Bishops Frome (pronounced Froom) is a large village which lies in East Herefordshire with the River Frome flowing through the middle.    The Bishop part of the name came from the fact that the Bishop of Hereford was Lord of the Manor at one time – the Manor House, known as Court Farm, is sadly no longer in existence but it was adjacent to the Church.

Hops were the major crop around Bishops Frome and one of the two inns in the village was built in the 1800s to cater for the hop pickers who arrived every year.

Churches of Bishops Frome

• St. Mary's Church - Bishops Frome

  The Church of St. Mary is has Norman origins, but the tower is 14th century and further additions were made in the 19th century.

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Font

  The font at St. Mary is a rare, lead lined Norman font dated at around 1160;   there are only around 20 of these in the whole of the country, and Herefordshire sports several of them.  The pedestal is of a much later date.

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Memorials

  Ann Mary Christiana Skynner

  Ann Mary Christiana Skynner wife of Colonel Gilbert Nicholetts and daughter of Gilbert Ignatius Doyge of brussels in Flanders. She died 19th July 1770 aged 74

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Two further monuments within the church read as follows:

  James Gardiner, late of Instone, Gent, who died June 26th 1804 aged 73 years.

  Ann, wife of the late James Allcott of Woodcroft in this Parish. She exchanged time for eternity the 9th day of July 1792 and in the 87th year of her age. She was remarkable for her sobriety, dilligence, fidelity and humanity.

  Also Elizabeth White, grand daughter of the above Ann Allcott, who died 16th day of Feby 1811 aged 50.

  Also Elizabeth Homes, late of Hopton, daughter of the above Ann Allcott who died 24th day of November 1812 aged 75 years.

   

  There is an effigy of a 7 foot man in a suit of mail with his feet resting on a lion, which is thought to be that of one of the Deveraux family who were big landowners in the area. He was perhaps a Knight Templar given the way that he was dressed.

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News from the Past Bishops Frome

• Bishops Frome News from the Past

  Pig runs amok, and some tragic deaths

  1874 – Death of Rev. William Parsons Hopton

  The Rev. William Parsons Hopton died on 14th April 1879.

  He was born in 1802, being the son of William Hopton of Canon Frome Court and Kemerton Court and was educated at Trinity College Oxford.

  He was well respected for his sound judgement and good business sense, and was a Magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant for Herefordshire. He acted as chairman of the Bromyard Board of Guardians for 40 years.

  He married Diana Christian, by whom he leaves three children.

  1891 – Children Suffocate at Bishops Frome

  Ann and Geo. Martin, a hawker, travellers who were in Herefordshire for hop picking, and then apple picking, had two young children – George aged 3 and 9 months, and Catherine aged 2.

  They were sleeping in a room at Hopton Farm, Bishops Frome, and early the next morning Ann lit a fire in the room.  At around 10 a.m., Ann left them playing whilst telling them not to touch the fire, and she secured the door with a chain so that they couldn’t get out.

  Ann went to work in an orchard some 200 yards away, but returned a couple of hours later to check on the children;  she found the room full of smoke so went out and screamed for her husband who ran in and opened the window.  They both found the children close to the fire, but not burnt although the bedding and other items were alight thus causing the copious smoke.

  Sadly both children were dead and at the inquest the Coroner said that death was due to gradual suffocation, accelerated by fright.  Incredibly, he merely said that it was an unfortunate accident, and that the parents were only trying to keep their children warm, but no matter what the verdict, those poor parents surely would have lived with guilt and horror for the rest of their lives.

   

  1899 – Death by Burning at Bishops Frome

  Mrs. Mayo, wife of John Mayo, left her three and a half year old son Albert Henry in bed whilst she made breakfast.  Suddenly she thought that she heard little Albert getting out of bed, and before she could move, there came a terrible scream.

  She rushed upstairs along with her older son Harry, and found Albert engulfed in flames;  they quickly put them out but Albert was very badly burnt.  Mrs. Mayo put linseed oil on the burns then dressed them before racing to the Relieving Officer to obtain an order for the doctor who duly attended, but the boy died a few days later.

  At the inquest, it was revealed that a lit candle had been left in Albert’s room, and although the jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death”, they expressed a desire that the case would be a lesson to other parents never to leave young children alone with candles or lamps

  1899 – Suicide at Bishops Frome

  Charles Ockey, a 50 year old retired farmer, was found bleeding from the neck by a neighbour in a pigsty.

   

  Charles was still alive, just, and held a knife in his hand;  the neighbour, Albert Hancocks ran to the telegraph office to call for Charles’  brother, John, who immediately raced to the farm.  John arranged for doctors to attend to him but by this time Charles was unconscious.

   

  It was confirmed by witnesses that Charles was not quite the ticket, and decidedly strange at times, possibly a legacy of an accident fifteen years previously.  A verdict of “suicide during temporary insanity” was returned at the inquest.

  1922 – Pig sets fire to Stackyard

  A young hop picker, who was clearly of less than charming nature, whilst working at Bishops Frome threw a lighted match at a pig. The pig took flight with the match on it’s back, and on running into the farmyard set fire to a stack of hay. The flames then spread to a barn filled with ryegrass and all the produce was destroyed by the fire.

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Buildings of Bishops Frome

• Cheney Court History

   

  The original Cheney court dated from the 15th century, and up until the mid 1800s was called China Court, the house being enlarged in around 1870 and then tragically lost forever when it burnt down in 1888, although the private chapel still remains.

   

  This is the modern replacement.

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   
  Legend has it that at one time there were two strange rooms in the house – Heaven and Hell. Heaven being adorned with paintings and panels of Sybils and boasting a ceiling full of cherubims. Hell was merely a closet of incredible depth, supposedly used when the house was a monastery in medieval times.
  It was bought by a Mr. John Jones in the mid 1800s and he quickly sold it on to James Moilliet of Abberley Hall in Worcestershire, who then considerably improved and updated the house – he being from a family of great wealth and owner of many properties. On James’ death in 1878, Cheney Court was inherited by his son, also James. He decided to rent the house out and it was taken on by Alfred John Monson, although James did stipulate that one room had to be set aside for storage of some of his valuables, including pictures and a library of books.

  Alfred John Monson

  Alfred Monson rented Cheney Court over a two year period in 1887 and 1888. He was a good horseman and loved hunting, keeping several horses for the purpose, as well as a pack of Harriers.

  Mr. Monson started a private school for civil and military instruction, and it grew to quite a size; he employed a nurse, cook, housemaid and scullery maid, as well as a butler, a page boy and some gardeners. The pupils, mostly with wealthy parents, stayed at the house and paid for their tuition and keep, for the oldest the fee was around £200 a year – their ages ranging from 12 to 25. They were well fed and looked after, and at least one boy kept his hunter in the stables.
  His wife was young and sweet natured, and became very friendly with one of the older pupils, with her husband giving permission for them to go walking or driving alone together. I am not sure whether anything should be read into this!

  People gossiped that the household expenses etc. must surely be at least two thousand pounds per year, a huge sum at the time, and it seems that Monson began to run into difficulties.

  The Fires at Cheney Court

  Soon after all this, Monson took out insurance policies, and within an indecently short time a hayrick burned down but of course the loss was covered. The next fire was not long in coming, this time in the butler’s pantry, which was thought to have started with the accidental lighting of paraffin, but this time it was discovered and put out before too much damage was done.
  The next fire was potentially horrible; at the beginning of July 1887 the beautiful stables set right next to the house were seen to be alight – villagers sent for the neighbouring fire brigades whilst throwing water on the flames with whatever receptacles they could find. Then came the awful realisation that the horses were still in the stables and the door was locked. Mr. Monson seemed to have forgotten this until the villagers yelled at him to set the horses free, but he merely mumbled something that couldn’t be heard amidst the general clamour and did nothing.
  In despair, the villagers grabbed axes and other implements and proceeded to bash down the doors so that the terrified horses could be released – the stables were totally destroyed. Take note – Mr. Monson had insured the horses and the building for quite a large sum.
  Early in the morning of 27th July 1888, some men who were walking to work saw flames shooting from the roof of Cheney Court; at the time, only the butler was in the house and as he was asleep in a back room he didn’t at first hear the shouts of alarm outside. Eventually stones thrown at his window woke him up, and he managed to scramble to safety whilst messengers were organised to ride for the Ledbury and Bromyard Fire Brigades, but by the time they arrived much of the building had been engulfed and all the firemen could do was try to prevent the fire spreading to the servants quarters.
  Cheney Court was destroyed but it was “lucky” that the fire happened when it did, as only two days before the Monsons and servants were in residence. Monson had instructed the servants to leave the house just one day before the fire, and also on that day Mrs. Monson went to London. Later that day, Mr. Monson was taken to Ledbury Station by the butler who then returned to the Court – walking around the house he saw nothing awry and went to bed.
  The fire was put down to an overheating incubator in the library, and virtually nothing of the contents could be saved, including Mr. Molliet’s valuable belongings. Rumours abounded that the fire was set deliberately, but nobody could prove it conclusively. Mr. Monson had of course insured his furniture for a hefty £2000 and Mr. Molliet had insured the house for £4000, and his valuables stored in the one room were also well insured.

  Alfred Monson’s Debts begin to spiral

  Mr. Monson had a reputation for not paying his bills, although his servants were always paid on time, but he did try to settle some debts when the pupils’ fees became due. However Ledbury and Bromyard tradesmen began to refuse to send him goods unless he sent money with the order, and the County Court bailiff served many processes on him.
  The vicar, and the father of one of the pupils acted as security for him for a large sum of money, but eventually the vicar had no choice but to make Monson bankrupt, after which Monson and his wife moved away. Occasionally he returned to Bishops Frome and stayed with the vicar, and on one of these times the local butcher called on him to ask for £90 which was owed him for meat. Monson said that he had not yet received the insurance money from the fire and so couldn’t pay, but it has to be said that as soon as he did get an instalment from the insurance company he immediately sent some money to the butcher. The rest of the debt was paid in full later on. Actually, Monson did pay off several debts once he received all the insurance money.
  He left Herefordshire for good, and tried but failed to start a stud in Leicestershire, to supply horses for hunts. He then disappeared off the radar until the Ardlamont case.
  After his acquittal (see below) it seems that Monson delved into the seedy world of money lending, and was eventually imprisoned for five years in 1898 for his part in insurance fraud.
  On his release, Monson went to South Africa, where he  married Agnes Maud Day in 1881 – it is believed that they had at 7 or more children.

  Monson worked in various capacities in South Africa, including as a tutor and also he attempted to set up a stud farm using a different name but details of this and of any success are not documented.

  The Ardlamont Mystery

  A murder case known as the Ardlamont Mystery involved Mr. Cecil Hambrough, the victim and pupil of Mr. Monson, one time tenant of Cheney Court, the possible murderer.
  There is a great deal about this case out there on the internet if anyone wishes to look further, but basically despite evidence which appeared to nail Monson, he was given a “not proven” verdict at the trial.

   

  1851 China Court (Cheney Court) Household

  William Harrington	50	Farmer employing several labourers	b. Yarpole, Herefordshire
  Sarah Harrington	45	Wife	b. Mathon, Worcestershire
  William Harrington	20	Son	b. Pencombe, Herefordshire
  Edward Harrington	18	Won	b. Pencombe, Herefordshire
  Hannah George	20	House Servant	b. Stoke Lacy, Herefordshire
  James Hyde	30	Agricultural Labourer	b. Bosbury, Herefordshire
  James Bowcutt	20	Agricultural Labourer	b. Docklow, Herefordshire
  John Baynam	18	Agricultural Labourer	b. Tarrington, Herefordshire
  Mary Watten	23	Visitor, Glover	b. Cradley, Herefordshire

   

   

   

  1871 Cheney Court Household

  James Moilliet	65	Magistrate and landowner	b. West Bromwich, Staffordshire
  Rosalie Moilliet	16	Daughter	b. Gloucestershire
  Ellen Moilliet	14	Daughter	b. Staffordshire
  Littleton Powys	30	Visitor, Captain 59 Regiment	b. Dorset
  Thomas Cale	42	Butler	b. Hereford
  Edwin Millington	23	Coachman	b. Redditch, Worcestershire
  Fanny Rommery	30	General Servant	b. Worcestershire
  Mary Wattis	42	Cook	b. Worcestershire
  Ann Loveridge	16	General Servant	b. Ledbury, Herefordshire
  Bessy Coley	24	General Servant	b. Bosbury, Herefordshire

   

   

  1881 – Cheney Court Household

  Philip Perkins	29	Butler	b. Worcestershire
  Roseanna Perkins	29	Wife, Cook	b. Worcestershire
  Phillip Perkins	7	Son	b. Worcestershire
  William Perkins	5	Son	b. Shropshire
  Sarah Beard	40	Housemaid	b. Worcestershire

  Presumably, the stud owner shown below with his wife was housed above the stables, as the Court itself was in ruins.

  1901 – Cheney Court Household

  Arthur E Jones	39	Entire horse stable proprietor	b. Woolhope Herefordshire
  Florence Jones	27	Wife	b. Scotland

  Read More >

1874 – Death of Rev. William Parsons Hopton

The Rev. William Parsons Hopton died on 14th April 1879.

He was born in 1802, being the son of William Hopton of Canon Frome Court and Kemerton Court and was educated at Trinity College Oxford.

He was well respected for his sound judgement and good business sense, and was a Magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant for Herefordshire. He acted as chairman of the Bromyard Board of Guardians for 40 years.

He married Diana Christian, by whom he leaves three children.

1891 – Children Suffocate at Bishops Frome

Ann and Geo. Martin, a hawker, travellers who were in Herefordshire for hop picking, and then apple picking, had two young children – George aged 3 and 9 months, and Catherine aged 2.

They were sleeping in a room at Hopton Farm, Bishops Frome, and early the next morning Ann lit a fire in the room.  At around 10 a.m., Ann left them playing whilst telling them not to touch the fire, and she secured the door with a chain so that they couldn’t get out.

Ann went to work in an orchard some 200 yards away, but returned a couple of hours later to check on the children;  she found the room full of smoke so went out and screamed for her husband who ran in and opened the window.  They both found the children close to the fire, but not burnt although the bedding and other items were alight thus causing the copious smoke.

Sadly both children were dead and at the inquest the Coroner said that death was due to gradual suffocation, accelerated by fright.  Incredibly, he merely said that it was an unfortunate accident, and that the parents were only trying to keep their children warm, but no matter what the verdict, those poor parents surely would have lived with guilt and horror for the rest of their lives.

1899 – Death by Burning at Bishops Frome

Mrs. Mayo, wife of John Mayo, left her three and a half year old son Albert Henry in bed whilst she made breakfast.  Suddenly she thought that she heard little Albert getting out of bed, and before she could move, there came a terrible scream.

She rushed upstairs along with her older son Harry, and found Albert engulfed in flames;  they quickly put them out but Albert was very badly burnt.  Mrs. Mayo put linseed oil on the burns then dressed them before racing to the Relieving Officer to obtain an order for the doctor who duly attended, but the boy died a few days later.

At the inquest, it was revealed that a lit candle had been left in Albert’s room, and although the jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death”, they expressed a desire that the case would be a lesson to other parents never to leave young children alone with candles or lamps

1899 – Suicide at Bishops Frome

Charles Ockey, a 50 year old retired farmer, was found bleeding from the neck by a neighbour in a pigsty.

Charles was still alive, just, and held a knife in his hand;  the neighbour, Albert Hancocks ran to the telegraph office to call for Charles’  brother, John, who immediately raced to the farm.  John arranged for doctors to attend to him but by this time Charles was unconscious.

It was confirmed by witnesses that Charles was not quite the ticket, and decidedly strange at times, possibly a legacy of an accident fifteen years previously.  A verdict of “suicide during temporary insanity” was returned at the inquest.

1922 – Pig sets fire to Stackyard

A young hop picker, who was clearly of less than charming nature, whilst working at Bishops Frome threw a lighted match at a pig. The pig took flight with the match on it’s back, and on running into the farmyard set fire to a stack of hay. The flames then spread to a barn filled with ryegrass and all the produce was destroyed by the fire.

The original Cheney court dated from the 15th century, and up until the mid 1800s was called China Court, the house being enlarged in around 1870 and then tragically lost forever when it burnt down in 1888, although the private chapel still remains.

This is the modern replacement.

 
Legend has it that at one time there were two strange rooms in the house – Heaven and Hell. Heaven being adorned with paintings and panels of Sybils and boasting a ceiling full of cherubims. Hell was merely a closet of incredible depth, supposedly used when the house was a monastery in medieval times.
It was bought by a Mr. John Jones in the mid 1800s and he quickly sold it on to James Moilliet of Abberley Hall in Worcestershire, who then considerably improved and updated the house – he being from a family of great wealth and owner of many properties. On James’ death in 1878, Cheney Court was inherited by his son, also James. He decided to rent the house out and it was taken on by Alfred John Monson, although James did stipulate that one room had to be set aside for storage of some of his valuables, including pictures and a library of books.

Alfred John Monson

Alfred Monson rented Cheney Court over a two year period in 1887 and 1888. He was a good horseman and loved hunting, keeping several horses for the purpose, as well as a pack of Harriers.

Mr. Monson started a private school for civil and military instruction, and it grew to quite a size; he employed a nurse, cook, housemaid and scullery maid, as well as a butler, a page boy and some gardeners. The pupils, mostly with wealthy parents, stayed at the house and paid for their tuition and keep, for the oldest the fee was around £200 a year – their ages ranging from 12 to 25. They were well fed and looked after, and at least one boy kept his hunter in the stables.
His wife was young and sweet natured, and became very friendly with one of the older pupils, with her husband giving permission for them to go walking or driving alone together. I am not sure whether anything should be read into this!

People gossiped that the household expenses etc. must surely be at least two thousand pounds per year, a huge sum at the time, and it seems that Monson began to run into difficulties.

The Fires at Cheney Court

Soon after all this, Monson took out insurance policies, and within an indecently short time a hayrick burned down but of course the loss was covered. The next fire was not long in coming, this time in the butler’s pantry, which was thought to have started with the accidental lighting of paraffin, but this time it was discovered and put out before too much damage was done.
The next fire was potentially horrible; at the beginning of July 1887 the beautiful stables set right next to the house were seen to be alight – villagers sent for the neighbouring fire brigades whilst throwing water on the flames with whatever receptacles they could find. Then came the awful realisation that the horses were still in the stables and the door was locked. Mr. Monson seemed to have forgotten this until the villagers yelled at him to set the horses free, but he merely mumbled something that couldn’t be heard amidst the general clamour and did nothing.
In despair, the villagers grabbed axes and other implements and proceeded to bash down the doors so that the terrified horses could be released – the stables were totally destroyed. Take note – Mr. Monson had insured the horses and the building for quite a large sum.
Early in the morning of 27th July 1888, some men who were walking to work saw flames shooting from the roof of Cheney Court; at the time, only the butler was in the house and as he was asleep in a back room he didn’t at first hear the shouts of alarm outside. Eventually stones thrown at his window woke him up, and he managed to scramble to safety whilst messengers were organised to ride for the Ledbury and Bromyard Fire Brigades, but by the time they arrived much of the building had been engulfed and all the firemen could do was try to prevent the fire spreading to the servants quarters.
Cheney Court was destroyed but it was “lucky” that the fire happened when it did, as only two days before the Monsons and servants were in residence. Monson had instructed the servants to leave the house just one day before the fire, and also on that day Mrs. Monson went to London. Later that day, Mr. Monson was taken to Ledbury Station by the butler who then returned to the Court – walking around the house he saw nothing awry and went to bed.
The fire was put down to an overheating incubator in the library, and virtually nothing of the contents could be saved, including Mr. Molliet’s valuable belongings. Rumours abounded that the fire was set deliberately, but nobody could prove it conclusively. Mr. Monson had of course insured his furniture for a hefty £2000 and Mr. Molliet had insured the house for £4000, and his valuables stored in the one room were also well insured.

Alfred Monson’s Debts begin to spiral

Mr. Monson had a reputation for not paying his bills, although his servants were always paid on time, but he did try to settle some debts when the pupils’ fees became due. However Ledbury and Bromyard tradesmen began to refuse to send him goods unless he sent money with the order, and the County Court bailiff served many processes on him.
The vicar, and the father of one of the pupils acted as security for him for a large sum of money, but eventually the vicar had no choice but to make Monson bankrupt, after which Monson and his wife moved away. Occasionally he returned to Bishops Frome and stayed with the vicar, and on one of these times the local butcher called on him to ask for £90 which was owed him for meat. Monson said that he had not yet received the insurance money from the fire and so couldn’t pay, but it has to be said that as soon as he did get an instalment from the insurance company he immediately sent some money to the butcher. The rest of the debt was paid in full later on. Actually, Monson did pay off several debts once he received all the insurance money.
He left Herefordshire for good, and tried but failed to start a stud in Leicestershire, to supply horses for hunts. He then disappeared off the radar until the Ardlamont case.
After his acquittal (see below) it seems that Monson delved into the seedy world of money lending, and was eventually imprisoned for five years in 1898 for his part in insurance fraud.
On his release, Monson went to South Africa, where he  married Agnes Maud Day in 1881 – it is believed that they had at 7 or more children.

Monson worked in various capacities in South Africa, including as a tutor and also he attempted to set up a stud farm using a different name but details of this and of any success are not documented.

The Ardlamont Mystery

A murder case known as the Ardlamont Mystery involved Mr. Cecil Hambrough, the victim and pupil of Mr. Monson, one time tenant of Cheney Court, the possible murderer.
There is a great deal about this case out there on the internet if anyone wishes to look further, but basically despite evidence which appeared to nail Monson, he was given a “not proven” verdict at the trial.

1851 China Court (Cheney Court) Household

1871 Cheney Court Household

1881 – Cheney Court Household

Presumably, the stud owner shown below with his wife was housed above the stables, as the Court itself was in ruins.

1901 – Cheney Court Household

Font

The font at St. Mary is a rare, lead lined Norman font dated at around 1160;   there are only around 20 of these in the whole of the country, and Herefordshire sports several of them.  The pedestal is of a much later date.

Memorials

Ann Mary Christiana Skynner

Ann Mary Christiana Skynner wife of Colonel Gilbert Nicholetts and daughter of Gilbert Ignatius Doyge of brussels in Flanders. She died 19th July 1770 aged 74

Two further monuments within the church read as follows:

James Gardiner, late of Instone, Gent, who died June 26th 1804 aged 73 years.

Ann, wife of the late James Allcott of Woodcroft in this Parish. She exchanged time for eternity the 9th day of July 1792 and in the 87th year of her age. She was remarkable for her sobriety, dilligence, fidelity and humanity.

Also Elizabeth White, grand daughter of the above Ann Allcott, who died 16th day of Feby 1811 aged 50.

Also Elizabeth Homes, late of Hopton, daughter of the above Ann Allcott who died 24th day of November 1812 aged 75 years.

There is an effigy of a 7 foot man in a suit of mail with his feet resting on a lion, which is thought to be that of one of the Deveraux family who were big landowners in the area. He was perhaps a Knight Templar given the way that he was dressed.