This can be done as a cache and dash but I would encourage you to explore a bit more here on this occasion however as this church is unusually decorated and is the site of the famous Kilpeck corbels. These are small protruding stone supports that are normally decorated in some form or another and are found on many buildings, and churches in particular. However here the church is literally dripping with them!
The Church
Built in red sandstone around 1140 this church is unusual in that it is dedicated to St. Mary and St. David, it is laid out in the common linear style of a nave, chancel and semicircular apse at the east end. St David is thought to have been a local holy man of some sort and St. Mary was added later on from the chapel at the next door castle that had fallen into disrepair. The local area, known as Archenfield, was a strategically important and prosperous area before the 14th century, hence the castle next door, and the village of Kilpeck might well have been a much larger settlement than it is today, which justified the expense to decorate this building so elaborately.
The Carvings
As you approach the first thing you will notice is the decorated surround of the south door with it's double columns either side, which are decorated with snakes, foliage, birds and men. The tympanum directly above the door shows the Tree of Life and the rest of the arch shows an angel and various real and imagined creatures amongst other things.
There are more carvings around the west window but looking up you will see the row of corbels just under roof level which go all the way round the church, 85 now survive (although there were originally 91) and they vary from almost cartoon-like hound-and-hare depictions to rams, lions and faces to the most well-known of them all, the Sheela na Gig (I won't describe this one here as this is a family site but you might want to look it up and perhaps cover little children's eyes when you reach that one - older children may think it's very funny!). In fact although there are other Sheela na Gigs about but this particular one is the most well known in the whole of the UK.
The carvings have been attributed to a Herefordshire School of stonemasons but it is thought that much of the carving may have been inspired from elsewhere and the meaning of most of it is still up for debate.
The church is also pretty impressive inside too with a richly carved chancel arch (which is set to be lit up when you enter), an unusual-looking holy water stoup and a large font made of polished conglomerate, or pudding stone. In fact the whole building is somewhat of a curiosity!!!
The Cache
The cache is a good-sized small cache in a camo bag, placed for an easy find, and parking can be found right outside the church.
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html