Whitchurch, Herefordshire

King Arthur's Cave, located in the Doward area of Whitchurch parish, is a site of archaeological interest, with the discovery of an Upper Palaeolithic human burial and the remains of mammoth, woolly rhino, giant deer, and cave hyena.{{Cite book |last=Vaughan |first=David J. |title=The Little Book of Herefordshire |publisher=The History Press |year=2016 |pages=12}}{{Cite book |last=Phelps |first=David |title=50 Gems of Herefordshire |publisher=Amberley |year=2022 |isbn=9781398104242 |pages=71}}

Evidence of a Roman settlement, including a tessallated pavement thought to be the remains of a Roman villa, has been found in a meadow to the side of the road to Monmouth.{{Cite web |title=Monument Number 109648 |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=2a386876-e77a-4757-8e10-d4e78709f069&resourceID=19191 |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=Historic England Research Records}}

Whitchurch is named after the church of Saint Dubricius which was originally white in colour.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}} St Dubricius parish church dates from the 13th century, with Victorian restoration and additions.{{Cite web |title=CHURCH OF ST DUBRICIUS, Whitchurch - 1224924 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1224924 |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} As the churchyard directly backs onto the river Wye, St Dubricius Church has experienced several instances of flooding, with particularly serious damage occurring in episodes of flooding in 1947 and 2020.{{Cite web |title=ICBS 11969 ff 43-45 |url=https://archives.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=ICBS/FILE/11969ff43-45 |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=Lambeth Palace Library Archives}}{{Cite web |date=2020-03-11 |title=Thanks for support {{!}} chepstowbeacon.co.uk |url=https://www.chepstowbeacon.co.uk/news/thanks-for-support-295369 |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=Chepstow Beacon}}

Until the 9th century, when it was taken over by Mercia, Whitchurch was within the Welsh kingdom of Ergyng.{{Cite web |title=Whitchurch and Ganarew Group Neighbourhood Plan: About Whitchurch |url=http://www.wagpcnp.org.uk/wagpcNP-03-Whitchurch.html |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=www.wagpcnp.org.uk}} After the Norman conquest, the area became known as Archenfield and was governed as part of the Welsh Marches. It became part of Herefordshire, and England, in the 16th century, although the use of Welsh in the area remained strong until the 19th century. The Welsh name for the village, Llandywynnog, means "church of Tywynnog", derived from a personal name Gwynnog.

Within the parish in Symonds Yat (West) is the Old Court (now the Old Court Hotel), which was built in the 16th century and is a Grade II* listed building.{{Cite web |title=OLD COURT HOTEL, Whitchurch - 1225292 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1225292 |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} The Old Court was the ancestral home of the Gwillim family including Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim.{{Cite web |title=The Rich History of a 16th Century Symonds Yat Hotel |url=https://oldcourthotel.co.uk/history/ |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=Old Court Hotel |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Gwillym bibliographic accounts |url=http://www.langstone-court.org.uk/gwillym-bibliographic-accounts.html |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=www.langstone-court.org.uk}} Thomas Gwillim built the Gwillim family burial enclosure at St Dubricius church in 1744.{{Cite web |title=GWILLIM MEMORIAL APPROXIMATELY 15 METRES NORTH WEST OF CHURCH OF ST DUBRICIUS, Whitchurch - 1225288 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1225288 |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}} John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (1791–1796) and founder of Toronto, named Whitchurch Township in Ontario after the family home of his wife, Elizabeth Gwillim.

The Wye Tour, an excursion route popularised in the late 18th century by William Gilpin, passed through the Whitchurch area along the river, drawing tourism to the scenic area.{{Cite book |last=Gilpin |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924104096304/mode/2up |title=Observations on the river Wye, and several parts of South Wales ... made in the summer of the year 1770 |publisher= |year=1782 |location=London |pages=23 |access-date=3 September 2022}}{{Cite book |last=Dudley Fosbroke |first=Thomas |url=http://archive.org/details/wyetourorgilpin00gilpgoog |title=The Wye tour, or Gilpin on the Wye |date=1834 |others=Oxford University |pages=45 |language=English}}

Whitchurch parish has several inns, pubs, cafes, a local shop, and a nearby caravan and camp site. Across the A40 from Whitchurch village, in Symonds Yat (West), are Wye Valley Visitor Centre, Butterfly Zoo, Jubilee Maze, and leisure park.{{Cite web |title=Wye Valley VISITOR CENTRE |url=https://wyevalleyvisitorcentre.co.uk/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |website=wyevalleyvisitorcentre.co.uk}}

Whitchurch & Ganarew Memorial Hall hosts events and activities for the locality.{{Cite web |last=Update |first=Jan Thomson in General |title=Whitchurch & Ganarew Memorial Hall - A community website supporting Whitchurch & Ganarew Memorial Hall |url=http://www.whitchurch-ganarew-hall.co.uk/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |language=en-GB}}

The village school, Whitchurch Church of England Primary School, has been awarded Unicef UK’s Rights Respecting Schools Award at Silver: Rights Aware and is a Keep Britain Tidy Eco-Schools Ambassador.{{Cite web |title=Silver Rights Respecting Schools in the UK - UNICEF UK |url=https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/the-rrsa/awarded-schools/silver-schools/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831142334/https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/the-rrsa/awarded-schools/silver-schools/ |archive-date=31 August 2022 |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=Rights Respecting Schools Award |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Whitchurch eco school |url=https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/10515110.whitchurch-eco-school/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831142337/https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/10515110.whitchurch-eco-school/ |archive-date=31 August 2022 |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=Hereford Times |language=en}}

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{{Commons category|Whitchurch, Herefordshire}}

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[https://wagshistory.com/ Whichurch and Ganarew Local History Society]

[http://www.the-gwillim-simcoe-story.org.uk/ The Gwillim-Simcoe Family Story]

[https://whitchurchschool.org.uk/index.asp Whitchurch Church of England Primary School]

[https://oldcourthotel.co.uk/ Old Court Hotel]

Category:Villages in Herefordshire

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