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Welcome to the Yarpole Parish website - get information on events, facilities within the Parish, social groups, Yarpole Community Shop, The Bell at Yarpole, volunteering opportunities, the Parish Council,  the PCC and more.

 

12th Century Bell Tower in Yarpole: One of the oldest Timber Structures in England.

This 12th century bell tower in Yarpole, Herefordshire is the tenth oldest timber structure in England.

Dendrochronology testing revealed that the bell tower was probably constructed in 1195/1196. This makes it not only one of the oldest towers, but one of the earliest surviving timber-framed buildings of any type in all of England.

Yarpole is one of several Herefordshire parishes whose bell tower stands separate from the church. The best known are at Pembridge (Herefordshire) and Mamble (Worcestershire). Both these date from the thirteenth century; though the Bell Tower at Pembridge was substantially rebuilt in the seventeenth century.

It has a stone base, truncated pyramidal section above, and a weather-boarded belfry on top.

The tower is built of four massive corner posts, each a single timber 25 - 30 inches (63 - 76cms) square at the base and nearly 40 feet high. The four corner posts are braced by multiple scissor braces.

Dendrochronology revealed that they were over 200 years old when they were felled. The type of joints used is consistent with this date

Results of the study, which was launched with the help of English Heritage, was 'very exciting'.

The tower seems to have been built for a single bell and was subsequently raised by 7 feet (2.1 metres) to accommodate the present 3 bells.

Around 1322 the Saxon church on this site was demolished to make way for the current building, and the Saxon stones were used to create the stone skirting wall which makes up the lowest section of the tower.

The wooden door is original, made up of six massive planks braced diagonally on the inside.

The thick walls, iron bars of the windows, and reinforced door suggest that the tower may have been used as the parish armoury.

Saint Leonard’s Church itself was built in the early 14th century.

The interior of the church is quite plain, but the nave has an impressive crown post roof with scissor braces and the choir is a good mid-Victorian ensemble.

Today, the building which is run on behalf of the parish by a management group is used both for worship and for a variety of secular uses, including music, drama, seminars, exhibitions and private functions.

There is a model of the Bell Tower, available to purchase and make, from the Yarpole Community Shop.

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Yarpole nestles deep in the Herefordshire countryside, roughly midway between the market towns of Leominster & Ludlow. There has been a community recorded here for over 2000 years. The village is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. The Anglo-Saxon meaning of Yarpole (Iarpol or Yarpol) is fish pool or dam for containing fish. The original fish pool has long since been abandoned; the remains of the dam are still visible today.

Yarpole retains its red telephone kiosk, its community owned and managed pub, The Bell at Yarpole. It has an award winning Community Shop in St Leonard's church (the first full-time shop in a church).

The Parish has a population of 700 and comprises of the villages of Bircher and Lucton, the community on Bircher Common and the hamlet of Bicton.

 

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