St Michael's and All Angels, Ledbury

➺ return to list of buildings

St Michael’s began life as a minster church or matrix eccelsia (mother church) whose purpose was to oversee the local parochia; a subdivision of the Bishop of Hereford’s diocese that allowed him to effectively fulfil his pastoral duties by distributing priests to minister to local communities. The first documentary evidence of Ledbury, then known as Liedeberg, as a town is in the Domesday Book of 1086. However, it is likely that the episcopal estates, and the associated minster churches, were founded earlier in the 8th century. No material of the original minster survives, as it was likely built in wood, however the historical ecclesiastical importance explains why it is a relatively large and grand parish church.

After the Norman conquest, St Michael’s became a portionary church, where the endowments and revenue of the church were split in two between church officials. These officials were then responsible for hiring and paying the vicar for the church. This system survived, albeit in a modified form, until 1855. The church was also rebuilt in stone at a similar time. Some portions of the Norman-style 12th century stone still survive, particularly in the chancel and the west door. The church then continued to be rebuilt in the Gothic style until the 15th century.

The mediaeval records show that the church was originally called St Peter’s and was not referred to as St Michael’s until the 18th century. For reasons that are now mysterious to us, the name was then changed back to St Peter’s briefly and then finally was given its current name ‘St Michael and All Angels’ in 1863.

There was a 19th century restoration programme from 1810 onwards, which lasted until the early 20th century. Much of the glass comes from this time and it contains excellent examples from a variety of major studios from the time: Charles Kempe, Morris & Co., Hardman & Co., Christopher Whall, Lavers & Westlake and Veronica Whall.

The Biddulph Memorial Window (s12)

This window absolutely fascinated me due to the complete lack of information on it in the guidebook! The figures are beautifully rendered and it is clearly a memorial window for members of the Biddulph family (who were a prominent Ledburian family), based on the location next to other memorial plaques/sculptures for the family and the inscriptions on the glass itself. The inscriptions are very tricky to see without clambering on the memorial sculpture in front - I wasn't able to see the middle one at all so I'm not sure who it is depicting without further research. The left light depicts Adela Biddulph who tragically died at 11 in 1867 and the right light depicts St Michael. Upon further examination, I did spot a makers mark for Hardman and Co. but didn't manage to get a picture. I will be going back and hopefully getting some better quality pictures (as well as some of the other windows which are also very lovely!)

A photograph of stained glass depicting three figures, one in each light. The leftmost figure is a young girl, the middle figure a woman spinning thread and the rightmost figure is a depcition of St Michael in armour carrying a shield and standard. He has wings which are made of peacock feathers.

Detail of figures

Entire window

A photograph of an inscription on the window, painted in gothic lettering. It read 'Adela Margaret Mary Biddulph. Died September 18 1876 aged 11.

Inscription on leftmost light

A photograph of the Biddulph memorial sculpture, directly underneath the window. It is made in a classical style using marble and depicts a mourning figure of a women, under a grecian canopy. She is leaning against a shield shape with is covered in an inscription, which is not legible from the photo.

Memorial sculpture for Biddulphs