Walford, Ross-on-Wye

Village in Herefordshire, England

Human settlement in England

Herefordshire

Herefordshire

Region

West Midlands

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townRoss-on-WyePostcode districtHR9PoliceWest MerciaFire Hereford and Worcester Ambulance West Midlands

List of places: UK; England; Herefordshire

51°52′50″N 2°36′05″W / 51.8806°N 2.6014°W / 51.8806; -2.6014

Walford is a village and civil parish in south Herefordshire, England, two miles south of the market town of Ross-on-Wye. It includes the settlements of Bishopswood, Coughton, Deep Dean, Hom Green and Walford.

The two Church of England churches in the parish, All Saints at Bishopswood and St Michael & All Angels at Walford, lie in different benefices.^{[citation needed]} The centre of the nave of Walford church was constructed around 1100 making it one of the earliest churches to be built in Herefordshire.^[2] Bishopswood Church is far more recent being endowed in 1841.^[3]

The B4324 Ross-on-Wye to Coleford road runs through the village.

The River Wye forms the western boundary of the parish. Kerne Bridge allows the B4229 road to cross the river to Goodrich.

Walford Court was the headquarters of Col John Birch during the siege of Goodrich Castle in the English Civil War.

In Hom Green is Hill Court Manor, a country house built in 1700, now a Grade I listed building^[4] and the closed Church of the Paraclete. The Grade II listed^[5] church was built in 1905–06 to designs by George Frederick Bodley in memory of Major Lionel James Trafford.^[6]

Walford is sometimes confused with another Walford in the north of the county.

Walford has a village hall and a primary school.^[7]

Railways

The Ross and Monmouth Railway went through the village between Ross-on-Wye railway station and Monmouth Troy railway station from 1873/4. Eventually Walford Halt railway station was opened. It was opened by the Great Western Railway on 23 February 1931^[8] and consisted of 120 ft platform and a small hut on the east side of the line. It was unstaffed and had no freight facilities or sidings. The staff of Kerne Bridge station lit the platform lights and cleaned the stop, though its traffic receipts were counted with Ross-on-Wye's.

The halt closed on 5 January 1959^[8] when the Ross and Monmouth Railway was closed to passengers. The track was still used from Ross-on-Wye to Lydbrook until 1965 as a private siding to serve a cable works.^[9]^[10]

References

^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 31 October 2015.
^ "Walford - History". www.rtm.org.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
^ http://www.bishopswoodchurch.co.uk/first.html ^{[dead link]}
^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1099665)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1348845)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
^ Lionel Trafford by James Baxendale OBE Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
^ Walford Primary School
^ ^a ^b Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 239. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
^ Stanley C Jenkins, The Ross, Monmouth and Pontypool Road Line, revised second edition 2009, ISBN 978-0-85361-692-4
^ Stan Yorke, Lost Railways of Gloucestershire, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84674-163-0