St Mary, Credenhill
St Mary, Credenhill
St Mary’s is a Grade I parish church above the village of Credenhill, Herefordshire, in the Diocese of Hereford: a twelfth- to fifteenth-century church known for medieval glass and for Thomas Traherne, rector from 1665 to 1674.
- Location
- Credenhill, Herefordshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Herefordshire
- City / town
- Credenhill
- Address
- Credenhill, Herefordshire, HR4 7OL
- Postcode
- HR4 7OL
- Built
- C12 nave; chancel arch c.1200; chancel c.1300; C14 west tower; C15 south porch; restored 1861 and 1876
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Mary
- Diocese
- Hereford
- Parish
- Credenhill
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Medieval parish church with a timber-framed south porch
- Materials
- Coursed sandstone rubble, coursed and squared sandstone rubble to the west tower; part timber-framed south porch; Welsh slate roofs
- Opening hours
- Open daily.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas
Overview
Historic England lists a parish church with twelfth-century nave, chancel arch of about 1200, chancel of 1300, fourteenth-century west tower, fifteenth-century south porch, and restorations of 1861 and 1876. Walls are coursed sandstone rubble, coursed and squared to the west tower, with a part timber-framed south porch and Welsh slate roofs. The three-stage west tower has a squat pyramidal roof. The south porch is timber-framed on a sandstone plinth, with moulded posts, cusped struts and a roof of moulded purlins and rafters with bosses. The north nave wall retains a thirteenth-century lancet and a late thirteenth-century two-light window.
The Royal Commission recorded the nave as probably twelfth-century, the chancel rebuilt about 1300, and a north chapel licensed in 1306 for a chantry of St Mary founded by Philip Talbot, rector. The church stands on the side of Credenhill, below an Iron Age hillfort. It is open daily, with level access to the main areas.