St Andrew & St Mary’s, How Caple
Location
Information
- Post code: HR1 4SX
- Pilgrims’ Way Off B4224
- OS Grid Ref: SO 612 305
- Disabled Access (gravel path)
- Car parking
- Hours of Access – normally open in daylight; if closed; ask for key at How Caple Court
Country churches don’t come much more beautiful than How Caple.
From the outside, this is the classic English rural church, complete with longhorn and Hereford cattle grazing in the adjacent field.
Inside, it could be a mini abbey with its intricate carvings, deep-coloured stained-glass windows and its high standards of worship.
Services follow the old Prayer Book and a high-quality organist plays from Hymns Ancient and Modern, along with a strong repertoire of voluntaries.
The current Rector is high-brow and welcoming and the congregation has a reputation for making wedding couples feel at home as they prepare for marriage. Children welcome – no hassle if they want to roam the aisle or even accompany parents up to the lectern when reading a lesson!
The oldest part of the church is the chancel, which dates back to at least the 13th century. Much of the rest of the building dates to the 1600s when the local squire, William Gregory, was Speaker of the House of Commons. Many members of the Lee family, current owners of the Court, are memorialised. Look out, too, for the ancient font, still used for Christenings, sometimes by couples who married there a year earlier.
How Caple is a little-discovered gem.
