Much Cowarne
| Much Cowarne | |
| Herefordshire | |
|---|---|
 St Mary’s, Much Cowarne | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SO621471 |
| Location: | 52°7’18"N, 2°33’16"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 463 (2011) |
| Post town: | Bromyard |
| Postcode: | HR7 |
| Dialling code: | 01531 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Herefordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North Herefordshire |
Much Cowarne is a village in Herefordshire, standing a little off the A417 road about 16 miles from Hereford and ten miles from Bromyard.
The village has views east to the Malvern Hills and south to the Wye Valley. Edward Elgar, the composer, considered the landscape around the village as a source of inspiration, frequently cycling in the area to visit the church or friends at Cowarne Court.[1]
The wider parish includes the hamlet of Hope's Rough.
History
The Domesday Book form of the name, Cuure, suggests a meaning cow house, perhaps implying a significant dairying centre. The current form of the name may be a rendering of the Old English cu ærne' meaning just that. Little Cowarne, to the north-west, appears in Domesday as Colgre which seems a quite different name, perhaps charcoal wood. The two manors became linked, probably wrongly, in a 12th-century exchequer manuscript,[2] and have shared a name ever since.
It has recently been suggested that Much Cowarne, like its neighbours Bromyard and Ledbury, was an Anglo-Saxon minster, though not as long lasting as they, and also a royal tun, the administrative centre of an area stretching from Bishop's Frome to Mordiford and Tarrington.[3]
In Domesday Book there are 41 households, a large number, in "Cuure". The Lord in 1066 was Earl Harold, to whom it was worth £25. The Lord in 1086 was Agnes daughter of Alfred of Marlborough, to whom it was worth £20. There was a priest, and 2 lord's plough teams and 32 men's plough teams. In 1148 Bishop Gilbert Foliot appropriated the revenues of the church to Gloucester Abbey for candles and ornaments. This was confirmed by Bishops Hugh Foliot and John le Breton.[4] In the 1291 Taxation, the church was valued at £23 6s. 8d. The connection with Gloucester may go back to Bernard de Neufmarché in 1088[5]
On 15 May 1255 Richard Pauncefot was granted a market on Thursdays and an annual fair at Much Cowarne by King Henry III, to be held at the manor. Similar markets and fairs were granted to Grimbald Pauncefot by Edward I on 16 November 1281.[6]
A large mediæval settlement south-east of Mill House has been scheduled as an important archaeological site.[7]
Notable buildings
The village has a mediæval church building, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, which dates to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. There is a plaque inside the church celebrating Edward Elgar's connection to the village.[8] The church is a grade I listed building [9]
Cowarne Hall is a former school building built in a Victorian Gothic architectural style, which has now been converted into a village hall and holiday cottages.
Society
The Much Cowarne History Group has published several books and booklets, including A Jugful of Much Cowarne Cider (2003) and Much Cowarne Church: A Guidebook and History (2008). It is currently involved in producing a collection of stories and pictures about the village as part of a Local Heritage Initiative project.[1]
The village has its own apple variety known as the Much Cowarne Red.[1]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Much Cowarne) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Much Cowarne Conservation Project". Local Heritage Initiative. http://www.lhi.org.uk/projects_directory/projects_by_region/west_midlands/herefordshire/much_cowarne_conservation_project/index.html. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ↑ Galbraith and Tait, Herefordshire Domesday, 1950
- ↑ Waddington, Sheila Kathryn: 'The origins of Anglo-Saxon Herefordshire: a study in land-unit antiquity' (2013) – University of Birmingham
- ↑ Register of Thomas Cantilupe vol. 1 pp 49-51
- ↑ Waddington op. cit.
- ↑ https://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/herefs.html
- ↑ National Heritage List 1021001: Medieval settlement at Much Cowarne, immediately south east of Mill House
- ↑ "Much Cowarne: St Mary the Virgin, Much Cowarne". A Church Near You. Archbishops' Council. http://www.achurchnearyou.com/much-cowarne-st-mary-the-virgin/. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
- ↑ "Church of St Mary, Much Cowarne". British Listed Buildings. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-151259-church-of-st-mary-much-cowarne-. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
