St Michael & All Angels
Moccas, Herefordshire
Welcome to our beautiful and ancient church in its beautiful parkland setting in the Marches, between the River Wye, apple orchards and the hills flanking the Welsh border.
The church is Norman, although there is evidence of a Saxon church, and parts of the chancel may be of Saxon date. The chancel is at such a pronounced angle to the nave that some members of the congregation cannot see the altar.
There is early stone carving on the lintels of both the south and (blocked) north doorways; the north doorway has two figures, one with a bird's head and the other perhaps with a monkey's head.
In the church are a huge bowl shaped Norman font, and the effigies of two knights, one is from the 13th century and the other is from the 14th century. The latter is of Sir Roger Vaughan, who died defending Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
In the churchyard, on the north side, is the grave of Francis Kilvert, Rector here for two years until his death in 1879. His diaries record the lives of the people of this area, and his descriptions of the seasons, the weather and the Border countryside and its way of life are among the best of their kind.
