St Cuthbert's Church | Holme Lacy

HOLME LACY
Dedication: St Cuthbert
OS Grid Reference: SO 569 348
Road Reference: 5m SE of Hereford off B4399, beyond Holme Lacy

Facilities:

Churches Conservation Trust

Information:

List of key holders on notice board

In a pretty setting on a bend in the River Wye, looking across to the Herefordshire hills, this delightful church is well worth a visit just to enjoy its rich collection of monuments, mainly of the wealthy Scudamore family, patrons of the church from mediaeval times until the 20th century, and of the Lucas-Tooth family who bought the estate in 1909.

Among the earliest are the reclining alabaster effigies of John Scudamore (died 1571) and his wife Sibell, with exquisite detail in his armour and her clothes. A large white and grey marble monument to a later Scudamore, James (died 1668), may be the work of the renowned sculptor Grinling Gibbons, and is lavishly decorated with garlands and cherubs.

A Victorian monument to a naval captain shows a fleet of fully rigged ships. Even in the 20th century the family commemorated their loved ones in statuary: in the churchyard is a memorial to Edwyn Scudamore Stanhope, who died in 1933, pictured as a heroic knight in armour.

Beautiful stained glass also delights the eye. Most of it is 19th and 20th century, though the chancel north window is made up of fragments of mediaeval glass. In the nave is a striking window showing two of King Arthur’s knights, given in memory of Archibald Lucas-Tooth, who died in World War I. His father, Sir Robert, is commemorated in the wonderful glass in the great east window, showing St Michael weighing souls.

Other treasures to look for include the unusual 17th century font, with its elegant stem and richly decorated bowl, and the carvings on the mediaeval stalls, showing angels, men, a horned demon and a dog.