The Church of St Michael and All Angels is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street ...

, in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, England. The oldest parts date from the 12th century, and most of the building is of the 13th and 14th centuries. It is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, described in the listing text as "one of the finest churches in Herefordshire".

Description

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 records a

minster church Minster is an honorific title given to particular churches in England, most notably York Minster in Yorkshire, Westminster Abbey in London and Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. The term ''minster'' is first found in royal foundation charte ...

in Ledbury, in a period before there were parish churches in villages. The oldest part of the present church, dating from the 12th century, are the centre of the west front including the door surround, and the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

. High on the walls of the chancel are circular windows, once part of a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

above low aisles in the original building, now seen from within high aisles."History of Church"
Ledbury Parish Church of St Michael & All Angels. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
Ledbury Parish Church of St Michael & All Angels. Retrieved 19 July 2022. The north aisle is of the 13th century; bases of pillars in the north arcade at the west end are thought to date from the earlier Norman church. The south aisle and arcade are of the 14th century. The chapter house, north of the north aisle and facing the chancel, was built about 1320. It may have been built as a shrine to

Katherine of Ledbury Katherine of Ledbury (also known as Katherine de Audley or St. Katherine of Ledbury; born 1272) was a Gloucestershire-born noblewoman of the 13th century who became an anchoress in Ledbury, Herefordshire. Although never officially canonized, Ka ...

and was formerly called the Chapel of St Katherine. Restoration in the 19th century included installation of stained glass windows, and replacement of the pews. Ledbury, St Michael & All Angels church (42673764944)

Ledbury, St Michael & All Angels church (42673764944)

Tower

The tower, north of the church, is separate from the rest of the building, perhaps because a stream running under the church made the foundations not firm enough for a tower at the west end. It dates from about 1230 for three stages; a top stage with a single light on each side and battlements, and an octagonal stone spire, were built in 1732 by Nathaniel Wilkinson of Worcester, who rebuilt several church spires in nearby counties."Nathaniel Spire Mender Wilkinson"
Ross-on-Wye & District Civic Society. Retrieved 18 July 2022.

Memorials

The memorials inside the church include monuments to Daniel Ellis Saunders (died 1825) and

Robert Myddelton Biddulph (1761–1814) Robert Myddelton Biddulph ( Biddulph; March 1761 – 30 August 1814) was a British Member of Parliament (MP). Early life The first son of Penelope ( Dandridge) Biddulph and barrister Michael Biddulph of Ledbury in Herefordshire and Cofton Ha ...

, both by

Richard Westmacott Sir Richard Westmacott (15 July 17751 September 1856) was a British sculptor. Life and career Westmacott studied with his father, also named Richard Westmacott (the elder), Richard Westmacott, at his studio in Mount Street, off Grosvenor ...

; William Miles (died 1803) by

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

; and Anthony Biddulph (died 1718) and his wife Constance (died 1706). On the south wall near the altar there is a 17th-century canopied monument to Edward and Elizabeth Skynner. The couple are shown kneeling, and a baby between them is a child who died young; below them are shown their five sons and five daughters who survived to adulthood.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledbury, St Michael and All Angels Grade I listed churches in Herefordshire Church of England church buildings in Herefordshire Diocese of Hereford