They lived in the castle behind the church, and there are still some reminders of the family in the church today. The gravestone of Sir Humphrey Baskerville, died 1647, is in the floor of the Vestry, and the heads carved at the bottom of the Vestry arch may well be representations of members of the family. The Baskervilles died out in 1666, and the Barnsley family took over as Lords of the Manor. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spent much time in Herefordshire, and it is thought possible that although the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles is set in the West Country he drew inspiration from Eardisley and the surrounding area. Certainly he used many local place names in the tale, as well as well known Herefordshire surnames.

In front of the pulpit inside the church of St. Mary Magdalene, Eardisley, there is the tombstone of Bishop Coke, Bishop of Hereford, showing his coat of arms.

Bishop Coke was a Royalist and when Cromwell’s army arrived in Hereford he fled to Lemore, his home in Eardisley, where he died in 1646. His family remained at Lemore for a further 250 years, providing the clergy not only for Eardisley but also for many other parishes – some as distant as Dorset.

Francis Coke

Francis Coke was one of the last members of the family, and his wife Lily died aged 27 in 1892 in Chicago.

Sir John Coke

The final member was Sir John Coke KCB, who served in the Indian Army and survived the awful first day of the battle for Delhi during the Indian Mutiny; he was so thankful for his life that he donated an organ to the church and this was built in 1860 by Joseph William Walker.