St Bartholomew, Much Marcle
St Bartholomew, Much Marcle
St Bartholomew’s is a Grade I Church of England parish church in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, a large thirteenth- to fifteenth-century church with a central tower, in the Diocese of Hereford.
- Location
- Much Marcle, Herefordshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Herefordshire
- City / town
- Much Marcle
- Address
- Much Marcle, Herefordshire, HR8 2PL
- Postcode
- HR8 2PL
- Built
- C13–C15; restored 1876–78
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Bartholomew
- Diocese
- Hereford
- Parish
- Much Marcle with Yatton
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Early English to Perpendicular (central tower)
- Materials
- Coursed sandstone rubble with sandstone dressings; tiled roofs; lead roofs to aisles
- Grid reference
- SO 6570 3274
- Opening hours
- The church is normally open from 9am until dusk.
- Access
- Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas
Overview
The listing describes a four-bay aisled nave separated from the chancel by a late-fifteenth-century central tower, a north chapel, a nineteenth-century vestry, and a south porch, in coursed sandstone rubble. The church was restored in 1876–78. Tradition holds that the tower used stone from nearby Mortimer’s Castle (the motte survives beside the church).
The finest monument is the canopied tomb of Blanche Mortimer, Lady Grandison (d. 1347), youngest daughter of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, on the north side of the chancel. Pevsner and Simon Jenkins both single out the effigy. The north-east (Kyrle) chapel has a fourteenth-century double effigy thought to be Hugh, Lord Audley, and Isolde Audley, and later Kyrle monuments. A rare wooden effigy is also recorded. In the churchyard south of the porch is a hollow yew, widely said to be at least 1,500 years old, with a bench inside the trunk.
Historic England listed the church Grade I on 6 March 1967 (list entry 1156241). No dedicated parish website has been confirmed.