Shobdon is a village and

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 authorit ...

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 Monmouths ...

, England, about 15 miles north of

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

, six miles west of

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster i ...

, and 2 miles southwest of the Mortimer's Cross. According to the 2001 census, the parish population was 769, consisting of 386 males and 383 females. The population had increased to 816 by the time of the 2011 census. The parish includes the hamlets of Hanbury Green, Uphampton, Easthampton and Ledicot.

History

In the 17th century the village of Shobdon was run by the Bateman family (hence the Bateman Arms) who lived at Shobdon Court. Shobdon church is

St John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given ...

, north of the village. The original interior arches of the church were removed in 1756, being placed at the top of the adjacent hill as a folly where they still stand. The Shobdon Arches consist of a central chancel arch and two Norman doorways. The weathered carvings are the work of the Herefordshire School of sculpture, which dominated in the western counties during the mid-12th Century. Tympana were once probably part of the original doorways. Shobdon Church is an important work of architecture. It has a direct connection to

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...

Strawberry Hill Strawberry Hill may refer to: United Kingdom *Strawberry Hill, London, England ** Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole's Gothic revival villa **Strawberry Hill railway station United States * Strawberry Hill (San Francisco), California *Strawber ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

and the members of the "Committee of Taste" which strongly influenced its design. Its intact interior and matching furniture are the sole example of this Walpolean Gothick style of Georgian church architecture and furnishing. On 4 November 2013 was culminated 12 years and £1.25 million of repairs to restore this "Strawberry Hill Gothic" Church. Nearby is the Shobdon Arches folly.

Amenities

The village has a primary school with approximately 82 children attending. When the children leave Shobdon Primary they mostly progress to Wigmore High School, although some go to either Weobley High School or Lady Hawkins' School. Co-located with the Primary School is Shobdon Village Hall which consists of a community room and kitchen, and shared access to the school hall. Occasional fundraising activities are undertaken by the village hall committee. The biggest user of the village hall is Shobdon Arches Preschool. At the western end of the village is Pearl Lake caravan park, which has a number of permanent caravans as well as access for tourers. This is adjacent to Pearl Lake, the largest natural body of water in Herefordshire. To the south is Shobdon Aerodrome, formerly a Second World War RAF glider training facility, now used for commercial and recreational helicopter flying, fixed wing power flying and glider flying. Shobdon Aerodrome was constructed in 1942 and used as a glider training base. Pilots who trained here took part in both the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

and

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, ...

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Shobdon Festival

Every third year Shobdon church hosted a flower festival. This was expanded into an annual food, drink, flower and flying festival which is held on the last weekend in June. The eleventh anniversary Festival was held at Shobdon Airfield on the weekend of 27–28 June 2015.http://www.shobdonfoodandflyingfestival.co.uk
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Climate

The temperature is usually between and .

References

External links

* * http://www.shobdonchurch.org.uk/ {{authority control Villages in Herefordshire Civil parishes in Herefordshire