Ewyas Harold is a village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the Golden Valley

Golden Valley, Herefordshire

The Golden Valley is the name given to the valley of the River Dore in western Herefordshire, England. The valley is a picturesque area of gently rolling countryside...

 in Herefordshire

Herefordshire

Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, near to the Welsh border with present day Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...

 and about half way between the towns of Abergavenny

Abergavenny

Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...

 and Hereford

Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

. It lies on the Dulas

Dulas, Herefordshire

Dulas is a civil parish in the County of Herefordshire in England 18 km south west of Hereford. There is no village as such named Dulas; the parish consists mainly of scattered farms and dwellings. The major buildings within the parish are Dulas Court, a Victorian country house now used as a...

 brook

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

, and is contiguous with the neighbouring village of Pontrilas

Pontrilas

Pontrilas is a village in south Herefordshire, England, half a mile from the border with Wales. It is in the parish of Kentchurch and lies midway between Hereford and Abergavenny....

. It was the site of Ewyas Harold Castle

Ewyas Harold Castle

Ewyas Harold Castle was a castle in the village of Ewyas Harold in Herefordshire, England.The first castle on the site is believed to be one of the very few which were built before the Norman conquest under the Saxons, probably in 1048, on the site of an earlier fortification, possibly by Osbern...

, now disappeared. The village contains a number of amenities, such as a school, fire station

Fire station

A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...

 and redundant

Redundant church

A redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...

 Catholic church. The Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 ministry of St. Michael and All Angels is now linked with that of several neighbouring parishes.

Ewyas Harold common is a large area of common land

Common land

Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...

 within the parish, rich in wildlife. It contains an ancient greenway

Greenway (landscape)

A greenway is a long, narrow piece of land, often used for recreation and pedestrian and bicycle user traffic, and sometimes for streetcar, light rail or retail uses.- Terminology :...

, meadow saffron (left over from cultivation by the monks at Dore Abbey

Dore Abbey

Dore Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in the village of Abbey Dore in the Golden Valley, Herefordshire, England. A large part of the original mediaeval building has been used since the 16th century as the parish church, with remaining parts either now ruined or no longer extant.-History:The...

), and some villagers still have commoner's rights.

The village is named after Harold, son of Ralph the Timid

Ralph the Timid

Ralph the Timid, also known as Ralf of Mantes, died 1057, was Earl of Hereford between 1051 and 1055 or 1057. His mother was Godgifu, the daughter of King Æthelred the Unready and his second wife Emma. His father was Drogo of Mantes, Count of the Vexin, who died on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in...

 earl of Hereford, and great-grandson of King Æthelred the Unready.

Sources

• Bannister, Arthur Thomas, The history of Ewias Harold, its castle, priory, and church (Hereford 1902)

External links

The village plan from 2005. http://www.ewyasharoldgpc.org.uk/parishplan-ewyasharold.html

The diocesan website, with information about the church. http://www.achurchnearyou.com/ewyas-harold-st-michael-all-angels/