This replacement church was consecrated in 1864

Churches of Llanwarne

• St. John the Baptist Church - Llanwarne

  St. John the Baptist was the original 13th century church in Llanwarne, and was owned by the monastery of Llantony.

  It was built low down in the village and suffered constant flooding from the Gamber brook, despite which it was added to during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries but by 1864 the decision was made to abandon it and the new Church was built on much higher ground.
  By the looks of the ruins, it was vast – but when we visited the problem with flooding was very apparent.

  When the new church was built,  the Hereford Times reported thus on the reasons for abandoning St. John the Baptist:

  “….the ancient British word Llanwarne is simply ‘a church in a marsh’, and there could not be a more terse and descriptive description of the old edifice which gave the village its name, the only wonder will be that it has taken five centuries to discover the necessity of a new site for the place of public worship.”

  The article went on to say that the old church was built on virtually the very lowest bit of ground in the whole parish, and because a hefty stream ran alongside, digging graves was almost impossible as water filled the holes as fast as they were dug.  Also, when opening old graves to add to them, the coffins had to be weighted to stop them from floating.

  The floor of the church was raised on numerous occasions, until the doorway was so low that it was almost ridiculous, and there were other damp related problems.

   

  

   

   

   

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News from the Past Llanwarne

• Llanwarne News from the Past

  Accidents, more accidents and rape

  1855 – Labourer Breaks Back at Llanwarne

  In September 1855, John Gough a 65 year old labourer working for J. Digwood of Upper House farm in Llanwarne, was thatching a wheat rick.

  He was reaching for a handful of straw from a bolting which was above him on the rick, when part of the ladder that he was standing on broke, and he fell to the ground.

  Although he was given every attention at Hereford Infirmary, it was discovered that he was completely paralysed due to a broken back, and after suffering horrendous pain in his head and difficulty in breathing, he died two days later.

  1863 – Horrible Accident at Llanwarne

  In April 1863, William Prosser was taking a threshing machine to Mr. Barratt’s farm at Llanwarne when one of the horses kicked him.

  He fell, and the machine went straight over him, crushing his chest and abdomen.

  William was in dreadful pain, and was taken to Hereford Infirmary where in spite of all efforts, he was not expected to survive.

  1863 – Accident during Restoration of Llanwarne Church

  In September 1863, whilst restoration work was going on at the old church in Llanwarne, part of the scaffolding collapsed.

  Four men were on the scaffolding at the time, and they fell to the ground – a distance of about 16 feet.  Incredibly, there were no fatalities, although William Harris of Llanwarne was badly bruised and suffered a nasty injury to his right eye.

  1864 – Accusation of Rape of a small Child at Llanwarne

  In March 1864, John Griffiths, a labourer, was up in court accused of violating a five year old girl by the name of Mary Ann Powell (known as Polly) at Hill Barn in Llanwarne.

  In court, Mary’s older sister, Sarah aged 7 was the first witness.  She said  that she lived with her parents at Llanwarne, and that she was not sure how old her little sister, Polly, was.

  She said that the knew the man standing in court, and that he was called Jack Griffiths.  She went on to say that she was sent to collect water from the well and Polly went with her;  they went home with the water then went to Hill Barn where Jack Griffiths also was.  Jack asked her to go behind the rick to see if anyone was coming, and Polly went into a hole in the rick with Jack.

  After a while, Sarah went to the hole in the rick, and joined Mary and Jack, and it was then that Jack “acted unseemly towards her”.

  Eventually they went home, but separate witnesses saw Jack with the children, and when the girls told their mother what had happened she no doubt went ballistic.   When confronted, Jack denied everything, but when the mother examined little Mary after she complained of pain some days later, she discovered that she had a horrible discharge and it turned out that she had been given a venereal disease.

  Bail was refused for Jack and he was committed to the Assizes

   1899 – Death of the Rev. W. Baskerville Mynors

  The Rev. Walter Baskerville Mynors had been rector of Llanwarne for more than forty years, but his health had not been good for some time.

  He travelled to Bath, in the hope of benefiting from the waters there, but after becoming chilled he contracted pneumonia.  His condition deteriorated and his two sons were sent for – his daughter was too unwell herself to travel to see him – and shortly afterwards he died.

  He was buried at Llanwarne.

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1855 – Labourer Breaks Back at Llanwarne

In September 1855, John Gough a 65 year old labourer working for J. Digwood of Upper House farm in Llanwarne, was thatching a wheat rick.

He was reaching for a handful of straw from a bolting which was above him on the rick, when part of the ladder that he was standing on broke, and he fell to the ground.

Although he was given every attention at Hereford Infirmary, it was discovered that he was completely paralysed due to a broken back, and after suffering horrendous pain in his head and difficulty in breathing, he died two days later.

1863 – Horrible Accident at Llanwarne

In April 1863, William Prosser was taking a threshing machine to Mr. Barratt’s farm at Llanwarne when one of the horses kicked him.

He fell, and the machine went straight over him, crushing his chest and abdomen.

William was in dreadful pain, and was taken to Hereford Infirmary where in spite of all efforts, he was not expected to survive.

1863 – Accident during Restoration of Llanwarne Church

In September 1863, whilst restoration work was going on at the old church in Llanwarne, part of the scaffolding collapsed.

Four men were on the scaffolding at the time, and they fell to the ground – a distance of about 16 feet.  Incredibly, there were no fatalities, although William Harris of Llanwarne was badly bruised and suffered a nasty injury to his right eye.

1864 – Accusation of Rape of a small Child at Llanwarne

In March 1864, John Griffiths, a labourer, was up in court accused of violating a five year old girl by the name of Mary Ann Powell (known as Polly) at Hill Barn in Llanwarne.

In court, Mary’s older sister, Sarah aged 7 was the first witness.  She said  that she lived with her parents at Llanwarne, and that she was not sure how old her little sister, Polly, was.

She said that the knew the man standing in court, and that he was called Jack Griffiths.  She went on to say that she was sent to collect water from the well and Polly went with her;  they went home with the water then went to Hill Barn where Jack Griffiths also was.  Jack asked her to go behind the rick to see if anyone was coming, and Polly went into a hole in the rick with Jack.

After a while, Sarah went to the hole in the rick, and joined Mary and Jack, and it was then that Jack “acted unseemly towards her”.

Eventually they went home, but separate witnesses saw Jack with the children, and when the girls told their mother what had happened she no doubt went ballistic.   When confronted, Jack denied everything, but when the mother examined little Mary after she complained of pain some days later, she discovered that she had a horrible discharge and it turned out that she had been given a venereal disease.

Bail was refused for Jack and he was committed to the Assizes

 1899 – Death of the Rev. W. Baskerville Mynors

The Rev. Walter Baskerville Mynors had been rector of Llanwarne for more than forty years, but his health had not been good for some time.

He travelled to Bath, in the hope of benefiting from the waters there, but after becoming chilled he contracted pneumonia.  His condition deteriorated and his two sons were sent for – his daughter was too unwell herself to travel to see him – and shortly afterwards he died.

He was buried at Llanwarne.

It was built low down in the village and suffered constant flooding from the Gamber brook, despite which it was added to during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries but by 1864 the decision was made to abandon it and the new Church was built on much higher ground.
By the looks of the ruins, it was vast – but when we visited the problem with flooding was very apparent.

When the new church was built,  the Hereford Times reported thus on the reasons for abandoning St. John the Baptist:

“….the ancient British word Llanwarne is simply ‘a church in a marsh’, and there could not be a more terse and descriptive description of the old edifice which gave the village its name, the only wonder will be that it has taken five centuries to discover the necessity of a new site for the place of public worship.”

The article went on to say that the old church was built on virtually the very lowest bit of ground in the whole parish, and because a hefty stream ran alongside, digging graves was almost impossible as water filled the holes as fast as they were dug.  Also, when opening old graves to add to them, the coffins had to be weighted to stop them from floating.

The floor of the church was raised on numerous occasions, until the doorway was so low that it was almost ridiculous, and there were other damp related problems.