest of Dean red sandstone.
About the village
The village maintains the Kempley Tardis (a redundant telephone box) - a National Lottery funded project supported by English Heritage. The project, which is run by the Friends of Kempley Churches, aims to archive and document the entire social, economic and cultural history of the village.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Kempley) |
- The Kempley Tardis Project
- St Mary's Church Virtual Tour
- Kempley Churches VCH Gloucestershire
- Information about the Christ in Majesty painting
- The Three Marys (Maries) at the Sepulchre
- Simon Jenkins (21 March 2008). "The dazzling walls of mediæval England deserve a bold restorer". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/21/religion.heritage. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- Pictures of Kempley and the area on Geograph.co.uk
