Where's Garfield?

Before we travel I compile a list of possible places or things I'd like to see in the area where we'll be going. From this point it's then a case of looking at where we're staying and whether any of the things are either grouped near one another or if they're a feasible distance as we don't want to spend the whole time driving. If they make it through this stage then Mr GBT puts the destinations on to the satnav except this time he came back to me to say he couldn't find Garfield. I'm probably a woman who has cats [or hedgehogs] on the brain most of the time, but no it wasn't Garfield the Cat I was wanting to visit, but the tiny Herefordshire village of Garway.

If anyone is into visiting churches one of the most famous ones in the county and arguably nationally is Kilpeck because it's got the most extraordinary complete set of Romanesque carvings done by the so called Herefordshire School of Carving. It seems likely that these masons were taught at Hereford cathedral and then went out and left behind examples of their work not only here, but in Shropshire and Worcestershire. St Michael's is another church in the set.

If you drive up a quiet country lane with grass growing up the middle this is the sight which greets you..from the wild flower filled churchyard through to the rose coloured plaster it's hard to not be charmed by it.

One of those carvings for which its famous [there are only a handful]. I often look at them and wonder what message was it intended to convey to those who looked upon it. Some sort of Christian message we now can't access, a visual pun or something which carried forward echoes and symbols from a pre Christian time.

Above the piscina is a serpent [possibly a sign of healing], a fish, a chalice and a wafer.

In many ways though it's this church's earlier history which makes it such a significant place of worship. It might be in a quiet backwater now, but it is only one of six Knight's Templar churches remaining. It saw a fair amount of remodelling after the Templars were suppressed in 1307 and it passed over to the Knights of St John known as the Hospitallers. The foundations of the original circular church can still be seen. The shape was to echo the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

There might only be traces left behind hinting at its past, but if the tower is open there is a carved Templar coffin lid which has been reused as a window lintel and this fragment which I spotted lurking in the flight of former rood screen steps.

If you're craving peace and tranquility then this is the perfect spot to find it. After the naughty carving in Hereford and Malvhina this was the third and final thing on my wishlist of things I wanted to see.

Arilx