Yesterday - all my troubles seemed so far away! part 6

St Catherine's Church, Hoarwithy, Herefs
Originally uploaded by ChurchCrawler

ST CATHERINE, HOARWITHY, HEREFS
If it were not so famous, then this church would have been the complete shock of the day. Stuck on a Herefordshire hillside looking out over the River Wye is an Italian Tuscan church, a humble church of the 1840s (the current nave structurally) was transformed by the addition of a campanile and cloister walk running along the south wall of the church. It turns into an atrium on the west wall and a porch in the NW corner. If this isn't enough then to the south is a
mature Monkey Puzzle Tree (well that's what I have always called them). Inside is jaw-dropping, because within the east end of the church Seddon has created an almost Byzantine effect by introducing four piers with absurdly large carved capitals, to create a crossing and transepts effect. The east apse glistens with a golden mosaic fresco. In actuality the parts are ugly, but the sum of the
parts is astounding, and quite unlike anything you would expect in the English countryside. [I found the church open]
After a very late lunch (1.50pm) in one of Hoarwithy's two pubs I moved inland onto the hills to the west of the River Wye.