1903 Kilpeck Parish Church 333 



after whom Kilpec is called was (I think) not the saint, for 

 neither the cell, nor the church, nor the village, was at any 

 time known as or associated with St. Badawc. Probably 

 Kilpec was called after Badawc, a hermit, who went out 

 from the neighbouring religious house of St. Dyfric l 

 (L. Dubritius ; Fr. Devereux). According to the well- 

 known rule of construction in the Celtic tongues, the 

 general descriptive word is placed first, the personal or 

 specific word is placed after : thus Kilpeck, from B. cil 

 = cell or retreat + Badoc (name), rightly illustrates 

 its Celtic formation and origin. At this distant date 

 the name Kilpeck speaks to us of the Celtic Church, 2 

 when the wilds of Wales, Northern England, and Scotland 

 were dotted over with solitaries or hermits, whose fastings, 

 vigils, prayers, and the courageous trust in God, made a 

 powerful impression on the surrounding people ; and who 

 thus became the centres of evangelisation in their several 

 neighbourhoods. 



The church of St. David is a small but interesting 

 edifice, owing to its many symbolical and grotesque 

 carvings. Whether or not the present church stands on 

 the original site of the Cell of Badoc, it is now impossible 

 to say ; however, I think, there are at least two relics of 

 the Cell. Look at the church's west window ! It is 

 round-headed ; the inner jambs are carved in beautiful and 

 most intricate interlacings ; the capitals are carved in the 

 form of bloated human faces with strings of beads or 

 pearls (incorrectly described as bridles) about the forehead 

 and across the mouth ; and the corbels decorated with very 

 inferior interlacings. Now, the semicircular window heads 

 would indicate Norman work ; but, on minute examination 

 and comparison, the interlacings on the jambs would prove 

 to be so finished as to convey the impression of Celtic work. 



1 St. Dyfric was the patronal saint, not founder, of the house. St. Devereux is 

 now the name of both church and parish (or village that in course of time rose 

 round the house). 



2 See The Arts in Early England, vol. ii., "Ecclesiastical Architecture in 

 England from the Conversion of the Saxons to the Norman Conquest." By 

 Professor G. Baldwin Brown, M.A. This second volume is entirely concerned 

 with the architecture of English churches and the influence on them of Roman 

 and Celtic types and methods. 



