Garway cy, Llanwrfwy is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in south-west

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 population of the civil parish was 430 at the 2011 census. It is set on a hillside above the River Monnow about 6 1/4 miles (10 km) northwest of

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

. It is a sparsely populated area, mainly agricultural in nature. There are several small centres of population including Garway itself, Broad Oak, The Turning and Garway Hill.

Garway church

The church is on the western edge of the parish and is dedicated to Saint Michael. The earliest record of a monastery on the site is in the seventh century, but it is with the arrival of the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in 1180 that the history of the church at Garway becomes clearer. The Knights Templar built a hut in honour of the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...

in Jerusalem. Brooks and Pevsner, in the 2012 revision to the ''Herefordshire'' volume of the '' Buildings of England'', describe St Michael's as "uncommonly interesting". The excavated foundations of part of the round church (unearthed in 1927) can be seen clearly on the north side of the present church, and the original carved chancel arch, heavily decorated and in the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

style, survives. Most of the current church, which is no longer round, is probably 13th century including the massive defensible tower which was once separate from the main church building. There are numerous carvings both inside and outside the building including a green man, a sword believed to be Templar, a fish and a snake. The

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

, on private land near Garway Church, has an inscription dating it to 1326. Both the dovecote and the church are

Grade I listed buildings 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 ...

Media

The dovecote featured in the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

series '' Bonekickers'' on 8 July 2008. Garway is referenced in ''The Fabric of Sin'', a novel by Phil Rickman, and in

Bernard Knight Bernard Henry Knight (born 3 May 1931) is a British forensic pathologist and writer. He became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, in 1980. Early life Kn ...

's chapter in ''King Arthur's Bones'' by The Medieval Murderers.

Gallery

Garway Dovecote (Geograph 1184164 by Pauline Eccles .jpg, Garway Dovecote Garway Church - Green Man.jpg, Garway Church Green Man carved In sandstone Garway Church - geograph.org.uk - 46182.jpg, St Michael's Church with its castle-like tower Great Demesne, Garway - geograph.org.uk - 3254219.jpg, Great Demesne, Garway

References

Sources

External links

Church and community site including Garway Church
includes location map

shows plan of church
Photograph of Garway Church

Floorplan of the Garway Complex

Villages in Herefordshire {{herefordshire-geo-stub