Yesterday - all my troubles seemed so far away! part 9

St Mary & St David's Church, Kilpeck, Herefs
Originally uploaded by ChurchCrawler

ST MARY & ST DAVID, KILPECK, HEREFS
The Norman church par excellance, three-celled - nave, chancel, apse, so often photographed in books, was my overall destination today. I could have rushed in and gone quickly and missed so much. If you come spend some time here and the building works its magic on you. Here is some of the best C12 figure carving in the country, including a complete corbel table around the outside - some humerous, one enchanting (a soppy dog and a hare) and a couple very rude (including a sheila-na-gig). The doorway into the church is sumptuous and include stylised slim figures like those seen in Spain e.g. at Santiago. These figures appear inside on the chancel arch, but are figures of saints - including an evident St Peter with a key on the north side. For this church, the font is truly enormous and stands under the little Jacobean west gallery. January and I had the church to myself. [I found the church open]

To the west is a large motte and bailet castle. On the motte remains of a shell keep, and the best view of the day across the countryside towards Hay Bluff. The sun was low and I decided that this was the place to end the ChurchCrawl.