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Norman Conquest. Whether any remains exist of a church earlier than the 

 Conquest is doubtful, but if there be, the only fragment is the Hagioscope on 

 the north side of the chancel, which, until about six years ago, was blocked up with 

 stone-walling, plastered over, and hid from sight. The rudely constructed arch, 

 built of stone from a neighbouring quarry, might lead to the conclusion that it 

 was Saxon work, but on this point various opinions have been given. I am in 

 some degree confirmed in my opinion that this is of pre-Norman date, from the 

 fact that on the north side of the Hagioscope, in what is known as St. Mary's 

 Chantry Chapel, a Norman piscina was introduced without interfering with the 

 Hagioscope on the sotith side of the wall. Shortly after the Conquest a Norman 

 church existed of the length of the present one, viz., — nave, 97 feet, and chancel, 

 90 feet, with side aisles of narrow width, and chantry chapels at the east end of 

 those aisles, with their altars, aumbries, and piscinas, the latter of which are still 

 remaining. In the year 1553, the following pensions were paid to the incumbents 

 of chantries at Ledbury. To John Porter, alias Potter, incumbent of St. Mary's 

 Chantry, £6 ; and Griffin Fowler, of St. Anne's Chantry, £5. In the register of 

 burials is the following entry, " 1559 Sr Griffyn Fowler Chauntry Priste and after 

 prist in the Hospitall was b : ye Xlllth of Septemb." 



The Norman doorway, with its rich mouldings, not unlike in character to the 

 chancel arch of Kilpeck Church in this county, the outline of two Norman win- 

 dows, and the Norman buttresses with their conical heads show this at the west 

 end ; and the Norman arches of the chancel, the remains of two Norman windows, 

 the two perfect ones in the north and south walls, and the buttresses at the east 

 end, show unmistakably that such church existed. 



All traces of Norman work in the east wall have disappeared, and a Perpen- 

 dicular window has taken the place of the Norman. An examination of the out- 

 side of the west end of the south aisle shows the foundation of an aisle about eight 

 feet in width, similar to the south aisle of the Priory Church at Great Malvern, 

 and the dripstone in the north and south walls of the chancel, underneath the 

 circular clerestory windows, show that those windows, during the existence of 

 that church, were in the outer walls of the building. In the north aisle is a Nor- 

 man pillar and capital, from which sprung the arch which separated the aisle from 

 the chantry chapel, and at the west-end of the drip-stone on the north side of the 

 chapel, is a portion of stone cut out at an angle, which shows the pitch of the roof 

 of that aisle and chapel, which was evidently what is called a "lean to" roof. 

 From the grotesque carving of that date (forming no doubt some of the corbels) 

 which has been fortunately preserved and inserted in the eastern ends of the 

 north and south arcades, there is sufficient to show that the Norman church was 

 of no mean pretensions. The pillars of the Norman arches on the north and south 

 sides of the chancel, square to a certain height, and then circular, are singular 

 specimens of Norman architecture. The chapels on the north and south sides 

 would appear to have had a stone screen to separate them from the chancel, for 

 on the east end of the walls, under the capitals, are stones with mouldings, which 

 have formed one side of doorways to communicate with the chapels and chancel. 

 The chancel arch is one of the obtuse-pointed or drop arches, which are occasion- 



