Four Herefordshire churches are no longer classed as “at risk”

Several treasured Herefordshire landmarks are “at risk” because of damage or neglect, according to a new official survey.

Government agency Historic England has published its annual Heritage at Risk Register, which lists more than 60 historic Herefordshire buildings and sites as being at risk.

They include:

• Offa’s Dyke
  Five sections of this ancient border earthwork, which traverses the west of the county, are listed as suffering from “localised problems” ranging from “minor” to “significant”.
• Wigmore Abbey, Adforton, near Wigmore
  One of the two gatehouses of this grade-I listed ruined mediaeval abbey is described as in “very bad” condition, with some stonework having recently collapsed.
  The complex was owned by the actor John Challis, who lived in the restored abbot’s lodging until his death in September.
• Church of St Michael, Croft Park
  This much-visited and photographed grade II* church next to the National Trust’s Croft Castle requires “urgent repairs” to its distinctive curved-roof cupola.
• Church of St Peter, Hereford
  This grade-II* mediaeval church, a city landmark, suffers from a leaky roof, part of which “needs urgent renewal”, the register says.
• Blackfriars Friary, preaching cross and cemetery, Hereford
  Noted for its rose gardens, this free-to-visit historic city site is described in the register as “declining”, with “significant localised vandalism problems”.
• Dinedor Camp, Dinedor
  The Iron Age hillfort just south of Hereford is described as “generally unsatisfactory” and “declining”, due mainly to encroaching tree and scrub growth.
• Church of St Mary, Abbey Dore
  This large 17th-century grade I church retains features of an earlier church which was part of a dissolved Cistercian abbey. In “poor” condition, due mainly to leaky roofs.
• Church of St Mary, Stoke Edith
  The grade I church with its distinctive truncated 14th-century spire is in “very bad” condition, due to leakage and eroding stonework, some of which has fallen.
• Kington Conservation Area
  The border market town’s historic core has been on the Risk Register for a decade, and continues to be described as “very bad” and “deteriorating”.
• Ross-on-Wye Conservation Area
  The same goes for Ross’s historic centre, whose “deteriorating” state has also been highlighted by the register for many years.

However, four Herefordshire churches are no longer classed as “at risk”, following repairs and maintenance during lockdown.

The churches of St Andrew in Pixley; St Barnabas in Brampton Bryan; St Dubricius in Hentland and St John the Baptist, Eastnor have all now been taken off the register.

Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust chairman David Furnival said: “It is testament to the hard working PCCs (parochial church councils) in the county that, despite Covid-19, they have managed to maintain our beautiful churches and, in four cases, take them off the Building at Risk Register.”

The trust has supported them with grants “where it can”, despite being unable to raise funds in the usual ways, he said.

But he added: “Keeping the roofs on our medieval buildings is always going to be a challenge.”