Trifter

Two of the most beautiful river valleys in England begin near Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh border and run down to the south Herefordshire plain. The northernmost valley is that of the river Wye itself and the other is known as the Golden Valley. The river Dore flows down this valley. The Welsh word for water is Dwr and the English version of that is Dore. It seems that the Normans took it to be D’or, meaning “of gold”, and so it became known as the Golden Valley.

The Dore rises on these hills at the head of the valley and runs through a beautiful undulating rural landscape, an Arcadian dream of meadows, woods and fields of cereals. Otters and kingfishers hunt along the river, there are rarities such as the Daubenton’s bat skimming the evening waters for midges and water voles are making a comeback with some help from local naturalists. The waters hold brown trout and even white-clawed crayfish-the British ones. It has such an air of timelessness and fantasy that C S Lewis is said to have considered the valley to be a true Narnia.

There is evidence that the valley has been occupied from late Palaeolithic times through Mesolithic and into the Neolithic period. The settlers would have followed the river valleys perhaps coming from somewhere like Brittany to land in Cornwall then up the Bristol Channel to the rivers Severn and Wye. Travelling up the Wye would have brought them via its tributary, the Monnow, up into the hills. They came to the Golden Valley to make their homes where water, food and later fertile farming land was available. These were the Celtic tribes or groups who later would fight the Romans and then the Saxons and Normans for their land.

Ancient tracks run along the ridges between these valleys and near the source of the river on Merbach Hill is a Neolithic burial chamber called Arthur’s Stone which was built around 3000BC. It had an earth mound originally but that and some of the stones have disappeared into later buildings. Some think Arthur’s Stone is a corruption of Thor-stein or Thor’s stone or altar which may have stood here. Another local tale tells of a great battle involving King Arthur and yet another suggests he was killed and is buried here.

                      Arthur’s Stone

The mound, about 80 feet x 60 feet, covered 9 upright stones topped by a huge capstone. This is estimated to weigh about 25 tons but is now broken. The entrance passage has a right-angled bend which meant it looked out towards Hay Bluff at the end of the Black Mountains.

This tomb, and others, along with settlements along this eastern ridge had a commanding view over the whole valley and also of the Black Mountains. There may be some sort of symbolic importance as the sun sets behind the dark, brooding shadow on the horizon. The Neolithic, latest of the three Stone Ages, was also a period of gradual change from a hunter-gathering to a farming style of life.

A Neolithic settlement has been found situated near the ridge between Arthur’s Stone and the nearby Cross Lodge Barrow. Within a stone walled enclosure, which had a wooden fence on top, fragments of pottery, storage pits, flints and polished stone axe fragments have been excavated.

It has been estimated that around 250 people lived along this eastern ridge of the Golden Valley at the time Arthur’s Stone was built. They seemed to have used the valley sides for settlement and burials while the fertile wooded valley floor gave them deer and boar to hunt and nuts, fruits and berries to collect. This area was gradually cleared for their allotment-type agriculture.

The Bronze Age is represented in these valleys by barrows, cupmarks and standing stones and the neighbouring hill forts were probably constructed during the Iron Age although other earlier settlements may have existed on their sites. This part of England is particularly rich in hill fort remains. About 50 sites have been recognised so far.

The area wasn’t always as peaceful as it seems now of course. The Celts and Romans clashed all along the border when charismatic leaders such as Caractacus led guerrilla-type warfare against the invaders. Then the Welsh, Anglo-Saxons and Normans fought over the land for many centuries as the number of ruined castles shows. These motte and bailey fortifications are scattered all along the valley and indeed over much of the surrounding countryside.

The typical Norman stronghold consisted of a great, sometimes moated, mound (the motte) with a wooden pallisade or tower, later in stone, on top and surrounded by one or more courts or baileys.

There were two Norman castles near the source of the river. At Newton Tump (tump means mound or heap in this part of the world) a castle guarded the western end of the valley and close by, at the Bage, a steep mound 180 feet by 150 feet at the base with some stones and traces of a bailey can still be seen.

The first village on the river is Dorstone which also had a castle. Standing on the bridge and looking upstream I have the church on my right and the lane leading up to the Pandy Inn on my left. The shallow river glides by clear and pure now but, according to the local story, 350 years ago it ran red with the blood of slaughtered soldiers.

In the year of 1651 King Charles and Cromwell fought the Battle of Worcester. The King lost the battle and the war and fled to France. There were a lot of Scots soldiers in his army. Many were killed or captured but some took flight and headed for these hills. A group found their way up this valley, the story goes, and stopped to rest by the river. You can imagine them lying on the grass and perhaps soaking their aching feet in the river. Tragically, just at that moment a passing Welsh force ambushed and slaughtered them all. Where they rested and died was called Scotland Bank and is still marked as such on the map today.

In 1170 Henry II, who had fallen out with his Archbishop of Canterbury, was reported to have raged, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” . Some in his court took that as a royal order and Sir Richard de Brito was one of the four knights who set off to kill Thomas a Beckett in Canterbury Cathedral. Sir Richard came to Dorstone in the 12th century to establish a chapel as penitence for his part in the murder. His chapel was probably added on to an existing church.

The building which now houses the Pandy Inn was also built in 1185 by de Brito to house the workers who were constructing the chapel. It became an inn in the 16th century and has a room where Cromwell is reputed to have slept.

There are no remains of Dorstone castle today but it was held from the late 12th century by the de Solers family. It was re-fortified in 1403 by Sir Walter Fitzwalter against the uprising led by Owain Glyndwr.

Glyndwr was born about 1350, studied law in London and even served in the English army. Then, in his late 40s, he began to resent the way the Welsh were treated by the English. Following a dispute with his English neighbour, Lord Grey of Rhuthin, he became a rebel with a cause. Hundreds of people flocked to join his uprising and several English castles were attacked and captured.

He established a Welsh parliament at Machynlleth in 1404 and was proclaimed Prince of Wales. His wife, two daughters and a grandchild were captured and taken to London where they died but he escaped to live out his days, it is thought, with his remaining family at Monnington Court, close to this valley in Herefordshire. His final resting place is still a subject of much speculation and his ghost is said to wander through several of the border castles he attacked.

A little way downstream from Dorstone and set on a promontory overlooking the river valley are the ruins of yet another castle. This was Snodhill castle and again was fortified against Glyndwr. Said to have been given to the Earl of Leicester by Queen Elizabeth I he wasn’t impressed and it was a ruin by 1560.

St Peter and St Paul are said to have been travelling from Rome and came to the Welsh border near Hay-on-Wye. They parted at a place now known as Gospel Pass and St Peter found his way down the Golden Valley and, following the river Dore, came to a pleasant spot where he founded a church.The settlement that grew around it became Peterchurch. St Peter blessed a well at a nearby natural spring and here he baptised his converts.

      Peterchurch Church

There has probably been a church here at least since the time of King Offa. The Saxon altar with its incised crosses is still in place. The Normans built much of the present church and their skilful design makes the place look much larger inside than from the outside. A stone spire was built in the 14th century but removed for safety in the 1940’s. The replacement is in fibreglass and was lifted into place in 1972. Close up it does look rather odd but from a distance, and it can be seen for miles up and down the valley, it is quite impressive.

Another odd feature is an effigy of a large fish with a gold chain round its neck which hangs over the south door inside the church. One story suggests the fish was caught in the Dore with its gold chain in place. Another legend says St Peter caught the fish, placed the golden chain round its gills and kept it in the Holy Well. The story could also just be another fisherman’s tale.

During the 16th century channels were cut along the valley to improve irrigation and this is certainly a very prosperous looking area. The floor of the valley is a patchwork of fields of pasture and cereal crops while the wooded ridges on either side give shelter.

A short distance downstream from Peterchurch is a small bridge over the Dore at either end of which is a tiny village each with a church. Vowchurch and Turnastone are only about a quarter of a mile apart.

The story goes that there were two sisters living in Vowchurch who planned to build a church in their village. For some reason they quarrelled and each built a church on opposite banks. The older of the two is reported to have stated that she “vowed to build my church before you turn a stone of yours”. Thus the villages were named Vowchurch and Turnastone. St Bartholomew’s stands on the one river bank while a short distance over the bridge and up the lane at Turnastone is the simpler but no less peaceful St Mary Magdalene.

Another story involving Turnastone tells of a time during the medieval period when it was quite common to have rituals centered around springs, stones, hills and trees. The Bishop of Hereford in 1409 heard of the worship of a stone and well in the parish of Turnastone and issued a proclamation: “It has come to our ears, we grieve to say, from the report of many credible witnesses and the common report of the people, that many of our subjects are in large numbers visiting a certain well and stone at Turnastone in our diocese where with genuflections and offerings they without authority of the church wrongfully worship the said stone and well, whereby committing idolatry; when the water fails they take away with them the mud of the same and treat and keep it as a relic to the grave peril of their souls and a pernicious example to others. Therefore we suspend the use of the said well and stone and under pain of greater excommunication forbid our people to visit the well and stone for the purpose of worship.” This was ordered to be read in every church in his diocese.

We leave the valley floor with its pastures and the ruined motte and bailey castles for a short climb up to the ridge of its western side. Up here it is so tranquil now that you forget the fighting and killing that went on below. Here among the winding narrow lanes is one of Herefordshire’s treasures. St Margaret’s Church is situated in a peaceful and rather isolated spot with magnificent views all round. It appears from the outside to be a small, 12th to 13th century church, a simple, remote, low-roofed building with a wooden bell-turret at its western end. Very nice but nothing special you may think, just one like many others. Step inside and the first thing you see is the wonderful rood screen and loft.

The delicate carving is simply delicious. When made in about 1520 it would have been richly painted and gilded but it looks gorgeous as it is now, faded to a pale grey-brown with the passing of time. This was one of the poet, John Betjeman’s, favourite churches but we wouldn’t see it like this if someone hadn’t ignored the orders sent out in 1547, after the Reformation, to destroy all such images. Fortunately someone had a love of beauty and craftmanship as powerful then as it is now.

The game of fives or handball was played against the north wall at one time. There was a painted red line on the wall about two feet off the ground and shutters covered the glass windows. Such games were popular when the church was a community meeting place rather than just for worship. Apparently the lads at Eton school think they invented the game.

Travelling back down to the river and the valley floor I came to Abbey Dore and the remains of its wonderful medieval Cistercian Abbey. There are records of religious buildings in this area since the 7th and 8th centuries. The Cistercians founded the Abbey in 1147 on land provided by Robert, Earl of Ewyas Harold. The present parish church is but the eastern end, consisting of the presbytery, crossing and transepts, of their Abbey.

                        Dore Abbey

The Abbey accumulated more land in the Golden valley and beyond. The Dore has very productive agricultural soil but the granges linked to the Abbey tended to concentrate on producing wool. The sale of wool paid for the building work. Thomas Cantilupe, the Bishop of Hereford, consecrated the church but after the Dissolution, Dore Abbey fell into ruin and much of the structure sold off. By 1632 it was used to shelter cattle.
John Viscount Scudamore was responsible for organising and paying for the restoration. He had become convinced by a run of bad luck in his family that he had to make amends for living off the proceeds taken from the former Abbey. The new church he restored was re-consecrated on Palm Sunday 1634.

Of particular note is the oak screen made by John Abel in the 1630’s. He was the royal carpenter to King Charles I. Also the original medieval altar, now in its rightful place, which was found at a nearby farm where it had been used for salting meat and making cheese.

As the river Dore leaves the Golden Valley it joins the river Monnow and goes on to meet the river Wye at Monmouth. The remains of another castle overlooks a village and guards this end of the valley. This is Ewyas Harold. Ewyas meant “sheep area” and Harold held the castle near what is now known as the village of Ewyas Harold at the time of the Domesday Survey. He was the father of Robert who founded Dore Abbey but little else is known about him.

The Domesday Survey or Book referred to the day of judgement and was named so because the facts in it were not to be disputed. In each district a Commission took evidence on oath then used a jury to verify the facts.

They had to determine:
• The name of the place, who owned it both then and prior to 1066
• The size of the holding usually given in “hides” which were an area considered suitable to support one family and depended on agricultural conditions
• The number of freemen, serfs and slaves
• The extent of woodland, meadowland and pasture
• The number of mills and fishpools
• The number of plough teams (using eight oxen per team)
• What the value of the holding was before 1066, at 1066 and after 1066
• Any other information thought relevant such as customs and local taxes

There was a castle at Ewyas Harold before the Norman Conquest. Edward the Confessor who reigned from 1042 to 1066 and whose upbringing and attitude was at least as much Norman as English had allowed several Norman settlers to come to this area. Among them Ralph who became Earl of Hereford and built the first castle in that city.

Ewyas Harold castle was built on land taken from the Welsh and held by Osbern Pentecost who passed it to his nephew Alured de Merleberge who later surrendered it to the eponymous Harold.

The castle must have been an awesome sight. It is situated on the end of a spur of land overlooking the confluence of the rivers and the southern entrance to the Golden valley. It is still impressive today, with a huge mound or motte over 200 feet in diameter at its base and 100 feet across the top. The motte is now covered with trees, bushes, brambles and nettles but there would have been a bailey defended by slopes, ditches and ramparts and possibly an outer bailey to shield the original village.

This lovely gently rolling landscape lives up to its name, the Golden Valley, whatever the season. It is a place of traditional farms, quiet lanes, paths and bridleways where you can reconnect with nature but if you dig a little deeper you can indulge your sense of history too.